Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup made in the Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker. A delicious and healthy soup with tender chicken, lots of veggies and orzo pasta. A perfect meal for the cold weather!
Near my workplace, I used to enjoy this Lemon Chicken Orzo soup at Corner Bakery. I always wanted to make this at home, so I could share the goodness with my family. Now that I am not working at that company, I have been missing the soup even more. So here is my take at this hearty soup!
How to make Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup?
If you have made Chicken Noodle soup, this is kind of similar, but not exactly the same. I use orzo pasta in place of noodles. Orzo is shaped like grains of rice, and are great as a side or in salads. They are a perfect carb addition to this soup.
In this recipe, I cut the chicken to small pieces and add right after the onions. It helps with making this quicker, as I don't have to cook the chicken separately. However if you prefer shredded chicken, you can always cook the chicken separately, then shred it while the other ingredients are cooking and add it along with the cream.
This is not a super thick soup, unlike my Creamy Broccoli Cheddar soup (If you haven't already, you must try it!). In the Broccoli Cheddar soup, I make a roux before pressure cooking. In this soup, as we are cooking pasta along with the soup, it naturally thickens a bit. And if you refrigerate it to enjoy the next day, it thickens even more.
Here is a quick video to show how easy it is to make this soup in the Instant Pot:
Here are other Instant Pot Soups you might enjoy:
Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup - Instant Pot Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- ¾ cup Onion diced
- 1 tbsp Garlic minced
- ½ lb Chicken cut in small pieces
- ¾ cup Carrot grated or cut into small pieces
- ¾ cup Celery cut into small pieces
- ½ tsp Salt adjust to taste
- ¼ tsp Black Pepper
- ½ tsp Thyme
- ⅓ cup Orzo
- 2 cup Broth Veggie or Chicken
- 1 tbsp Lemon juice
- ¼ cup Cream heavy whipping
- Parsley leaves to garnish
Instructions
- Start the instant pot in SAUTE mode and heat it. Add oil, onions and garlic. Stir and saute for 2 minutes.
- Add chicken and mix with the onions. Spread them in the pot and let them saute for 3 minutes.
- Add carrots, celery, orzo, salt, pepper, thyme and broth. Stir well. Press Cancel and close the lid with vent in sealing position.
- Set the instant pot on MANUAL or pressure cook mode at high pressure for 6 minutes.
- When the instant pot beeps, quick release the pressure manually. Open lid and stir the soup.
- Stir in lemon juice, cream and parsley. Press Saute and let the soup come to a quick boil in about a minute.
- Soup is ready to be served.
Video
Notes
- Orzo pasta I used had a cook time on the pack of 9 minutes, so I cooked it in the soup for 6 minutes. Adjust the cooking time if the orzo you use has a different cooking time.
- I have used Better Than Bullion base to make broth. It is just easier to keep at hand for all my cooking. You may want to skip adding salt if using this.
Note: Nutrition values are my best estimates. If you rely on them for your diet, use your preferred nutrition calculator.
Loved all the soups I hav tried from your blog! Thanks a lot for posting extremely tasty and easy recipes!
Hi Deepa - Glad to hear you have been enjoyed the soup recipes!
Would any adjustments to cooking times be needed if I doubled this? One recipe was not enough. It was soo good!
Hi Jann - The same cooking time will work even if you double the quantity. Glad to hear you enjoyed the soup!