It’s my new twist on a classic Chicken Noodle recipe, but this particular one has much more flavor and it’s much more fun! It’s a delicious soup made with chicken meatballs, veggies, and orzo pasta.
I can’t seem to predict what my guys will like lately…. well, the little one, more or less. His taste is changing so fast, I can’t keep up. Sad news is that it’s changing for the worse. He is getting pickier and picker. He used to love orzo and all of a sudden …” nope, no, no!” Of course, that had to happen when I was trying this new soup. He loved the soup itself, picked out all the meatballs and broth but would not touch the orzo. I made it again for him but used Ditalini and he gobbled it up.
Speaking of picky eaters, my husband can be just as picky. He usually doesn’t eat soups (especially if it has a lot of veggies in it), so when I make a soup, I make a smaller batch. Of course, he decided that he LOVED this one and I need to make more (like now)!
As long as they love it, I’m happy! That’s all I ever need to hear!
My secret with this recipe is in caramelizing. So much great flavor comes from caramelized onion and meatballs. (Gotta confess, I’ve been loving caramelized onions lately and been adding them everywhere. You’ll see with some recipes to come.) Anyway, make sure to get the onions golden brown and the meatballs too. When you slowly add the stock, make sure to scrape the bottom of the pan with your wooden spoon to deglaze all that brown goodness and mix it into the broth.
Chicken Meatball & Orzo Hearty Soup
Ingredients
- Chicken Meatballs:
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs
- 1 egg
- 1 garlic clove
- 2 tsp fresh minced dill weed
- salt and pepper to taste
- Soup:
- 2 tbs vegetable oil
- 1/2 large yellow onion diced
- 2 medium carrots shredded
- 1 garlic clove
- 2 tbs vegetable oil
- chicken meatballs
- 4 cups of chicken stock
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup of orzo
- 1 tsp minced fresh dill weed
Instructions
- Meatballs: In a mixing bowl, combine the meat, crushed garlic, bread crumbs, egg, minced dill weed, salt and pepper. Mix until all evenly incorporated. Divide it into small meatballs and leave on a trey while you saute the veggies.
- Preheat 2 tbs of oil in a soup pot, over medium heat. Add diced onion and shredded carrots. Raise the heat to medium-high and saute the veggies until they begin to caramelize. Stir often.
- When they are nicely golden, add the crushed garlic and lower the heat back to medium. Saute until garlic is fragrant then take the veggies out of the pot and set aside.
- Add the other 2 tbs of oil and the meatballs. Cook the meatballs until mostly done, turning them after the bottom becomes golden.
- (Great flavor comes for caramelized onions and chicken meatballs and it will all transfer into the soup. )
- Once the meatballs are almost cooked, add the veggies back into the pot and then add the chicken stock.
- Add the bay leaf, salt and pepper. Cook, covered, for about 15 minutes.
- Add orzo and dill weed and cook until orzo is done. (About 10 minutes but make sure to taste the orzo to check.)
- Take out the bay leaf and serve!
Recipe Notes
Recipe from Lyuba @ willcookforsmiles.com. All images and content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to share this recipe, please simply link back to this post for the recipe. Thank you.
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Janet
November 3, 2013 at 11:01 amI just threw together a chicken and veggie soup for lunch. Tis the season! Thanks for the recipe. I do not eat orzo but would substitute potatoes, maybe even sweet potatoes. YUMMY!
Gloria // Simply Gloria
November 3, 2013 at 2:23 pmMy youngest is the same way. Usually surprises me, though with his taste buds. Sometimes picky and when I expect him to be picky… he’s not! My boys would definitely love this kind of soup. And, so would I! Have a happy Sunday, my friend!!
Karen Goodman
November 3, 2013 at 6:20 pmOMG, this looks SO good. I’ve never known what to do with ground chicken, so I’ve stayed away from it. And I love orzo. I am so going to try this.
And your timing is perfect. My Future Expat Required Ingredient Link Party that went live today is featuring chicken. I hope you’ll stop by and link it up so my readers can find this great recipe too!
Amy | Amy's Cooking Adventures
November 3, 2013 at 7:53 pmMmmmm…I’m a soup fanatic, especially as the weather gets cold! I totally get the picky eaters, too! I have three men in my house (1 big & 2 littles) Thankfully my husband isn’t picky, but the kids sure are!
Marisa France
November 4, 2013 at 6:56 amI can smell the heavenly aroma!! Just this morning I woke up and said – what kind of soup are we going to make next?? This sounds great. We’ve made chili, lemon chicken orzo, beef vegetable barley. My kids have insisted that along with Thanksgiving dinner they want my Gnocchi en brood. It is my mom’s recipe and the gnocchi are not made of potato but light as a feather little pillows made with egg, parmesan, and farina.
Marisa Franca
November 4, 2013 at 7:00 amI meant to ask you, do you grind your chicken? If not, have you ever tried? We grind our own meat but have never tried the poultry.
lyuba
November 24, 2013 at 4:50 pmSorry for the late response, Marisa!
I don’t grind my own mean right now but when I lived with my grandma, we did all our own ground meat. I do like it much better!
Michelle @ Elegance & Enchantment
November 4, 2013 at 9:40 amThis sounds so yummy, and I can’t wait to make it. I don’t have any kiddos, but my hubby isn’t always open to soups. He does, however LOVE orzo, so hopefully I can use that to coax him into trying it. If not, more for me to enjoy! 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Theresa @DearCreatives
November 4, 2013 at 3:39 pmI can’t wait to try your recipe! Looks delicious. We have soups at least once a week. Perfect to add to my meal plan. & pinned it
Erin
November 4, 2013 at 9:55 pmOh yes, this is just the recipe my kitchen has been missing! How perfect for these first few weeks of breaking in the chillier temps! I’d love for you to share this recipe with my link party Life Created Tuesdays! Thanks for the recipe inspiration 🙂
Carrie @ Frugal Foodie Mama
November 4, 2013 at 10:57 pmThis looks amazing, Lyuba! I love orzo, so I am going to have to give this recipe a try soon. 🙂
Thank you for sharing at Marvelous Mondays this week! Pinned.
Cara
November 6, 2013 at 1:17 pmThis looks amazing! Just wondering, how much meatballs should you end up with? Just so I have a rough estimate, I guess it’s not too important, they just might need more cooking or something? Thanks!
lyuba
November 24, 2013 at 5:06 pmSorry for the late response, Cara!
Honestly, it really doesn’t matter. I made smaller meatballs for my son to easily eat them but you can make them any size!
[email protected]
November 7, 2013 at 10:20 amMy daughter and I were just taking about how much we love soup! This one looks amazing!
Kristen Duke
November 10, 2013 at 8:02 pmThis sounds perfect for a chilly day! Good to know for picky eaters that substituting Ditalini is a good alternative!
Samantha @ Five Heart Home
November 12, 2013 at 1:48 pmThis looks delicious, Lyuba! I’ve pinned it and shared it on my Five Heart Home Facebook page. Can’t wait to try it on one of these chilly nights!
Mackenzie @ Cheerios and Lattes
November 15, 2013 at 5:30 pmOohh Lyuba this looks delicious! I’ve never actually made chicken meatballs; what a great idea!
Jen
November 17, 2013 at 7:00 pmI have been looking forward to making this and finally did today. It was yummy! I had ground turkey on hand, so I used it instead of ground chicken, broth instead of stock. I wish I would have stock on hand, but I’ll use it next time.
Wonderful recipe!!
Jen
November 17, 2013 at 7:03 pmExcuse my typos…I’m on my phone :/
lyuba
November 24, 2013 at 5:08 pmNo problem at all! I’m so happy you liked it!! The original plan was to use turkey but I went with chicken because my boys like it better 🙂
Thank you, Jen!
Barbara
December 8, 2013 at 10:44 amThis was delicious and relatively easy to make. Best of all the kids liked it too. Thanks for the recipe!
Cath
March 26, 2018 at 11:06 amThank you for being a reader who posted after they tried this recipe. So many people comment on how wonderful the recipe sounds but so few seem to comment after it’s been made. I had to scroll many comments before I got yours.
H
December 8, 2013 at 8:58 pmStumbled across this recipe on Pinterest and made it for dinner tonight. It was really good and the whole family enjoyed it. I did have to add a little more broth as the orzo cooked to keep it “soupy” but otherwise, was a great dinner. Thanks!
lyuba
December 15, 2013 at 8:27 amI’m so happy to hear that!! Glad everyone enjoyed it, H 🙂
Sarah
December 14, 2013 at 6:41 pmWe loved this recipe! A couple things we did differently: subbed turkey for chicken as it was cheaper at the market, used acini de pepe pasta as it cooks in the same time as orzo and I also had it on-hand, and we also pureed the vegetables because my boyfriend doesn’t like “chunks” in his soup. 😉 It was quite good. We’d make it again! We served it alongside asiago bread.
lyuba
December 15, 2013 at 8:29 amSounds wonderful! I’m glad you enjoyed it, Sarah!
Kaitlain Lake
January 15, 2014 at 10:27 pmI made the chicken meatball and orzo soup for dinner tonight and it was AMAZING! I was pleasantly surprised since I’ve never cooked with ground chicken. I’m trying to work my way through all of my pinterest recipes and and then comment on thee original pages. Your recipe has been the best so far!!!
lyuba
January 16, 2014 at 11:31 amThat is so nice of you, Kaitlain! Thank you for such a sweet comment, I’m so glad you liked the soup!
Jaclyn
March 3, 2014 at 12:57 pmHi! Making the soup now can’t wait to try it! Only thing was the chicken meatball mix was really kinda sticky to work with so I added water to my hand to make it a bit easier and I had to do the meatballs in batches bc they all wouldn’t fit in my pan but I can’t wait to try it smells really good!!
Tracy
May 22, 2014 at 12:53 pmI really like this recipe and so glad I stumbled upon your site. I have an old friend from the Ukraine. she is Russian also, and her mother makes some wonderful chicken meatballs. These taste similar. I am looking forward to trying more of your recipes. But….let me get to this review. I actually made a blunder which ended up being a good thing. I had a little glass of wine, and went to sit on the patio while waiting for the soup, the last step. I forgot about the soup and when I came back, all of the liquid had been absorbed. It was no longer a soup, but a stew or not even that, but a wonderful mix of orzo, veggies, and meatballs. My husband is not a huge soup fan, so this worked out well for him. It was hard to judge the amount of salt it needed. I was afraid to put too much. So next time I make it, which there will be a next time, I will either add more salt or add a packet of onion soup mix. I would even consider adding a squeeze of lemon juice. Thanks for sharing your recipes!
lyuba
June 8, 2014 at 7:47 amHaha, I have definitely done it before! I’m glad that you were able to salvage the soup/stew 🙂
I would just add a little more salt and taste is as it’s cooking! I’m so glad you liked it!
Karly
July 18, 2014 at 9:10 amThis is cooking as I type this and it smells amazing! Can’t wait to have it for lunch today
lyuba
July 20, 2014 at 11:01 amOh yay! I really hope you liked it, Karly!
Thank you 🙂
Di
October 10, 2014 at 1:04 pmYum !!!! I just made this this AM and had it for lunch,,,,it’s delish !!! Now tell me ,,,,can it be frozen ? I would love to bring some to my Mom ,,but I won’t see her for 2 weeks 🙂
lyuba
October 10, 2014 at 4:46 pmHi Di!
I’m so glad you liked it!!
Honestly, I’ve never frozen it before. I’m not sure how cooked pasta would react for freezing and defrosting. Good luck!!
becca
December 2, 2014 at 3:34 pmDid you ever try freezing? I’m dying to know if it worked! I want to share with my Mom too, and she won’t be here for two weeks either! Funny how that works.
lyuba
December 2, 2014 at 9:55 pmHi Becca! I’m sorry, I haven’t. I cook so much and so often, especially with working on the cookbook, I haven’t had the need to freeze it. I also forgot to try that. Things have me more than crazy 🙂 Next time I make it, I will definitely try.
becca
December 3, 2014 at 8:18 amThat’s ok!! Maybe I’ll try it and report back. 🙂
sarah
January 6, 2015 at 10:07 amApproximately how many people does this serve at i’m assuming 1 bowl per person? I have a family of 4 (2 adults, 2 children) Trying to decide if i should double the recipe or not. Thank you for your help in advance.
lyuba
January 12, 2015 at 8:28 pmI would say that the recipe would be enough for dinner but most likely no leftovers. I would also depend on everyone’s appetite 🙂 You can add another cup of stock too. This soup should make 7-8 cups.
Tracey
November 19, 2015 at 6:34 pmSarah, I needed to serve four as well (myself, hubby, and two large teenagers!), so I made the recipe as is, only I added in twice as much stock, to ‘extend’ the soup, it was perfect and then I had a french loaf and a french baguette to go with it, to make sure they are good and full! 🙂
Julie
March 25, 2015 at 6:03 pmChicken Meatball Orzo Soup : I found it quite bland as prepared by recipe instruction. I added 2 tsps. Old Bay seasoning to zest it up some rather than a bay leaf.
Iyana
August 21, 2015 at 11:47 amOh, my word this was good!!!!!!! Your recipes make me smile every time. This was soooooooo yummy!
lyuba
August 24, 2015 at 11:19 amAwe, thank you so much, Lyana! I hope you like it!
Tracey
November 19, 2015 at 6:39 pmThis soup was delicious. I loved it with chicken, rather than turkey, the meatballs stayed lovely and moist. The only changes I made were to double the stock, (to make sure I had enough soup for my big boys!) and I used just a wee bit of dried thyme in the meatballs, as I am not a fan of dill. I put fresh chopped garlic in the meatballs and made sure to season them really well with salt and pepper. Then I didn’t realize I needed more garlic for the soup portion, so I just sprinkled in a little garlic powder after the veggies were mostly caramelized. The broth came out dark and rich, very tasty. I added more salt and pepper to taste just before the orzo went in. We ate it with a French loaf and a French baguette. I much preferred the chicken meatballs to the turkey meatballs I have made in the past. This was perfect for a chilly November evening. Thanks for sharing!
Valerie Vincent
April 5, 2016 at 7:16 amLove this soup! Have made it numerous times, the whole family loves it! Ty for a great recipe!!
Lyuba
April 6, 2016 at 10:49 pmThank you, Valerie! That’s always great to hear 🙂
beth
January 3, 2017 at 3:48 pmThe chicken meatball with orzo is THE BOMB! I’ve made it lots, eaten it lots, shared it lots. We have tried to pre-make and freeze the meatballs, but end up just eating them up. It’s just sooo good.
That fresh dill really is the game changer.
lyuba
January 5, 2017 at 12:45 pmWoo hoo! I love hearing that, Beth!
Maria
November 12, 2018 at 11:40 amDo you know how long to cook this in an Instant Pot?
lyuba
November 13, 2018 at 2:05 pmHi Maria!
Oh, I wish I could give you exact time. I haven’t made it in an instant pot. What I would do is saute veggies and meatballs in the Instant Pot, much like on stove-top, and then add broth and orzo and pressure cook on high for may be 5 minutes. I’d let it do a natural release for about 5 minutes and then do a quick release.
I haven’t tried making it in instant pot but that I what I would do. Orzo is quite fast to cook in instant pot and meatballs will me about half done after saute.
I hope it works out well!!
Laurie
March 4, 2019 at 9:31 pmI prepared this soup and we loved it!
The photo is what drew me too it. The picture is deceiving as mine didn’t come close to yellow. With all the wonderful scrapings from the onion and garlic along with cooked carrots I’m not sure how the color yellow came about.
Next time I will use 1/2 the orzo as it sucks up the liquid so quickly it’s no longer soup but still so tasty especially the next day. Will make again.
lyuba
March 16, 2019 at 12:22 pmHonestly, I’m not sure about the color because all my onion and carrot based soups come out quite yellow. Even potato soup that i make with onions and carrots comes out with a yellow tint. May be it the type of carrots.
I agree, when kept overnight, many pasta soups soak up a lot of liquid. If I know that we won’t be eating all the soup in one sitting, I add extra stock when I cook it.
Thank you, Laurie and I”m so happy you liked the soup!