Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup

Very good. After cooking the chicken I only had 4 cups of broth, was reluctant to add enough water to equal 9 cups so took the advice from a viewer & added 5 cups boxed chicken broth. Not sure if I'll make this again because it took forever to make, if I do I will add more lemon. Thanks for sharing.

I felt there was a lot of waste in this recipe. Why toss out perfectly good carrots, celery and onions?! To avoid that, I used 4 chicken breasts and just cooked them with the other ingredients to make the stock as I would have done with a whole chicken. I left the carrots and celery stalks whole then just boiled and simmered as directed and sieved the stock. Leaving the carrots and celery whole made it easy to remove them from the stock. I discarded the bay, garlic and some of the black peppercorns. I chopped the cooked celery, carrot and chicken and returned to the stock with the cooked onion and I used the back of a spoon to crush most of the black peppercorns and returned the crushed ones to the soup. I added the lemon, juice, zest, orzo etc as directed and also added spinach and peas. It is pretty good but you don't need to make this a day ahead and it doesn't need to be as wasteful as the recipe suggests.

Sadly, this recipe only turned out delicious because I injected flavor into it. If you look over the list of ingredients you'll notice the only real flavoring ingredients are salt and pepper... just not enough for me.. I added about three times the amounts of salt and pepper, and instead of adding water to equal the 9 cups of stock, I added boxed chicken stock. I also added more lemon juice.. it ended up really yummy.

This was very good. I also "cheated" and used store-bought chicken broth (hey, I was in a hurry!). I don't know why you wouldn't just cook the orzo in the soup... I added it at the same time as the veggies and it worked very well. I also had one less pot to scrub! I like my soup thick, though, so the slight amount of broth the pasta soaked up while cooking did not bother me. I didn't use all the pasta called for after reading some reviews- I used about 2/3 cup. The lemon flavor was great. It turned chicken noodle soup into something fancy. I skipped the parsley because I was paranoid about bitterness, but I did add a sprig of fresh thyme.

Cooked this for community soup/pizza night, it got rave reviews and requests for more, added fresh sweet peas, Enjoy!

Made this for my family fighting a virus. Did it faster with a few small changes; by using organic chicken broth,a rotissire chicken and the toothpick thin slices of ginger,(to break down mucus). I also doubled the lemon juice. They loved it! So did I. Definately saving this recipe.

I made this last night and it was wonderful. Rather than using a whole chicken, I had a very large bone in breast. I had to use about 9 cups of water to cover it completely so it would cook. The only other thing I did was to add a good handful of sliced fresh spinach with the orzo at the end of the recipe. The addition of the lemon juice and the zest was great. I make a soup once a week in the winter and this one will be added to the rotation.

I've made this soup several times and we really enjoy it. It makes a lot of soup. We find that the lemon flavor isn't strong, but just brightens up the other flavors of the soup. I use about half the amount of orzo and add more of the veggies. Corn is great in this soup and sometimes I add spinach as well.

Amazing soup! I have to admit I cheated a little; I had about 1.5 quarts of homemade chicken stock in my freezer so I thawed that out and then used a supermarket rotisserie chicken for the meat part of the soup (and the carcass went back in my freezer to make more stock). Other than that, I followed the recipe to a T and it was amazing! Great for a summer lunch, especially in my chilly office!

I used this recipe as the base for a lemon chicken soup - changed a few things, including using leftover Chicken flavored Rice-a-Roni instead of orzo, Penzeys chicken soup base instead of homemade broth and added frozen corn. The lemon zest and lemon broth were a nice flavor addition for a change of pace. I wouldn't do it every time I make chicken soup - but it was tasty this time!

This soup was delicious. It was the first chicken soup that I've made where the broth doesn't taste like dishwater. Followed the recipe exactly and the lemon added a nice flavor. Will definitely make again!

We really enjoyed this version of classic chicken soup. I thought the lemon added a nice, fresh flavor but then I love using fresh lemons in cooking. Tip to share: follow the recipe and cook the pasta separately. I figured I would just throw it into the soup and let simmer. It sucked up all the liquid and I had to add more and more stock until I had enough for Cox's army! Next time I will cook the pasta separately as it states and cut it back a bit. Otherwise, great soup! It definately goes into my soup rotation.

I found this recipe easy to make, but I felt that it was a bit off-tasting from all the lemon -- even though I omitted the lemon rind. It was also strikingly similar to another Cooking Light soup recipe "Nana's Chicken Pastina Soup" which I like better, incidentally. I think the soup would be improved by removing some of the orzo and maybe toning down the lemon just a tad.

The family loved this soup. It was done in no time at all. Much less effort then my home made soup. I think this is going to be my go to version from now on.

I love this recipe and have made it a bunch of times. It's a wonderful, healthy recipe.

Made this with wild pheasant instead of chicken - turned out really nice. Loved the flavor combo and the kick of lemon - very fresh for a light spring meal. 4-year old loved it too.

I love soup and this one is so good. You don't need as much orzo as the recipe calls for and I also cut down on the amount of chicken. Otherwise this is a winner!

I made the soup as is, and we loved it. The lemon flavor was not overpowering at all. I put the broth in the freezer for 3 hours since I didn't have time to start it the day before. Next time I may add a little more salt and perhaps a few sprigs of rosemary to give it a little extra flavor. Overall, this is a really good recipe!

Well I liked the soup but the family did not care for the lemony taste in their chicken soup. And since this one takes a bit of time and effort, I'll probably not make it again. I did like the fact that it made quite a lot. But I honestly think there are better chicken soup recipes out there.

Very Tasty, a different twist on chicken noodle soup

I did not deviate from the recipe and it was fabulous. My family said I am welcome to make it any time. Since then, I've made it 3 times.

Outstanding and very easy to make. Need to start the day before you want to serve but worth the effort. The lemon juice and zest add a wonderful flavor. Served with grilled ham and cheese sandwiches. First attempt, I did not use orzo but a short, thin soup pasta. My second attempt will be with orzo. Enjoy!

The lemon gives this recipe a fresh, surprising flavor. I love that the soup is less salty than any stock from a box. I added fresh rosemary that I had available. I would not use orzo pasta again. Due to the small size, the pasta was lost among the bigger pieces in the soup.

This recipe is so delicious. I cheated a little bit, so that it would not take too long to make. I bought a rotisseri chicken already done and de-boned that instead. Then I followed the recipe exact. I did use 9 cups of chicken broth, and I doubled the amount of lemon juice. It took approx 1 hour and 1/2 to make this comfort food. My husband thinks it is one of the best soups we have ever had. Just a side note, always use more liquid to cook the orzo rice then what the recipe on the back says. Do not put the rice in the soup until it is fully cooked.

I really liked this soup. I had all the ingredients handy. Very simple to make even though you need to precook the chicken and let it set. I liked the subtle lemony flavor, any more and I think it would have been overpowering. I served this with crusty garlic bread on a snowy night. YUM

Did not find the flavor to be lemony even when I doubled the amount called for. Good solid chicken soup recipie, but not one that stands out from others that I have made.