‘Feel Good’ Lemony Chicken Orzo

The perfect winter soup! Great for helping you feel better during cold and flu season or just to get some warmth flowing through your body. Freeze this soup in portions so that any one in the family can easily serve themselves in a snap. Another added bonus is that this is a great soup for hiding extra veggies in your meal without anyone noticing. This is a great soup to make in your Instant Pot since it can all be done in one pot and it ensures the juiciest chicken possible.

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

• 1lb chicken breast

• 1 box jovial stelline GF pasta (or any small GF pasta)

• 1/2 lemon

• 1/2 bunch green onions

• 1/2 bunch parsley

• 1 onion

• 1/2lb carrot

• 1/2lb celery

• 2 tbsp Frontier foods co-op spice blend

• 1 box of chicken bone broth

• Salt + Pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Prepare your vegetables by giving them a rough chop. These will be blended later so no need to get too detailed here. 

1. In an Instant Pot using the “Sauté” function, lightly sauté your veggies with spices in a bit of olive oil to caramelize before proceeding to the next step. Once they’ve reached your desired caramelization, remove from Instant Pot and set aside. 

2. Now, sear your lemon in the same pan. Once it has picked up some color, add veggies back into the pan along with chicken and bone broth. If needed, add water until ingredients are just covered. For added flavor, you can sprinkle in a bit more of the spice blend. Simmer for 15-20 minutes. Lock the lid in place and pressure cook using the “Soup/Broth” function. Once it’s ready and the steam pressure has fully released, you can carefully remove the lid. 

3. Remove the chicken, shred it and return it to the soup. 

4. Add GF pastina and simmer using the “Sauté” function [lid off!] for another 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently to avoid the pasta sticking. The soup is ready once it has thickened a bit and the pasta is cooked. 

5. Enjoy this the same day or follow instructions below to freeze your soup. All done!

To Freeze Your Soup: 

You can freeze your soup in a large batch or in smaller, single-serve portions. Whatever freezer-safe container you’ve got will work. For this soup, we used clean mason jars. When you’d like to have some, just run the frozen soup jar under some warm water for a bit to loosen the soup from the sides of the jar. 

1. Cool the soup.

2. Portion the soup into freezer-safe containers. Ziptop bags or large ice cube trays work great for either large or individual servings.

3. If using bags, freeze them laying flat so that you can store them easier once they’re solid.