Made with pantry staples in only 30 minutes, this chicken orzo soup recipe is comfort food at its finest. It’s filled to the brim with tender orzo, savory chicken, colorful veggies, and aromatic herbs, all simmered in a hearty and warming chicken broth—an effortless cure for all those pesky winter blues.
Is Orzo Pasta or Rice?
Don’t let its appearance deceive you. Orzo may look like rice but it’s actually a type of pasta. It’s often classified as isoni or pastina—an Italian term for a form of small pasta.
Orzo literally means “barley in Italian. However, this isn’t because the pasta is made from barley. In fact, its main ingredients are usually all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, semolina flour, or a combination of the three. This name more so refers to the shape of the pasta, which looks quite similar to the barley grain.
Can You Use Rice Instead of Orzo in a Soup?
If you want to, yes. However, note that despite the similarly small, oblong shape, orzo and rice have relatively different textures, so using them in place of one another might alter the way your dish tastes. Additionally, rice usually takes longer to cook than orzo, so you might need to adjust the cooking time accordingly.
Is Chicken Orzo Soup Healthy?
Yes, our chicken orzo soup recipe can be considered healthy. Here’s why:
Our chicken orzo soup yields around 42 g protein per serving. The majority of the protein comes from the boneless skinless chicken thighs, which is a relatively lean and low-calorie meat that also offers various other essential nutrients.
Keeping the nutrition profile balanced, we also made this soup with veggies like celery, carrots, and onion to give the dish a decent load of fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
Beyond the nutrient-dense ingredients, we also made sure to limit the calories, saturated fat, and sodium to acceptable amounts. As a result, each serving offers approximately:
- 493 calories
- 8 g saturated fat
- 568 mg sodium
These numbers perfectly comply with our healthy eating guidelines.
Main Ingredients
Here’s a quick look at the ingredients for our chicken orzo soup recipe:
- Chicken: Since this soup requires some simmering, we went with boneless skinless chicken thighs. This meat cut has some extra fat that keeps it from drying out while still remaining tender and flavorful after being cooked for a while.
- Orzo: This rice-shaped pasta brings this dish to life with its soft yet chewy texture. You can easily find it in the dry pasta aisle at most supermarkets.
- Vegetables: We keep things simple yet flavorful with celery, carrots, and onion. Feel free to add anything else to give your soup more layers.
- Fat: We use a combination of olive oil and unsalted butter to cook the chicken and vegetables. Also, since we don’t use heavy cream in this recipe, adding butter adds a subtle richness to the soup.
- Seasonings and Herbs: Our usual seasoning combination is salt and black pepper. We also use fresh thyme and dried bay leaf to give the soup a subtle earthy aroma.
Pasta and soup is a classic combo that never fails to hit the spot. Beyond this delicious recipe, there are so many more pasta soups that would make excellent additions to your meals, whether it’s for those sick days, or just a simple dinner night. Here are some of our favorites to try out:
- Instant Pot Goulash: This is an American-Hungarian stew featuring beef, veggies, macaroni, herbs, and spices simmered in a cheesy, hearty broth.
- Instant Pot Minestrone Soup: Zucchini, carrots, kidney beans, and fusilli pasta collide in this satisfying and soul-soothing Instant Pot Minestrone Soup.
- Hamburger Soup: Craving fast food but don’t want to compromise your diet? Try this hamburger soup featuring potatoes, carrots, green peas, corn, ground beef, and macaroni instead!
Should You Boil Pasta Before Adding to Soup?
No, this recipe doesn’t require you to cook the pasta beforehand.
As said in the instructions, the pasta will go into the soup and cook along with all the other ingredients. When the orzo cooks, it releases starch into the broth, thus thickening the soup.
If you boil the orzo separately, the starch granules on the surface of the dried pasta will go into the boiling water. Once you’ve drained and transferred the pasta to the soup, there isn’t much starch left to thicken the broth.
Storing and Reheating the Leftovers
Storing
You can transfer the soup from the pot into airtight containers and leave it uncovered to cool. Once it’s cool, you can put the lids on and move the containers to the fridge. The soup should be able to last up to three days.
Reheating
Warm this soup in the microwave for 2 minutes. You can also heat it up in a pot over medium-low heat for 5 minutes while stirring gently. After that, the soup should be delightfully warm and delicious again.
What to Serve with Chicken Orzo Soup
Here’s how we plan a meal with our chicken orzo soup:
Garlic Bread
Crispy, garlicky, and herb-infused toasted garlic bread would be perfect for dipping into this soup. Not only does it provide an exciting textural contrast, but it also rounds out the meal and makes it a lot more filling and satisfying.
Carrot Orange Ginger Juice
Once you’ve finished with all the savory food, have a glass of carrot orange ginger juice to freshen up your palate. It’s a refreshing burst of nutrients and flavors that will make the dish a lot more enjoyable.
How to make Chicken Orzo Soup
Made with pantry staples in only 30 minutes, this chicken orzo soup recipe is comfort food at its finest. Filled to the brim with tender orzo, savory chicken, colorful veggies, and aromatic herbs, all simmered in chicken broth, it’s an effortless cure for all those pesky winter blues.
- cook TIME 22 mins
- prep TIME 8 mins
- total TIME 30 mins
- COURSE Main dish
- CUISINE American, Italian
- SERVINGS servings
- CALORIES 493 kcal
INGREDIENTS
- 26 oz boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 4 oz orzo (uncooked)
- 4 oz celery (sliced)
- 12 oz carrot (sliced into large chunks)
- 3 oz onion (coarsely diced)
- 1 tbsp garlic (minced)
- 1 tsp thyme (chopped)
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tbsp parsley (finely chopped)
- 2 cups unsalted chicken broth
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
Sweat the aromatics: In a pot over medium heat, add 3 tbsp unsalted butter, 1 tbsp olive oil, 3 oz onion, and 1 tbsp garlic. Stir constantly for 1 minute.
Cook the vegetables: Add 4 oz celery, 12 oz carrot, 1 tsp thyme, and 1 bay leaf. Cook and stir constantly for 2 minutes.
Briefly cook the chicken: Add 26 oz boneless skinless chicken thighs, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp black pepper to the pot. Cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Cook the soup: Add 2 cups unsalted chicken broth and bring to a boil over high heat. Once bubbling, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.
Cook the orzo: Add 4 oz orzo to the pot and cook for another 5 minutes. When the pasta is tender and slightly chewy, turn off the heat.
Garnish and serve: Sprinkle 2 tbsp parsley over the top of the soup. Transfer the soup to serving bowls and enjoy.
