Creamy Chicken and Orzo Soup.
This creamy chicken and orzo soup will warm your soul!
With so many of you under snow right now, this is the perfect hug in a bowl. The most comforting chicken orzo soup bowl that will keep you warm, that will bring happiness to a friend or family and all while tasting delicious!
Oh and it’s extra satisfying too.
We have had a ton of snow this week – and more snow the last few weeks that we’ve had in years. As a kid, I remember us having TONS of snow, the entire winter. Or at least it seemed the way. We haven’t had anything like this recently, so we’ve enjoyed lots of comfort food on repeat. No one is complaining about that.
Enter, this creamy chicken and orzo soup!
This isn’t my first foray into creamy chicken noodle soup. I have a recipe for it in my book Seriously Delish – like the classic kind with egg noodles. When I make a creamy chicken soup, I prefer it to thicken it with a slurry instead of cream or starting with a roux. My mom uses this method for certain dishes and I love it! There are just some recipes that call for it, and this is it. The slurry adds a creaminess without making it feel overly heavy. It’s perfect!
And yes, why this might be one of the onnnnly recipes you’ll see here with celery. I can handle it in a chicken soup, but as you know, the remaining options are few and far between. Celery is usually a no go over here.
One of the reasons that I love this dish so much for our family? It kind of gives me chopped salad vibes. I know that sounds absolutely insane – I mean, this is soup, not salad.
BUT!
The orzo is such a lovely little cut of pasta that you can get a bit of everything in each bite. There isn’t a big noodle taking up your whole spoon with just a touch of broth. For this reason alone, my kids LOVE this.
Since making this, Emilia asks for “soup” constantly – she’s had other soups and likes them, but when she says soup, she means this one. She loves that she can eat it with her spoon and get a full spoonful of flavor, chicken and pasta is one bite! It’s seriously perfect for little ones.
I like to use some of the classic tricks to make chicken noodle soup come to life here. Definitely add a parmesan cheese rind if you have one. It adds a wonderful richness to the soup that you can’t find elsewhere. The flavor is divine.
Also, spritz some lemon in before serving! This brightens things up and while I love my classic lemon chicken soup, adding just a spritz here really enhances the flavor too.
I highly suggest using a rotisserie chicken (or leftover shredded chicken) for ease here. When you do that, this soup comes together SO fast – like we are talking 30 minutes fast. Making it an ideal weeknight meal! I have some tips listed below in the recipe card if you want to meal prep this or use it for leftovers (i.e. cook the orzo separately) and it really makes a lovely meal to enjoy all times of year.
You gotta try it!
Creamy Chicken and Orzo Soup
Creamy Chicken and Orzo Soup
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 sweet onion, diced
- 3 carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 celery sticks, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- kosher salt and pepper
- ½ teaspoon poultry seasoning
- 1 ½ cups cooked, shredded chicken
- 6 cups chicken stock
- 1 parmesan cheese rind
- 1 cup uncooked orzo pasta
- ½ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons fresh parsley, plus more for topping
- parmesan cheese, for topping
- lemon wedges, for spritzing
Instructions
- Heat the butter in a large stock pot over medium-low heat. Add in the onion, carrots, celery and garlic with a big pinch of salt and pepper - I’d say at least ½ teaspoon salt and pepper to start. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables soften. Stir in the garlic cloves and poultry seasoning. Stir in the shredded chicken.
- Add in the chicken stock and the parmesan rind. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce it to a simmer. Stir in the orzo pasta. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the orzo is al dente, about 8 minutes.
- In a shaker bottle even a bowl, shake (or whisk) together the milk and flour to form a slurry. Pour this into the soup and simmer for another 1 to 2 minutes. Taste and season with more salt and pepper as needed. If the parmesan rind didn’t melt entirely, you can scoop it out at this point. Stir in the fresh parsley.
- Serve immediately with a lemon wedge for sprinkling, parmesan cheese for topping and parsley sprinkled on top.
- Note: if you want to prep this for meals ahead of time, or want to have it for leftovers, I suggest cooking the orzo separately as it will soak up most of the broth as it sits overnight. Combine the soup and orzo and reheat to enjoy!
Did you make this recipe?
Be sure to follow @howsweeteats on instagram and tag #howsweeteats. You can also post a photo of your recipe to our facebook page.
I appreciate you so much!
Super cozy!
27 Comments on “Creamy Chicken and Orzo Soup.”
Made this tonight. Sautéed 1.7lb of chicken thighs in the pot before the soup to cook them and for flavor. I did have an extra parm rind and threw that in as well as add a lemon wedge to my bowl. Holy banana hammocks. This is fantastic. 10/10. 20/10. It isn’t too watery or too stew-y. Perfect.
Pingback: Saturday Seven 169: Lifestyle + Inspiration for Quilters | A Quilting Life
Pingback: Ginger Turmeric Chicken Soup Recipe | What's Cooking
Orzo soup 🙌🏻🔥😋… https://www.aroyosafari.com/
Looks delicious, making tonight!
Very tasty Soup for a cold winter’s night. Easy to make. I used a Costco Rotisserie Chicken. Since I did not have fresh Parsley, I used 3 teaspoons of dried Parsley instead.
This was fine, I felt like it lacked a lot of flavor though. Still a nice, warm dish for the winter time!
amy, did you taste and season with salt and pepper? this is a classic chicken noodle base and the flavor is going to be in your stock, salt and pepper.
This looks good and interesting! How would you advise to make it kosher (not mixing meat and dairy)? If I keep the shredded chicken, can I just leave out the cheese and milk?
Thank you.
yes! you can definitely leave out the cheese, and just don’t add the milk! it will be more like a brothy chicken orzo soup which is still really delish!
It has been awhile since I’ve found a new recipe that my family loves — and this one was it! It was easy to make last night and reheated beautifully. I followed your tip about making the ozro separately and adding it to each bowl so it did not soak up all of the liquid. Thank you for this fantastic recipe.
I am new to your site and this is the first recipe I have tried from it. We loved it!
While I had the parmesan for the topping, I didn’t have a parmesan rind or celery. But the soup was still delicious! I look forward to trying other recipes.
A wonderful combination of flavors, and easy to make. My family loves this soup, and I love that it’s made from ingredients I usually have in the fridge and in my pantry. Perfect!
This soup is DELICIOUS! I followed the recipe exactly, except I swapped out the orzo for 1/2 cup of white basmati rice. It turned out perfectly. Thank you for this recipe!
Pingback: Chicken and Orzo Soup – Creamy Chicken and Orzo Soup – !Bevy iNf!
Amazing! you should try Tanzania safari food!
This has become one of my go to recipes. It always comes out better than I remembered it. It is comfort food at its finest!
Gosh, I’m with you on the celery. But, there are a few recipes that really do need it. I usually cutback on the quantity, tho. Love this soup, BTW. It’s kind of a go to.
This is literally the best chicken soup ever!! Made this early this week & planning to make a 2nd batch (doubling) this weekend…
The creamy chicken and orzo soup is delicious! I have made it twice, and my husband who is not a huge chicken fan had already requested it again. I love the squeeze of lemon to finish.
Orzo soup. Looks delicious, making tonight! 😋… https://www.footslopestours.com/
I am new to your site and this is the first recipe I have tried from it. We loved it!
https://www.zepisaafricansafaris.com/
Hi, I am new here! Is there a recipe to make perfectly soft shredded chicken which isnt too dry for an infant to eat?
Or can someone help me with details on how much time to cook and how to marinate properly?
I would love to master that for all the soup/pasta recipes.
Thanks
If I wanted to take this to a friend (thus not eating right away), do you have any suggestions? I assume make the orzo separately, but would you deliver it that way? I’d love your thoughts.
Delicious! Easy to make. I made this recipe with left over turkey and broth.I did add the orzo to the soup and cook. I would recommend cooking orzo separately. I only added 3/4 cup orzo and the pasta still soaked up a lot of the broth. The fresh squeeze of lemon really makes this soup shine. And the Parmesan finishes it nicely. I also added 1 1/2 cup of shredded baby kale. A keeper for sure. Thank you.
Delicious and easy to make. My daughter wasn’t feeling well – It’s a perfect soothing, feel better soup
Not that this recipe needs more praise, but it is deserved. ONE flaw…orzo! Amazing when fresh, but it continues to soak up the broth seemingly endlessly and turning any leftovers into a solid mass, like a casserole. Tonight when I make it, I’ll try egg noodles, which cap out a bit on soaking up the broth :) Delicious, so very delicious…