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lemon chicken orzo soup instant pot recipe

Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup Instant Pot.

Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup Instant Pot recipe tastes even better than Panera Bread Lemon chicken orzo soup. You can make it with wholesome readily available ingredients at home under 30 mins. It's easy, nutritious and equally delicious!
5 from 4 votes
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Course: Main Course, Soup
Cuisine: American
Keyword: copycat panera lemon chicken orzo soup, greek lemon chicken orzo soup instant pot, instant pot lemon chicken orzo soup, Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup Instant POt
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 6 people
Calories: 432kcal
Author: Meghna
Cost: $5

Ingredients

  • 1.5 pounds chicken thighs **or use chicken breasts, skinless & boneless. If frozen thaw it.
  • 1 cup Orzo Pasta
  • 1 cup onion **roughly chopped yellow onion. DO NOT use red onion.
  • 1 cup carrots **cubed
  • 1 cup celery **roughly chopped
  • 1 tbsp garlic **minced
  • 1 tbsp Lemon zest
  • ¼ cup Lemon Juice **freshly squeezed lemon juice.
  • 2 tbsp Unsalted Butter
  • 1 tbsp Olive Oil **use light or extra light
  • salt **use according to your personal preference.

Seasonings

  • ½ tsp oregano
  • ½ tsp Ground Black Pepper
  • ½ tsp red pepper flakes
  • ¼ tsp Paprika
  • 1 twig rosemary **fresh rosemary. If using dried rosemary add ½ tsp.

Liquid

  • 6 cups water **warm. Read NOTES below.
  • 1 tbsp Better Than Bouillon **stir this in the 6 cups warm water to make an instant stock. Use Better than bouillon chicken base.

Thickener (Optional)

  • 1.5 tbsp Cornstarch **diluted with 1.5 tbsp water to form a thick smooth slurry.

Instructions

  • Sauté aromatics: Set Instant Pot on Sauté mode on high heat. Add butter & oil. When the butter begins to melt throw in the chopped onion and garlic and sauté for just 20 seconds.
    saute aromatics
  • Sauté Vegetables & seasonings: Throw in the diced carrots & celery, sauté for 1 min. Add the seasonings except the fresh rosemary twig ( mentioned above in the "seasonings" section in the ingredients list) and sauté for 2 mins. If adding dried rosemary add it now. Also, add salt according to your taste preference.
    saute veggies
  • Deglaze pot: Cancel the Sauté mode. Add chicken stock and deglaze the pot very well by scrapping the sides & the bottom of the pot with the help of your spatula. There should not be any food particles stuck at the bottom of the pot. This step is VERY important and will prevent the burn error.
    deglaze pot
  • Orzo Pasta & chicken: Now, add the orzo pasta and give everything a good stir. Place the thawed or fresh boneless skinless chicken thighs on top of the pasta and DO NOT stir of mix. Throw in the fresh rosemary twig & the freshly grated lemon zest.
    add orzo and chicken
  • Pressure Cook: Secure the lid of the instant pot, PRESSURE COOK on high for just 3 mins. Once, the cooking cycle is over the instant pot will begin to beep. Immediately perform a quick pressure release by moving the valve from the sealing to the venting position. Open the lid when the floating pin on the lid drops. Cancel the pressure cook option.
    pressure cook
  • Shred Chicken: Fish out the fresh rosemary twig & discard. Also, fish out the cooked chicken & shred them with the help of a pair of fork. You can even dice it into bite size pieces if you prefer it that way.
    shred chicken
  • Thicken soup: Add lemon juice into the pot, mix well. Add back the shredded chicken & give everything a good stir. Now, add the optional cornstarch slurry (Read **NOTES below), stir well & simmer the soup on Sauté set at low heat for just 1 min or until the soup thickens a bit. Serve immediately for best texture and enjoy! You can garnish with fresh chopped flat leaf parsley.
    thicken soup

Video

Notes

  1. Garlic: If you do not like garlic than do cut back on the quantity of garlic and add about ½ tbsp instead of 1 tbsp. Garlic adds ton of depth of flavor to this light and simple soup, we recommend adding more.
  2. Dump & cook chicken orzo soup: Skip sauteing the aromatics. Instead dump everything in the pot ins this order: onion, carrots, celery garlic, orzo, seasonings, liquid, lemon zest, give it a quick stock. Place the chicken and pressure cook. The rest of the recipe would remain the same.
  3. Seasonings: The fresh rosemary adds a ton of fresh aroma and flavor to this simple orzo chicken soup recipe. Add it if you can or replace it with ½ tsp dried rosemary.
  4. Thickening the soup: Cornstarch slurry is a fantastic gluten free thickener that slightly thickens the soup, gives it a stew like body and also makes it creamy. You'll love it. However, if you want to skip this step you certainly can, in that case you'll get a brothy and much more lighter chicken orzo soup.
  5. Reheating leftovers: The cooked orzo pasta in the leftover soup will soak up almost all the liquid. You need to add more stock or water while reheating the soup.
  6. Is the soup spicy? The slight amount of red pepper flakes will only add a slight kick but not make the soup spicy. It's delicious, but if you are spice intolerant do skip the red pepper flakes.
  7. Skipping better than bouillon: You can replace the better than bouillon stirred in 6 cups water and add 6 cups store bought or homemade chicken stock instead.
 
Calorific details are provided by a third party application & are to be used as indicative figures only.
 
Nutrition Facts
Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup Instant Pot.
Amount Per Serving
Calories 432 Calories from Fat 234
% Daily Value*
Fat 26g40%
Saturated Fat 8g50%
Trans Fat 1g
Polyunsaturated Fat 5g
Monounsaturated Fat 11g
Cholesterol 121mg40%
Sodium 134mg6%
Potassium 468mg13%
Carbohydrates 28g9%
Fiber 3g13%
Sugar 3g3%
Protein 23g46%
Vitamin A 3952IU79%
Vitamin C 10mg12%
Calcium 52mg5%
Iron 1mg6%
* Read our privacy policy - Calorie information is provided as a courtesy only and should be leveraged as an estimate rather than a guarantee.Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Nutrition

Calories: 432kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 23g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 121mg | Sodium: 134mg | Potassium: 468mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 3952IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 52mg | Iron: 1mg