Craving a comfy however not too heavy meal? Do this rooster lemon orzo soup! It is mild and vibrant due to the lemon and spinach, making it an amazing selection not only for cooler months however for spring and summer season, too.

Recipe Highlights
- This easy soup makes use of orzo (tiny, rice-shaped pasta), not rice or noodles like most rooster soups — it makes each spoonful tender and hearty with out being heavy. Love orzo in soups? Strive my Italian sausage orzo soup subsequent.
- Recent lemon juice makes all of the distinction! I add lemon on the finish to brighten every part up and actually set this selfmade rooster lemon orzo soup aside from common rooster noodle. I additionally stir within the spinach proper on the finish—it is my little trick for holding it brilliant, inexperienced, and vibrant as a substitute of lifeless and overcooked.
- This one-pot meal takes simply 35 minutes to make and requires minimal cleanup—excellent for busy weeknights, meal prep, or making forward!
- Should you’re a fan of the lemon and rooster combo like I’m, you’ll love a few of my different dinner favorites too—like my creamy lemon pepper rooster thighs and lemon garlic butter rooster spaghetti.



Find out how to Make Lemon Rooster Orzo Soup (Step-by-Step Images)
- That is only a fast overview (with pictures)—discover the total recipe with precise measurements within the recipe card beneath. You may love this cozy soup!
- First up: collect all of your elements. Right here’s a photograph with every part you’ll want:

- Warmth olive oil in a big inventory pot or Dutch oven. Add onion, carrots, celery, garlic powder, and onion powder; season with salt and pepper.
- Cook dinner over medium-high warmth for five minutes till softened, including recent garlic over the past 2 minutes.

- Pour in rooster inventory, scraping up any browned bits, and add thyme. Convey to a boil, then simmer briefly. Put aside ⅓ cup of the inventory to chill.
- Stir in orzo and shredded rooster, cooking for 8–10 minutes till orzo is sort of performed, stirring typically to forestall sticking.

- Whisk the cooled inventory with cornstarch to type a slurry, then stir it into the soup. Simmer for five minutes.

- Add spinach and half the lemon juice; prepare dinner for two–3 minutes till wilted. Take away from warmth, alter seasoning, and add extra lemon juice to style.
- Serve heat, topped with parsley, recent thyme, and a lemon slice in every bowl.


Serve with
- Bacon and Cheddar Cheese Scones
- Garlic Butter Dinner Rolls
- Spinach and Ricotta Flatbread
- Apple Spinach Salad
- Arugula Salad with Lemon Zest and Parmesan
- Tomato Cucumber Avocado Salad with Mozzarella and Basil Pesto
- Strawberry Spinach Salad
Suggestions for Success
- Spice it up! Be happy so as to add further seasonings like purple pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, Italian seasoning, or smoked paprika to regulate the flavour to your liking.
- Toppings make it further particular. High lemon orzo rooster soup with grated Parmesan, Pecorino Romano, or Asiago, together with recent herbs, inexperienced onions, purple pepper flakes, or cracked black pepper.
- Make it gluten-free by swapping out the orzo for long-grain rice.
- No orzo? Use small-cut pasta like ditalini, bow tie, orecchiette, fusilli, and even gnocchi.
- Greens galore! This soup works nice with a wide range of greens like spinach, arugula, kale, Swiss chard, or collard greens—use your favourite!
Storage Directions
- Refrigerate: Retailer leftovers in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 5 days.
- To reheat, heat gently on the stovetop over medium warmth, including further rooster inventory or broth if wanted. You can too microwave in 30-second bursts.
- I’m not a fan of freezing the soup, as orzo absorbs liquid and might change into dense and mushy.
Extra Rooster Soup Recipes
- White Lasagna Soup with Rooster
- Thai Purple Curry Rooster Noodle Soup
- Rooster Gnocchi Soup
- Rooster and Spinach Soup with Greens

Lemon Rooster Orzo Soup
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Elements
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small onion diced
- 3 medium carrots peeled and thinly diced
- 2 small celery stalks chopped
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 7 cups rooster inventory or broth
- 1 teaspoon recent thyme
- 1 cups dry orzo
- 3 cups cooked, rotisserie rooster no skins, no bones, shredded (preferrably legs and thighs) – about 1.5 lb
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 3 cups child spinach
- 1 massive lemon juiced
- Salt and pepper to style
Garnish
- Chopped recent parsley
- 2 sprigs recent thyme
- 1 small lemon sliced
Directions
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Warmth olive oil in a big inventory pot or Dutch oven. Add onion, carrots, chopped celery, garlic powder, and onion powder. Season to style with salt and pepper. Cook dinner, stirring for five minutes over medium-high warmth, till softened and barely caramelized. Add recent minced garlic over the past 2 minutes of cooking the veggies.
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Pour in rooster inventory and stir to scrape any browned bits. Add thyme. Convey the inventory to a boil and simmer for a pair minutes. Take away ⅓ cup of the inventory and put aside to chill.
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Sti rin orzo and shredded rooster. Cook dinner for 8-10 minutes (or based on bundle instructions) till the orzo is nearly cooked. Stir the orzo continuously to maintain it from stucking to the underside of the pot.
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Whisk cornstarch with cooled rooster inventory (or water) till you’ve gotten a slurry.
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Pour the cornstarch combination into the soup and stir to mix.
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Simmer for five minutes, then stir within the spinach. Squeeze in half the lemon. Cook dinner till the spinach is wilted, for 2-3 minutes.
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Take away the soup from the warmth. Style the soup and squeeze the remaining lemon juice into the soup, progressively (if desired) and stir to mix. Season with salt and pepper.
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Serve soup heat, garnished with chopped parsley, recent thyme. Add a slice of lemon to every particular person soup bowl.
Notes
- Rooster choices: For the rooster, I used shredded rotisserie legs and thighs, no bones, pores and skin eliminated. Leftover cooked rooster works simply as properly, too. If beginning with uncooked rooster, simmer it within the broth for about quarter-hour till it is fully cooked, then shred and return it to the pot earlier than including the orzo.
- To shred rooster simply, I both pull it aside with two forks or pulse it a number of occasions in a meals processor.
- Pasta choices. Should you can’t discover orzo, you should utilize small-cut pasta like ditalini or mini elbows. It’s additionally nice with leftover cooked rice.
- To forestall orzo from sticking, I all the time use a heavy-bottomed pot like a Dutch oven and stir continuously. Should you’re fearful about sticking, you can too prepare dinner the orzo individually, rinse it, after which add it to the soup.
- Lemon tip: Add the lemon juice progressively. You probably have an additional large or juicy lemon, and add it all of sudden, it will probably overpower the soup.
- Want extra taste? Add ½ teaspoon or extra of Higher Than Bouillon rooster base.
- Don’t have rooster inventory or broth? Substitute with 7 cups scorching water and about 2 or 3 teaspoons of Higher Than Bouillon rooster base.
- Time-saving tip: In case your retailer sells recent mirepoix (pre-chopped onion, carrot, and celery), it will probably actually reduce down on prep time.
- Scrumptious add-ins. I’ve tried including only a contact of dried ginger and mushrooms – so good!
- Toppings: I like sprinkling my rooster lemon orzo soup with brilliant chopped inexperienced onion and grated or shredded Parmesan cheese. It is also nice with some purple pepper flakes!
- Meal prep tip: Should you’re serving the soup immediately, it is wonderful to prepare dinner the orzo immediately within the pot. However for meal prep, I like to recommend cooking the orzo individually and including it simply earlier than serving to maintain it from absorbing an excessive amount of broth and getting soggy.
Diet


