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    Home » Recipes » Soup

    Chicken and Orzo Light Soup

    April 12, 2012 by Kankana Saxena

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    No matter how hard I try to think and dig my brain, there would not be any interesting memories about soup from my childhood! I don't think Mom ever made a soup from scratch. It was always the instant, packaged soup that was quickly whipped up to keep us warm during the monsoon season. And, we always loved those packaged soups.

    Irrespective of the season, a soup can be the most comforting meal to enjoy with some bread on the side.

    Although, we mostly prefer a creamy vegetable soup for dinner, this light clear soup was a delightful treat for the tummy. Fresh vegetables, flavored with spices and herbs, meatballs for the extra protein and orzo for that starchy creaminess in the broth.

    I am sure even noodles or spaghetti will taste great along with the meatballs. I just decided to use orzo as it's my personal favorite pasta for any soup. And, it fits perfectly fine next to the tiny meatballs. That's just my silly theory!

    For my vegetarian friends who don't eat meat, I am sure that veg balls will taste equally good. Grate some veggies, add dried herbs or spices, mix it properly, bind it with little bit of flour and you are set to make veg balls for the soup.

    The meatballs should be made before you start preparing the soup. It's just pan fried to give a golden crust and later dropped in the soup to cook through.

    This soup doesn't have any rules and you can throw whatever vegetables you like in the pot. Just cook the veggies until they're tender and soup will be ready for supper. Inspiration for this recipe came from the Bon Appetite Magazine

    If you are wondering why the bread looks orange? It's the compound butter, which I am finding really hard to stay away from!

    chicken and orzo soup 5

    Meat Balls and Orzo Soup

    Kankana Saxena
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    Ingredients
     

    for the meatballs

    • 1 cup minced chicken
    • 1 cup bread crumbs
    • 1 teaspoon cumin powder
    • 1 teaspoon chili powder
    • 1 egg
    • 2 cloves of garlic (grated)
    • ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
    • salt and freshly grated pepper
    • 2 tablespoons oil to pan fry the meatballs

    for the soup

    • 1 tablespoon butter
    • 1 inch ginger (grated)
    • 2 bay leaves
    • 2 carrots (cut in bite size)
    • ½ celery stalk (cut in bite size)
    • ½ cup orzo
    • 1 tablespoon fresh or dried basil leaves
    • 2 cups of water or broth
    • juice of ½ lemon
    • salt for seasoning
    • grated parmesan for garnishing

    Instructions
     

    Prepare the meat balls

    • In a mixing bowl, add all the ingredients (except oil) and mix until everything is properly combined.
    • Make tiny balls and keep it aside.
    • In a pan, heat the oil and fry the meatballs rolling it frequently to give it a nice brown crust.

    Prepare the soup

    • In a deep pan, heat the butter.
    • Drop grated ginger, bay leaves and give it a stir.
    • Add celery, carrots and cook for about 2 minutes.
    • Season with salt and add basil leaves. Cook for couple more minutes.
    • Now, add broth or water to the pan.
    • Once it starts boiling, add the meatballs and let it cook for about 5 minutes.
    • Add orzo to it, season with some more salt and let it cook for 8 minutes.
    • Pour lemon juice and check for salt one last time.
    • Discard the bay leaves and serve the soup with some grated parmesan on top for garnish.

    Notes

    The cooking time of meatballs will depend on the size of the balls. Orzo takes about 7 to 8 minutes to cook and keep that in mind before you drop orzo in the soup.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1Servings

    More Soup

    • Chicken Wonton Noodle Soup
    • Masoor Dal
    • Masoor Palak Dal (Red Lentil Spinach Stew)
    • Creamy Garlic Mushroom Soup

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Ira Rodrigues

      April 18, 2012 at 8:54 pm

      so beautiful presentations! If you serve me this soup i would have bring the bowl to my home! lol

    2. Sukanya

      April 17, 2012 at 7:55 am

      Love ur soup bowl, so pretty and offcourse the beautiful presentation, thoough I am yet to try orzo, clear chicken soup any day 🙂

    3. Kitchen Belleicious

      April 17, 2012 at 4:22 am

      5 stars on the food styling. 5 stars on the ingredients and flavors and 5 stars on making the absolutely perfect comfort food! i love it!

    4. Lisa H

      April 16, 2012 at 6:37 pm

      Wow.. love the styling and the photos... simple gorgeous 😀

    5. Magic of Spice

      April 16, 2012 at 5:59 pm

      Such a beautiful soup, and as always, amazing photos!

    6. lisaiscooking

      April 16, 2012 at 12:47 pm

      I'm a fan of orzo in soup too, and it looks great with the chicken meatballs. Sounds like a light but satisfying soup!

    7. Deepa

      April 16, 2012 at 10:11 am

      I am a soupy person and this bowl of soup with meat balls is screaming my attention. Loved the way you have presented.

    8. Kaitlin

      April 16, 2012 at 5:37 am

      I love how comforting this soup looks! I remember when I was a kid, my mom used to make me chicken pastina soup and called it Kaitlin Soup. I seriously thought it was my very own soup until, oh, college! 🙂

    9. Alyssa

      April 16, 2012 at 3:50 am

      There is just something about soup, even if it is instant that is just comforting. Your soup certainly looks light, but still hearty enough to be filling. As always, beautiful photos!

    « Older Comments

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