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Plus, I have a tip for you. If you make the chicken in your slow cooker the day before, you can also make Overnight Chicken Stock in there to use in the soup as well. Not only will it taste SO much better than store-bought broth, but it will save you money and be better for you. What more could you ask for this holiday season? Haha! Well, probably more than just that, but STILL. Not bad, right? I think I’ll double this recipe next time I make it so that I can stash some away in the freezer.
I’ve been wanting a new soup recipe to add to my repertoire for some time now and this one exceeded my expectations! Enjoy.
Quick Chicken & Orzo Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 onion (minced)
- 5 carrots (peeled, trimmed, and diced)
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper (double if you like a little kick)
- 6 cups chicken stock/broth
- 3/4 cup whole-wheat orzo pasta (uncooked)
- 3 cups shredded/chopped cooked chicken (I used The Best Whole Chicken in a Crockpot, but you could also sub rotisserie)
- 3 cups fresh spinach leaves (chopped)
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 lemon (juiced)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons fresh dill (chopped)
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook the onion and the carrots (while stirring) until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and the red pepper, and cook for another minute.
- Pour in the stock and bring to a boil. Add the orzo and cook until al dente, about 6 minutes.
- Stir in the chicken, spinach, cream, lemon juice, salt, and dill, and simmer until heated all the way through. Ladle into bowls and serve.
Could I add uncooked, chopped chicken breast to the soup and cook with the orzo? Or cook with the veggies at the beginning?
Hi. For this quick, 20-minute soup recipe, we would recommend sticking with cooked chicken. – Nicole
We are a dairy free family. What do you use in place of heavy cream? Not everyone is a fan of the coconut milk flavor.
You can leave the heavy cream out in this recipe and it will still be good. We don’t specialize in dairy-free recipes but others have mentioned they’ve used non-dairy creamers before. – Nicole
Can you substitute with the whole-wheat orzo pasta with organic egg noodles?
That should work, but we use the whole-wheat orzo in order to keep it within our Real Food Rules. – Nicole
where do you get ww orzo? your link is to a broken amazon page
Thank you for letting us know. We’ve updated the link: https://amzn.to/3DpzLMO
-Nicole
Absolutely yummy!! Our whole family liked it. Even added an extra cup of spinach. Will be making another batch to freeze.
This soup is delicious! I also wanted to comment on your Rice pilaf with orzo from your cookbook. I made it last night and oh my!! I felt as though I was eating orzo from a fancy restaurant, it was absolutely delicious! My family loved it and between the four of us we ate the whole batch. Thank you for all of your incredible recipes, we have all three cookbooks and we are making our way through making everything. Today I am making your slow cooker flank steak fajitas- cant wait to try them, they already smell
Delicious!
Just made this tonight and my 4 littles devoured it!! Asked for seconds and thirds! Omitted the fresh dill but left everything else as is!! Yum!
My whole family really liked it! I had to add a few more cups of broth to make it “soupy”.
This was delicious!! I didn’t have dill but had everything else and it was perfect for the freezing weather today in Chicago!
My family loved this soup! I’m glad I doubled the recipe! ;)
Does this soup freeze well?
Jennifer, yes it does. -Nicole
Wow! You did an incredible job with this recipe! It’s delicious! My entire family loved it. Thanks so much for sharing!
My husband was recently under the weather + it’s cold out = this soup is absolute perfection. We also made enough to have leftovers for lunch at school the next day (we are teachers)! So good. #nomnom
I also needed to add another 4 cups of broth on top of the 6 cups, but I also omitted the spinach. This is a great recipe!
I also needed to add another 4 cups of broth on top of the 6 cups, but I also omitted the spinach. This is a great recipe!
Really yummy. I did need to add more chicken broth (8-9 cups instead of 6). Will make again!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I wonder how long this would take in the instant pot.. Has anyone given that a shot?
This is so happening either way! <3
The soup was good, but I would leave out the lemon juice. I didn’t care for that flavor in a chicken soup.
We actually really liked that flavor in there, but easy enough to leave it out!
Excellent recipe, although this took me 1 hr and 10 minutes start to finish, so not exactly a 20 minute soup! All family members enjoyed this recipe immensely. The only thing I may do differently is skip the 1/4 cup of heavy cream as I prefer a clear broth.
Was your chicken not already cooked when you started? Glad you still enjoyed it.
Hi, my husband is lactose intolerant and for these types of recipes I use a non-dairy creamer. Publix has a wonderful product and it works well in soups, gravies, etc and coffee!
I made this soup over the weekend. It is fantastic! And I love how easy it is.
I’m so glad!
Hi Lisa, can you leave out the heavy cream?
This was delicious! I left out the heavy cream, but totally by accident!! (I even bought some at the store specifically for this recipe lol.) It still turned out great!
Absolutely!
Quick question: the kid is lactose intolerant but loves chicken noodle soup. What can be substituted for the heavy cream?
I was thinking the same and wondering how coconut milk would be?
I am not a chef at all, but one of my children and I can’t do dairy. We have experimented over the years. We have found that for such a small amount in a recipe that most times we can leave it out and be ok. We have used a little bit of corn starch to thicken it up a little and have also used coconut milk coffee creamer. I know it sounds weird, but as long as it’s not flavored it has worked well for us since it’s thicker. Again, this has been our personal experience.
I agree with the other post. You can probably leave out the heavy cream and it will still be amazing. Sometimes to thicken up a soup I add some mashed cannelloni beans though.
You can just leave it out!
Barring nut allergies, 1/2 cup unsalted cashews-ground into a flour, makes for a nice thickener. It gives that creamy texture, without adding cream. Solves the dairy issue, and adds protein, too!