So I was talking to a friend and for some reason Greek food came up. He mentioned this recipe and I was intrigued. So I turned to my friend Google and looked up several versions before deciding on this one. I’d say the only change I made was to up the garlic and ditch the spinach. Don’t get me wrong, I love spinach, but not in my soup. And I almost always have shredded chicken in the freezer, left over from rotisserie chicken usually. Really the only thing I had to go out and buy was the orzo pasta.  It turned out delicious and was super easy to make. Enjoy!

Lemon Chicken Soup

• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 3 carrots, peeled and diced (about 1 cup)
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 5-8 cloves of garlic, diced
• 8 cups of chicken stock
• 1 cup orzo pasta
• 2-3 cups of shredded chicken
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 2 lemons, juiced (about 1/2 cup)
• 1 tsp salt (or to taste)
• 1 tsp black pepper (or to taste)
• 1 package of fresh dill, finely chopped

Directions:

I used my Instant Pot for this but if you don’t have one you can just a regular soup pot. On medium heat, or the sauté mode for the Instant Pot, cook the carrots, onion, and garlic in the olive oil with about half the salt for about 10 minutes or until softened. Be careful not to burn the garlic. Once softened, add the chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Add in the orzo and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add in the chicken (if it’s frozen even better).

Now beat together the eggs and lemon juice. Add a ladle full of the chicken stock mixture at a time, beating it into the egg lemon mixture. The idea here is to slowly bring the egg mixture up to temperature before adding it into the soup. This will prevent the eggs from scrambling and you’ll have a silky, creamy soup base. Once you’ve incorporated 4-5 ladle full pour it into the soup while slowly stirring. Add salt & pepper to taste. Add in the dill and cook for another 10 minutes or until the orzo is completely cooked.

This soup reheats very well but you may need to add a little more stock or water as the orzo can soak up a lot of moisture.