Cheryl's Lemon Chicken Soup with Orzo

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• prep time: 15 minutes
• cook time: 30 minutes
• total time: 45 minutes
• yield: 6 hearty servings (about 2 cups each)

DESCRIPTION

Filling, fresh, and vibrant lemony chicken soup made creamy with NO CREAM and a secret ingredient! 

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INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 carrots, peeled and diced
• half of an onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 8-10 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup orzo
• 3-ish cups cooked chicken (I use shredded rotisserie chicken)
• 3 eggs
• juice of 3-4 lemons (about 1/2 cup)
• a handful of fresh spinach
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• lots of freshly ground pepper
• as much fresh dill as you can handle

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Base: Heat large soup pot over medium heat. Add the olive oil. Add the carrots, onion, and garlic. Saute until fragrant and tender, about 10 minutes. (Be careful not to burn the garlic.)
2. Orzo: Add the broth and bring to a simmer. Add the orzo and cook for a few minutes until softened. Stir in the chicken and remove from heat.
3. Eggs: Whisk the eggs and lemon juice together in a small bowl. The idea here is to warm up the egg mixture slowly (without scrambling the eggs). Slowly add a scoop of the soup into the egg mixture. Then add your warmed egg mixture back to the soup pot – slowly, slowly, slowly, stirring constantly, until smooth and creamy. 
4. Final touches: Finish by stirring in your spinach, salt, pepper, and dill and adjust seasonings to taste!

NOTES

Broth: If you like a chunkier soup, go for 8 cups of broth. If you like a more brothy soup, go for 10 cups.
Leftovers: This works great as leftovers. The orzo likes to soak up that moisture, so you might just have to thin it out a bit as you reheat.
Eggs: If you add your egg mixture to the soup when it’s too hot, the eggs will scramble! It’s gross. Don’t do that. To help your soup cool down more quickly in preparation for the egg mixture, you can stir in a few ice cubes.