This soup turned me into a meme of myself. For years, I’d groaned over the comments on recipes: “I made this pepperoni pizza and it turned out NOTHING like the pictures! I didn’t have cheese, so I substituted pastina, and I couldn’t find pepperoni, so I used some moldy peaches from the back of my fridge.”

And then I started making Half Baked Harvest’s Creamy Turmeric Lemon Chicken and Orzo Soup from her cookbook, Quick & Cozy. I completely eschewed Ina Garten’s recommendation to make a recipe first, as-is, before attempting to riff on it. I went wild, largely because I wanted to use a slow cooker instead of a Dutch oven, didn’t have time to sauté veggies and had an abundance of spinach, not kale, on hand. (I’m trying to boost my iron, so spinach goes in everything these days.)

It was a recipe for chaos, sure—but it wound up tasting phenomenal. And as I tinkered more, I created a fall soup that I can’t wait to devour. (Like embarrassingly stand over the slow cooker and spoon “just a few bites” into a mug that I gulp down between meals.)

One Quick Tip:

To save money on fresh herbs, I buy one pack of poultry seasoning instead of individual rosemary, thyme and sage. I remove half the thyme (there’s usually too much in those packs) and throw in the rest. Lazy? Yes. Effective? Also yes.

Slow Cooker Lemon Chicken, Orzo & Vegetable Soup

It's creamy, it's comforting—and it's absolutely loaded with flavor.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 6 hours hrs

Total Time 6 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Course: Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine: American

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 1 white onion, diced
• 5 medium carrots, chopped (or 2 handfuls baby carrots, chopped)
• 5 celery stalks, chopped
• 7 cloves garlic, diced
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
• 1 tablespoon chopped rosemary
• 1 tablespoon fresh sage
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1.5 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 Parmesan cheese rind (optional, but encouraged)
• 10 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 3/4 cup heavy cream (or whole milk)
• 1/2 cup basil pesto (I use store-bought)
• juice of 2 lemons
• 2 to 3 cups fresh spinach
• 1 pound orzo
• chopped fresh dill

Equipment

• 1 cutting board
• 1 chef's knife
• 1 slow cooker
• 1 stirring spoon or ladle

Method

 

1. Turn the slow cooker to low and add in onion, carrots, celery, garlic, thyme, rosemary, sage, whole chicken breasts, the Parm rind (if you're using it) and chicken broth. Let it cook for 6 to 8 hours.
2. In the last 30 minutes before serving, remove the Parm rind and add in the heavy cream (or milk), pesto, lemon juice and spinach. Give it a good stir and switch to warm. Remove the chicken, shred it with forks or chop into bite-sized pieces—it will be pull-apart tender—and return to the slow cooker. As the mixture cools and starts to thicken a bit, cook the orzo to al dente, according to the package's instructions.
3. Spoon orzo into bowls and top with soup. Add salt and pepper to taste and garnish with dill.

Notes

I often toss the remaining orzo into the leftover soup. The orzo will absorb a ton of the liquid and soften up, thickening the soup to a more porridge-like texture for day two. It’s different, but I love it that way! If you want it to be a thinner, more traditional soup, store the orzo and soup separately in the fridge and then combine just before reheating and serving.