Italian Lemon Chicken Soup
Tangy and light, this Italian Lemon Chicken Soup is perfect all year round! This is a dish that everyone in my family loves, and a primary one that I take to loved ones that aren’t feeling well. It is equal parts healthy and comfort food!
Feel free to use rotisserie chicken, poached chicken breasts, or baked chicken breasts. Leftover chicken is also great to use as well. As for the starch in the soup, my favorite is egg noodles but you can also substitue orzo, angel hair, ditalini, whatever you like. My mom is gluten free and she loves to eat it with basmati rice.
TIP: Cook the noodles seperate from the soup and when serving, place the noodles in the bowl first and ladle the soup on top. This keeps the noodles from getting mushy and makes it easy to store any leftover soup. If you want to forgo noodles/rice altogether, you can substitute a good bit of spinach leaves into the bottom of a bowl and put the hot soup on top. The soup will wilt the spinach nicely, and is delicious.
Italian Lemon Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts, cooked about 1 pound
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 6-8 cloves garlic chopped fine
- 1 sweet or yellow onion chopped fine
- 2 stalks celery chopped fine
- 3 carrots chopped fine
- 2 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning can also use basil, parsley, or thyme instead
- 1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 bay leaf optional
- kosher salt and pepper
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 1 can petite diced tomatoes
- 1 lemon use zest and also juice
- 1 rind parmesan plus grated, for serving
- 1 pound egg noodles or pasta/rice of choice
Instructions
- Heat butter and olive oil in large pot or Dutch oven. When butter has melted, add onion, celery and carrots as well as oregano, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, and a good pinch each of salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes and add the chopped garlic; stir and cook another minute or two. Then add the broth, parmesan rind, tomatoes and bay leaf. If you don't have a parmesan rind, you can add a small handful of grated parmesan to the soup pot. Cover and simmer over medium heat 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, heat another large pot of salted water for the egg noodles/pasta of choice.
- After the soup has simmered for 15-20 minutes, add the chicken breast meat to the soup mixture as well as the lemon zest and lemon juice. Stir well. When the pasta water boils, add the pasta and cook until al dente.
- When ready to serve, put a bit of noodles in the bottom of each person's bowl, add the soup on top and sprinkle with grated parmesan. Enjoy!