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Chicken and Orzo Soup with Garlic and Paprika
For this simple Turkish-inspired soup, browning a generous amount of tomato paste with chopped garlic builds a complex, deeply savory base. Sweet paprika lends bold color and earthy notes and dried mint infuses the dish with its unique herbaceousness. Simmering the orzo in the broth after the chicken is fully tender ensures perfectly cooked pasta, and also adds body to the broth. If you like, serve with crusty bread or a simple salad dressed with lemon vinaigrette.
4
Servings
40 minutes
15 minutes active
Ingredients
-
3
tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to serve
-
⅓
cup tomato paste
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February 10, 2024
Wonderful Flavor
I don't think I have ever made a soup with mint and wasn't sure about this one, but it is delicious. I made it on a cold, rainy day and it was the perfect meal. I used bone in, skin on thighs which I am sure gave it more flavor. We got three servings instead of four but that was because we kept going back for more.
September 17, 2023
A go-to!
Absolutely love this soup. The dried mint makes it so distinctive, but the other ingredient list is so short and so flexible that this is my first thought when I am trying to avoid a full grocery run. I always have tomato paste frozen in ice cube trays (such a great hack for avoiding waste) and always have a small pasta, so this suits a busy night. I usually make this with pre-cooked rotisserie chicken. I’ve added spinach at the end to get a serving of something green in the same pot. One time, I subbed some leftover farro in for half of the orzo (basically using equal portions) and the extra chew was delicious. I might try adding chickpeas sometime. It’s a big win.
July 3, 2023
We all love this one!
I've made this soooo many times! The first time I made it I got busy cleaning house and the liquid reduced down by about a third but I left it that way and we really love the more concentrated flavor. Additionally, I always use the double strength tomato paste when making this soup - it adds additional depth of flavor IMO.
January 4, 2023
Great, quick soup!
Really enjoyed this soup. I didn't have the dried mint so I used dried oregano in its place.
December 13, 2022
Go To Soup
I always add more garlic so I increased the amount to 6 cloves. I also didn't have any paprika so used Mexican Chili Lime seasoning instead.
This soup is delicious. I don't use a lot of mint in cooking, so I was a bit worried about the amount listed in the recipe; however, I was happy to find that it was actually very well balanced once the soup was fully cooked. The only changes I made were to use chicken broth in place of 4 cups of the liquid called for since I used chicken breasts instead of thighs to make sure I didn't lose out on too much of the chicken flavor for the switch from thighs.
Delicious! House still smells wonderful, too! To make this even easier, I used half of a rotisserie chicken -- prepared the soup according to directions, except added the orzo first -- cooked 15 minutes, then added the mint and chicken for the last 5 minutes to reheat. (Note - I used fresh mint.) I also used stock for the whole 7 c. Really good!
What exactly does "Simmer, uncovered, until a skewer inserted into the chicken meets no resistance. " mean? 30 minutes, 60, 90???? Please give us a little more guidance on these vague instructions? Thank you.
I would certainly temp it. The safe temperature for chicken is 165F, but I think at the point where the thighs would be in the state as described, the temperature would be closer to 190-210F.
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I've made this twice in the past two weeks. The first time I made it exact to the recipe. The second time I halved the recipe, but used the full cup of orzo, this made it come out almost between a stew and a risotto and made the perfect portions for two people. I will definitely be adding this recipe to my usual weeknight repertoire, simply delicious!