Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup

This is hands down one of our favorite - probably top 3 dishes of all time. It is just the perfect combination of flavors. It is zesty, hearty, fresh, and just warms your soul. I can confidently say we have never only had 1 bowl of this soup when I make it. I’m talkin we usually get thirds. It’s one we always get excited about. This recipe is one I perfected over the years but it originally came from my late Turkish aunt who would make this for me every time I came to visit her summer house in Turkey when I was little. I remember she didn’t have an electric blender and she would tell me she spent an hour whisking the lemon egg mixture to make sure the soup was perfectly creamy for me 😂 Well don’t worry you won’t need to do that!

Here is everything you’ll need:

Ingredients:

• 2 TB Extra Virgin Olive Oil

• 2 Chicken breasts or 4 Chicken Thighs (I use Organic boneless skinless) - season the chicken with salt, pepper, cayenne

• 1 Yellow onion - thinly sliced

• 2 Carrots - shaved and sliced

• 4 Garlic Cloves - mashed

• 6 C Water (or use organic bone broth)

• 1 C Orzo

• 2 Eggs

• 3 Lemons

• 2.5 T Sea Salt

• 1 T Pepper

• 1 T Oregano

• Fresh parsley to add once cooked

Directions

Add olive oil to a large pot on medium high and add in the vegetables. Sauté for 6 min, stirring frequently, then add in the chicken. Brown both sides of chicken, about 3 minutes on each side. Then add in the water. Bring to a boil. Then add in orzo and bring heat down to medium. Cook for 20 minutes or until the orzo is fully cooked through (just taste it!)

While this is cooking, juice the lemons in a bowl and crack the eggs in as well. Whisk the mixture until fully mixed. After the orzo is cooked through, you are going to add in the lemon egg mixture but you must add in the hot soup to the bow first one spoonful at a time and stir. I usually do 4 spoonfuls, stirring about 5 times between each spoonful, then add the lemon egg mix to the soup. If you don’t do this the eggs will cook too fast and you will have stringy egg whites in the soup. The longer you can stir the hot soup in the bowl the better :) You want the eggs to be pretty much cooked before dumping it into the soup.

Then turn the heat on low, let it cook for 3 more minutes and turn off.

Serve in bowls and top with fresh chopped parsley - I usually do a big handful of this. Only add to your bowl though so the parsley doesn’t cook.

P.S. Be sure to tag me on Instagram if you make this because I love seeing you all make my recipes! @stay.wellwithmel - I also have a step-by-step reel of how to make this here