Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup Recipe
This Chicken Orzo Soup is enhanced with lemon, coriander and dill. Bright and springy, this soup is tangy, light and delicious!
How to Make the Best Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup
This bright and cheerful lemon chicken orzo soup is the perfect remedy for chilly days or when you need something comforting yet light. The combination of tender chicken, silky orzo pasta, and a generous squeeze of fresh lemon creates a soup that’s both satisfying and refreshing—a wonderful departure from heavier cream-based soups.
What makes this soup truly special is the aromatic blend of toasted coriander seeds and fresh dill. The coriander adds a subtle citrusy, almost floral note that pairs beautifully with the lemon, while the dill brings that classic Eastern European flavor that transforms a simple chicken soup into something memorable. Using leftover roasted chicken not only saves time but also adds deeper, more developed flavors to the broth.
The orzo pasta makes this soup hearty enough to serve as a complete meal, and a dollop of sour cream or crème fraîche on top adds a lovely richness that balances the tangy lemon. Whether you’re making it to use up leftover roast chicken or starting from scratch, this soup is sure to become a family favorite.
Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup
This Chicken Orzo Soup is enhanced with lemon, coriander and dill. Bright and springy, this soup is tangy, light and delicious!
Ingredients
Chicken Stock
Soup
Garnish
Instructions
Prepare the Stock
- Pour 10 cups water over chicken carcass with 2 bay leaves, onion, and 2 teaspoons salt and simmer covered for 1 hour. You could do this ahead and store in the fridge overnight.
- Strain over a large bowl, reserving stock and meat. Let cool. With your fingers, separate meat from the bones, discarding the bones, and breaking up the meat into smaller bite-size pieces. You should have 1-2 cups of chicken meat left. Double and triple-check for small bones.
Make the Soup
- In a heavy bottom pot, sauté onion in oil over medium heat until tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, celery and carrots.
- Once celery is tender, add in the chicken stock and the chicken meat. Toast your coriander seeds and crush them and add them to the soup along with lemon zest. Bring to a simmer.
- Add orzo and let simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, for about 10-15 minutes. At this point soup will still seem pretty brothy, but it will thicken up.
- Once the orzo is cooked through, add ¼ cup chopped fresh dill and juice from one lemon.
- Taste and add more salt and lemon to taste. If it is bland, add more of each, or try a chicken bouillon cube as a last resort.
- Serve with a sprig of dill and a dollop of sour cream or crème fraîche.
Notes
- If using chicken breasts instead of leftover roasted chicken, poach the chicken breasts in 8 cups of chicken stock with the aromatics, then shred the meat.
- If you want thicker soup, add up to 1 cup more orzo. Use more orzo if serving all the soup right away. If saving some for the next day, the orzo will quadruple in size, leaving less broth.
- The soup tastes even better the next day as the flavors develop, though the orzo will absorb more liquid.
