Lemon chicken orzo soup brings tender chicken, rice-shaped pasta and spinach together in a bright citrus broth, ready in about 50 minutes.
What is lemon chicken orzo?
This lemon chicken orzo recipe sits close to the Greek comfort table. The pasta is the same shape Greeks call kritharaki, a small grain of rice-shaped pasta that softens quickly in broth.
Unlike a classic traditional avgolemono, this pot skips the egg liaison. Instead, it relies on lemon juice, zest, herbs and spinach for lift.
As a result, lemon chicken orzo feels lighter than a cream pot, while still filling a deep bowl. Home cooks who chase a Panera-style bowl often land here, because the citrus broth and pasta match that café favourite.
Read more: Greek Lamb Stew With Green Beans: A Hearty One-Pot Family Classic
Ingredients for twelve serves
This version comes from Jayelle, who shared it on Allrecipes. It holds 4.8 out of 5 from 537 ratings, so home cooks have tested the method many times.
The batch makes about 12 serves, or roughly 6 US quarts. For the lemon chicken orzo pot, you need:
- 225 g (8 ounces) orzo pasta
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 3 medium carrots, chopped, or more to taste
- celery, 3 ribs, chopped
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced, for the Panera-style bowl base
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- dried oregano, ½ teaspoon
- salt and ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 bay leaf
- about 2.8 litres (3 × 32-ounce cartons, or 3 US quarts) fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth for the kritharaki soup
- 120 ml (½ US cup) fresh lemon juice
- 1 lemon, zested
- 225 g (8 ounces) cooked chicken breast, chopped
- baby spinach leaves, 225 g (an 8-ounce pack)
- 1 lemon, sliced, for garnish
- 25 g (¼ US cup) grated Parmesan cheese for a Panera-style bowl finish
A US cup holds about 240 ml, so the lemon juice measure converts cleanly. Each serve has about 167 calories, 12 g protein, 22 g carbs, 3 g fibre and 4 g fat, according to Allrecipes.
How to cook the kritharaki soup
Lemon chicken orzo takes 20 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to cook, so it is ready in under an hour.
- First, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.
- Then stir in the orzo and cook it uncovered for about 5 minutes, until only partly soft.
- Drain the pasta and rinse it with cold water until cooled.
- At the same time, warm the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.
- Add the carrots, celery and onion to the Panera-style bowl pot; stir about 5 minutes, until soft.
- Next, add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute more.
- Season the lemon chicken orzo base with thyme, oregano, bay leaf, salt and black pepper, then cook for 30 seconds.
- Pour in the chicken broth and bring it to a boil.
- Partly cover the pot, lower the heat to medium-low, and simmer until the vegetables are just tender, about 10 minutes.
- Stir the orzo, lemon juice and lemon zest into the broth, then add the chicken.
- Cook about 5 minutes, until the chicken and pasta are hot.
- Finally, wilt the baby spinach into the kritharaki soup until the orzo is tender, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Ladle into dishes and garnish with lemon slices and Parmesan.
The finished lemon chicken orzo should taste bright, not sharp. If the citrus feels strong, simply add a splash more broth before serving the kritharaki soup.
Tips from home cooks
One reviewer made lemon chicken orzo for lunch and wrote: “I made this for lunch and it was spectacular. The spices were right on. Really, really good!!”
Linda T, by comparison, kept the pasta and broth apart when she planned leftovers. She said: “Wonderful. Only change was to keep the orzo and broth separate over several days.”
That tip matters for a Panera-style bowl you reheat later, because the pasta soaks up liquid overnight.
Additionally, some cooks skip the pre-boil and tip uncooked orzo in with the chicken. Others simmer raw chicken breast in the broth first for more flavour, then shred it into the lemon chicken orzo.
Still, Panera fans said the finished pot matched the café version they craved. For a related pasta side, our summer pasta salad uses the same grain cold.
What to serve on the side
Serve lemon chicken orzo warm, with extra lemon slices and a little Parmesan on top. Crusty bread also helps mop up the last of the broth.
For a bigger Greek table, add our grill-house skewers or an easy rice pilafi beside a lighter main.
If you want a roast instead, try the roast legs with potatoes built on the same citrus idea. In the meantime, this Panera-style bowl keeps weeknights simple.
The full lemon chicken orzo recipe, with photos from home cooks, is on the original Allrecipes page.
Source: Allrecipes
