Lemony Dill Chicken Soup with Orzo
and peas / carrots / yogurt
Lemon and dill give this classic chicken soup a ton of fresh, spring flavor.
Smarts: Don't forget to taste the soup at the end of cooking and add even more of these flavorful ingredients if you'd like!
Ingredients
- Onions, yellow - 1/2, diced
- Carrots - 8 oz, diced
- Garlic - 2 cloves, chopped
- Chicken thighs, boneless and skinless - 1 lb
- Dill, fresh - 1 Tbsp, chopped
- Oil, cooking - 1 Tbsp + 1 Tbsp
- Bay leaves - 2
- Vinegar, red or white wine - 2 tsp
- Pasta, uncooked orzo - 1/2 cup
- Italian seasoning - 1 tsp
- Salt - 1/2 tsp
- Black pepper - 1/4 tsp
- Stock, any type - 4 cups
- Baby spinach - 4 oz
- Peas, frozen - 1/2 cup
- Lemon juice - 4 Tbsp
- Yogurt, plain or Greek - 1/2 cup
- Baguette or other fresh bread (opt) - for serving
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Onions / Carrots / Garlic - Prep as directed and combine. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Chicken - Tenderize chicken and season with some salt and pepper. (Can be done up to 2 days ahead)
- Dill - Prep as directed.
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Make
- Heat a Dutch oven with first portion of oil over low-medium heat. Add chicken and cook on both sides until cooked through, ~8 minutes total. Set chicken aside.
- Add second portion of oil to Dutch oven and increase heat to medium. Add onions, carrots, garlic, and bay leaves and saute until aromatics are starting to turn tender, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Pour vinegar over aromatics, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan.
- Add pasta, Italian seasoning, salt, and black pepper and cook for 1 minute.
- Pour stock into pan and bring to a simmer. Simmer until pasta is nearly tender (check package for recommended cook time).
- While pasta is simmering, chop or shred chicken.
- Return to soup and stir in spinach and peas (no need to defrost them first). Cover pan with a lid to help spinach wilt. Cook until spinach is wilted, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Remove soup from heat and stir in chicken, dill, and lemon juice.
- Taste soup and season with some salt and pepper.
- Ladle soup into bowls. Serve with yogurt on top and bread on the side (if you’d like). Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Reviews
Ratings
27 reviews
Great flavors in this soup. Note for the gluten free orzo: it takes longer to cook and soaks up a lot of broth. I would add maybe two more cups of broth for gluten free!
0 HelpfulAbsolutely perfect, although we doubled the lemon because we like the sour kick. And better the next day.
0 HelpfulThis was easy to make. Unfortunately it didn't go over well with our family. It's very sour and was a bit too much for us.
0 HelpfulVery tasty! Used chicken breast because that’s what I had. Skipped the spinach because I don’t like it in soup. Could have left out the pasta-I will next time.
0 Helpful