Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup

2 tbsp olive oil

2 lb Boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 1/2-inch pieces

5 Cans reduced-sodium chicken broth (14-1/2 ounces each)

8 cups Coarsely chopped Swiss chard, kale or spinach

2 Large carrots finely chopped

1 Small onion chopped

3 garlic cloves minced

1 handful chopped Italian parsley

1 Medium lemon halved and thinly sliced

1/4 cup Lemon juice

4 tsp Grated lemon zest

1/2 tsp Pepper

4 cups Cooked orzo pasta

Cook the orzo pasta ahead of time, and let it cool in fridge until the end of the recipe.

For cooking the chicken, drizzle olive oil onto a skillet and heat on high.

After chopping up chicken, add to skillet and cook all the way through.

(Optional) Cut chicken into small bite-sized pieces, or shred chicken.

Add cooked chicken to the slow cooker crock pot.

Add remaining ingredients, chicken broth, greens, carrots, onion, garlic, parsley, lemon slices, lemon juice, lemon zest, and pepper. Cook for 4 to 5 hours.

Add cooked orzo pasta, stir, and serve immediately.

5 cans of chicken broth is 72.5 ounces. 72.5 ounces is 9 cups.

2 lemons should give you 1/4 cup of lemon juice, 4 tsp of lemon zest, and some lemon slices.

Garlic cloves can be replaced with store bought minced garlic, use 4 tbsp instead of 3 cloves.

Chicken broth is preferable, not chicken stock. If you don’t have enough broth, but you do have Better Than Bouillon, you can add it with water (according to label) to make up for a lack of broth.

You can cook the chicken in whichever method you desire. I personally boil the chicken.

8 cups of spinach or kale might be too much. I tend to leave the spinach or kale out. I also leave out the lemon slices and just rely on the juice and zest for flavor.

To make it freezer- and leftover-friendly, store orzo separate from the soup to avoid the orzo taking in too much broth and becoming mushy.

To get 4 cups of cooked orzo, you’ll need to start with roughly 1 1/2 cups of uncooked orzo.

For extra flavor, you can cook the orzo in broth instead of water as well!

Orzo can be replaced with ditalini or stars pasta, if you desire a different shape.

For a vegetarian version, omit chicken and swap chicken broth for veggie broth.