Description
Incredible creamy yet light lemon chicken orzo soup is the coziest one pot wonder! This vibrant meal in a bowl packs a flavor punch thanks to lots of veggies, tender chicken breast, perfectly cooked orzo, fragrant dill, fresh lemon juice, dill, and silky cashew cream. On the table in under an hour!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup raw cashews
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 3 large carrots, diced
- 3 stalks celery, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 6 cups chicken broth (I use water and 2 tbsp Better Than Bouillon)
- 1 tbsp dried dill
- 1/2 tsp turmeric, optional
- 1 1/2 lb raw chicken breast (about 3 medium chicken breasts)*
- 2/3 cup orzo
- 3 cups spinach**
- 1 large lemon, juiced
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt, to taste
- 1/2 tsp black pepper, more to taste
Instructions
- Place cashews in a small bowl and cover with hot water. Set aside to soften.
- Heat oil in a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Once hot, add onion, carrot and celery. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring often. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Add spinach, broth, dill, turmeric and chicken breast. Bring to a boil over high heat and then reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Transfer chicken to a shallow bowl to cool.
- Add orzo and cook for another 8 minutes (or until orzo is tender), stirring often so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. Once chicken is cool, use two forks to shred it then add back to the pot.
- Remove soup from heat. Drain cashews and add to high-speed blender with remaining 1 cup water (I use my Nutribullet) and blend until very smooth and creamy.
- Add cashew cream to soup along with lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. Keep in mind the soup will thicken quite a bit and get amazingly creamy as it cools from the starch of the orzo, so don't fret if it appears thinner at first.
Notes
*I love raw chicken breast for the best flavor here, but you can swap in 3 heaping cups shredded rotisserie chicken. In step 3, add spinach, broth, dill, and turmeric. Bring to a boil over high heat and then reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Proceed to step 4 and add pre-cooked chicken per the recipe.
**I prefer the texture of the spinach once its realluy cooked down, but if you want greener, less cooked spinach, simply sir it in in step 6.