Description
This comforting Lemon Chicken Soup features tender chicken breasts simmered with fresh vegetables, orzo pasta, and bright lemon juice to create a flavorful and hearty meal perfect for any day.
Ingredients
Scale
Main Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cups diced carrots
- 1 cup finely chopped onion
- ½ cup finely chopped celery
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic (about 3 cloves)
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon dried parsley
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 6 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup dry orzo pasta
- ½ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
- Heat and Sauté Vegetables: In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Sauté the diced carrots, chopped onion, celery, and minced garlic for 5 minutes until the vegetables begin to soften.
- Add Seasonings and Chicken: Stir in black pepper, dried parsley, thyme, salt, and bay leaves. Add the chicken breasts and pour in the chicken broth. Mix all ingredients together.
- Bring to Boil: Cover the pot and bring the soup to a boil over medium-high heat, which should take about 10 minutes.
- Simmer Soup: Reduce heat to medium and simmer the soup for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to blend flavors.
- Remove Chicken and Bay Leaves: Increase heat back to medium-high. Remove the chicken breasts and set aside to cool slightly. Discard the bay leaves from the pot.
- Cook Orzo: Add the orzo pasta to the soup and stir well. Cook the pasta for half the recommended package cooking time to retain slight firmness, stirring occasionally.
- Shred Chicken: While the orzo cooks, use two forks to shred the cooked chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces.
- Combine and Finish: Remove the pot from heat. Add the shredded chicken and fresh lemon juice to the soup, stirring gently to combine all the ingredients.
Notes
- You can substitute the orzo with any small pasta shape; cook the pasta separately and add it just before serving if you prefer firmer texture.
- Adding a Parmesan cheese rind during cooking enhances the flavor significantly; remove it before serving.
- Use any broth you prefer such as bone broth, chicken stock, or vegetable stock according to taste and availability.
- For a vegetarian version, substitute chicken with beans and use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1.5 cup
- Calories: 220 kcal
- Sugar: 3 g
- Sodium: 400 mg
- Fat: 4 g
- Saturated Fat: 1 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 18 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 25 g
- Cholesterol: 55 mg
