Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup With Spinach

This lemon chicken orzo soup with spinach has loads of lemon and fresh herbs! It makes for one comforting dinner when the weather has a little chill and will warm you right to your toes!

Hi everyone! How’s the weekend treating you? Splendidly, I hope!  Have you been hibernating too? Being bundled up inside got me thinking.

What are some things that you have to have stocked in your fridge or pantry at all times? Like, if you can’t go through the door, can you still make something sensible to eat?

Me?

Onions, garlic, olive oil, dried and fresh chili peppers, canned tomatoes, canned fish (I’m looking at you sardines and tuna), broth, beans/lentils and lemons. Always.

Ok, there may be one more thing …

Wine. Ha!

With those few things, you can make just about anything. Plus, they’re typically some sort of component in many of my recipes. Today, the shining ingredient is lemon in this lemon chicken orzo soup recipe!

This lemony soup is absolutely bursting with fresh flavours! There’s tons of herbs and baby spinach. Both lemon zest and juice give you a punch to the taste buds. Definitely much needed during winter, don’t ya think?

What Is Orzo?

Orzo is a type of short pasta that looks like rice. Yep, pasta.

Even when I picked up this orzo at my local bulk food store, the cashier said “Is that a type of rice?” as he was trying to find the code (because in a rush, I didn’t write it down. I know, bad Dawn).

“No,” I said. “It looks like rice, but it’s actually a pasta.”

Look at me being a little foodie nerd, LOL. Yep, that’s me. I picked this orzo up at a bulk food store, but you could easily find in your grocery store right where you would find spaghetti, linguine and the like.

You cook orzo like you would pasta (in a pot of boiling salted water). For this lemon chicken soup, I threw the orzo directly into the pot to cook in there. Easy! Plus, no additional dirty pots to clean!

How To Make Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup

Full details are in the recipe card below, but here are the basics:

1. Cook onions and then garlic.
2. Add carrots, celery, herbs, salt and pepper.
3. Pour in chicken broth and cook for a bit.
4. Orzo goes next and cook until tender.
5. Add cooked chicken and spinach.
6. Finish with parsley, lemon zest and juice.
7. Remove bay leaves, portion and enjoy!

How to Zest Lemon

There are a few ways to zest lemons but whatever you do, always zest before juicing! If you cut and juice your lemon before zesting, removing the zest won’t be as easy.

First, make sure your lemon is washed thoroughly (preferably organic) and dry. So, to zest a lemon, you could use:

• Microplane. Rub the lemon against the blades, turning as you go and only getting the yellow part, not the pith (white part) because it’s bitter.
• Pairing knife. Carefully cut just the yellow part from the lemon. Cut into thin strips and finely mince. I’m not a huge fan of this method.
• Vegetable peeler. Again, carefully cut just the yellow part from the lemon.  Cut into thin strips and finely mince.
• Or my fave, which is a box grater on the finest grate that’s there.

Can I Use Lemon Juice Instead of Lemon Zest?

This lemon chicken soup uses both lemon juice and zest (because I’m a huge fan of lemon and I think it really adds something special to the recipe). 

If you like things a little more subtle, just use lemon juice. Add a little and then taste. 

If you want more zing, add a little more juice and taste again. The zest is more potent than the juice, in my opinion, so you can totally omit if you like.

Tips for Making This Recipe

• I used leftover store-bought rotisserie chicken (and a mixture of white and dark meat), but you can totally cook some chicken at home to make this soup. 
• Just ⅔ cup of orzo was used here (about 10 tablespoons), but if you want to add a little more you totally can. I would recommend no more than 1 cup. If you do, though, you may want to add a little more broth.
• You could use less or more lemon, whatever your preference. I enjoy the lemon flavour. After all, it is “lemon” chicken soup. I would suggest starting with the juice of one lemon and then seeing if you want more juice and any zest. Again, it’s easier to add than take away.

Recipe Variations

• Baby spinach was used, but you could totally omit or use kale or swiss chard (they will have to be cooked a tad longer, though, to break down).
• I used a combination of fresh parsley, rosemary and thyme. However, you could use any one, two or all three of those herbs if you like. Oregano works lovely too!
• If you don’t have orzo on hand, use another type of small pasta like acini di pepe, stars or alphabet pasta.

More Yummy Chicken Soup Recipes

• Homemade Chicken Soup With Spinach and Dill
• Easy Slow Cooker Chicken and Rice Soup

If you make this lemon chicken soup recipe, be sure to leave a comment below!