We love eating at Panera Bread. They serve the best soup and sandwiches. We especially love their Lemon Chicken Orzo soup but they don’t offer it all of the time. They rotate the soups on their menu and just when I am falling in love with one of them they remove it. They usually bring it back but it may take another year because they seem to put certain soups on the menu based on the season.
We found out that Lemon Chicken Orzo soup is easy to make a home and we have the Panera Bread recipe down to almost perfection.
Homemade Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup Recipe
Ingredients:
yields three to four servings
- 4 ounces orzo pasta
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 2 carrots, thinly sliced into 1/2 inch slivers
- 1 celery stalk, chopped
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 bay leaf
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 26 ounces chicken broth
- juice of one lemon
- zest of one lemon
- 4 to 5 ounces of cooked chicken
- 5 ounces of baby spinach
- 3 to 4 slices of fresh lemon for garnish
Directions:
- Cook orzo in large pot of salted water until partially cooked. Then drain and rinse with cold water until cooled.
- In medium pot, heat olive oil on medium heat. Stir in carrots, onion, and celery and cook until vegetables start to soften. Add garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add thyme, oregano, bay leaf, salt, and black pepper. Cook entire mixture for about one minute.
- Add chicken broth to vegetables and seasonings, bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat and let simmer for ten minutes. Simmer longer if vegetables are not tender.
- Once vegetables are tender; add orzo, chicken, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Cook on medium-low heat until orzo and chicken are heated. Stir in baby spinach and cook until spinach is wilted.
- Spoon soup into individual soup bowls and garnish with lemon slice.