Chicken Orzo Soup

Although we still have some warm days ahead, the cold autumn weather is peeking around the corner. The other day, I simply couldn’t get my fingers to warm up, so I knew it was the perfect night for soup! So, to the pantry I headed for inspiration, where I found a box of orzo. Lo and behold, the box had a simple recipe for chicken orzo soup. Naturally, I had to take the recipe and tweak it to make it my own. ….and because it forgot to mention garlic in the ingredients. The best part of this chicken orzo soup? Not only did everyone eat it, but they all said they LIKED it! That’s an extremely rare occurrence these days, so I’m claiming this as a victory, which means I’m sharing it with all y’all!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups mirepoix mix
• 2/3 cup uncooked orzo
• 2 tbs butter or oil
• 2-3 cloves garlic*
• 1 tsp ginger*
• 1/2 tbl parsley flakes
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 cup Tyson grilled and ready fajita flavored chicken (cubed or diced to preference)
• 9 cups broth of choice (I prefer vegetable)

* – I have been enjoying using Dorot Gardens garlic and ginger. It’s frozen in cubes, and makes preparing meals SUPER easy!

In medium or large pot, sauté mirepoix mix (I finely chop ours before sautéing) in butter or oil until softened. Add garlic and ginger and let sauté for 1-2 minutes more. Add chicken for 2-3 minutes more and remaining seasonings. Add orzo and broth, and bring to boil. Let boil for 10 minutes. Makes 10 servings. Refrigerate or freeze leftovers.

Variations:

• Add mushrooms to sauté with veggies.
• Sprinkle in nutritional yeast, chia seeds, and/or flax seeds for an extra boost of nutrition.
• Replace chicken with baked tofu.
• Replace broth with water and boullion cubes or powder.
• Replace orzo with ramen noodles.

ENJOY!

What ways would you enhance this delicious and versatile soup? Also, make sure you try My Mom’s Chicken Tortilla Soup, or my Vitamix Chicken Tortilla Soup. If you really need to warm up your bones, try this amazing chili recipe or this chicken chili recipe, too!