I’m the soup fan in our family and I can easily turn anything into soup. This hearty Tomato Chicken Orzo Soup is made to welcome the coming Winter and it was so satisfying that we had it as dinner and we didn’t want to eat anything else to complete our meal. Each of us had two large bowls trying to decide whether to take another bowl. Thank God I made a full pot!
We’re having very cold days for a week and I can’t think of a better time for sharing a flavor-filled chicken orzo soup! One of the few reasons why I love winter could be that I make soups more often. Well, the other reasons are baking cookies and preparing hot drinks more!
Although our all time favorite is Orzo Soup with Tomato Sauce, I love to try new soup recipes. Chicken soup is mostly associated with treatment for cold and it really works, you start to feel better right after you have some chicken soup. I think we shouldn’t wait for getting cold to enjoy such a heartwarming soup though. Maybe it’s even better to have it beforehand since it protects you from cold.
We love this tomato chicken orzo soup with lots of lemon and tomato flavors in it. Besides the taste, it's healthier this way. You know vitamin C in lemon and lycopene in tomato make you feel stronger and you don’t easily get cold. Tomatoes are grated and sauteed with dried mint, which is one of the most important ingredient in this soup, it gives a wonderful refreshing flavor in the soup. Also, I use a few thick parsley stalks to enrich the soup and to make it even healthier. I just want to have their flavor, so I don’t chop them and I remove them when the soup is done.
Tomato chicken orzo soup could make a perfect dinner when you aren’t in the mood for making another dish as a main course. With chicken, orzo and generous amount of tomatoes, this super tasty soup is beyond a simple starter. This is definitely a must-make soup for those who love easy yet satisfying soups.
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📖 Recipe
Tomato Chicken Orzo Soup
INGREDIENTS
- 4 chicken drumsticks
- 6 cups water
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 tomatoes grated
- 1 teaspoon pepper paste
- ½ teaspoon dried mint
- ¾ cup orzo
- 4 parsley stalks
- 1 lemon squeezed
- Salt to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
- Boil chicken drumsticks in 6 cups water, let it cold and shred.
- Heat olive oil in a pot and saute grated tomatoes in it.
- Add in dried mint and pepper paste, stir.
- Pour the water in which you boil the drumsticks.
- Add the orzo when it boils.
- Put parsley stalks whole into the pot, let it boil until orzo is tender.
- Add in shredded chicken and discard parsley stalks.
- Pour lemon juice and add salt to taste. Boil for 5 minutes and remove the pot from the heat.
NUTRITION
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Ashley says
This soup is so good! I made it for my family tonight, and everyone LOVED it! Bravo! My first time grating tomatoes, and although I didn’t find pepper paste, I did find a red pepper sauce. I subbed chicken thighs and added extra red pepper sauce. This phenomenal soup will become a regular in our dinner rotation.
Beatrix says
Amazing! I was searching for the recipe after having this soup in one of London's restaurant. They didn't want to tell me the recipe. I'm so glad that I have found it. I made it today. It tasted the same what I had there. Thanks for sharing!
Yusuf says
Hi Beatrix! So glad to hear that you loved the recipe as much as you loved the soup you had in that restaurant.
It is one of our favorite soups, especially in winter.
Maria Javardian says
Truly was the medicine that healed my cold!! So aromatic, flavorful, colorful. Pepper paste is concentrated with flavorful red pepper. That gave this soup an intense flavor. Finished if off with a zing of fresh lemon. Great recipe, thank you.
Zerrin says
Hi Maria! I'm so happy to hear that it makes you feel better. It's great that you found pepper paste and used it in this recipe. You can use it in several other soup or stew recipes. Thank you for your feedback!
Andrea says
This must be an old post but I want to comment in case anyone wants to make this. This soup was really good! As for the recipe, it leaves some important info out like how long to boil the chicken and I ended up using a tsp of salt and just half the juice of a lemon. I didn't use any pepper paste either and I added an extra cup of water. Overall though, a really tasty homemade soup.
Zerrin says
Thank you Andrea for sharing your experience with the recipe. You're right, I should have written that chicken needs to be boiled until tender. I can't give exact time as it differs depending on the chicken.
Danielle says
Is there an alternative to shredded tomatoes to make the soup smoother, should I just use tomato purée? Thanks.
lybliss says
This looks divine but I've never heard of orzo.. is it a vegetable? Or a spice?
Calypsa says
It is a small pasta that looks kind of like rice. It's Italian, can usually be found with the other pastas 🙂
Jodee Weiland says
This looks delicious! The recipe loos so full of rich flavors. Thanks for sharing!
Julie says
What is pepper paste? Never heard of it.