A healthy and flavorful soup that will warm you up on a cold day.
Makes 4-6 servings
Ideal slow cooker size: 3-5 quart
3/4 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts (or half and half)
1 cup celery, finely diced
2 Tbsp dried onion
1 carrot, finely diced
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1 garlic clove, minced
3 1/2 cups chicken broth (or 3 cups water and 3 1/2 tsp chicken bouillon granules)
1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp dried basil
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 cup orzo
Parmesan cheese, for serving
1. Place chicken, celery, onion, carrots, tomato paste, garlic, chicken broth, tomatoes, salt, basil, bay leaf and pepper into slow cooker.
2. Cover and cook on LOW for about 6 hours, until veggies are cooked through and flavors are blended.
3. Add in the orzo and let cook on HIGH for about 15 minutes, or until orzo is cooked through.
4. Ladle into serving bowls and top with Parmesan cheese.
Review:
My first time trying orzo. And it was pretty good.
I like it. It’s like a rice or barley but in pasta form. It cooked quickly because it is so small.
I love the flavors of this soup. My husband and I both thought this soup with be awesome with Italian sausage instead of the chicken as well. I’ll have to try it soon!
4 stars.
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Hello, noticed you use dried onion in quite a lot of your recipes. I'm in NZ and am not sure we have it. Do you use this because onion takes so long to cook in the slow cooker? Cheers, Louise
Hi Anonymous,
I like dried onion every now and then because it's easier to measure out a tablespoon of it and throw it in the crock rather than dice up fresh onion. If you use fresh onion, it will probably need to be sauteed just a bit before adding to the crock. It does take a long time to cook!
Thanks,
Karen
Chicken's already cooked and chopped?
Mary, I use raw chicken!
Would you use raw sausage? Want to make this this week 🙂
Alexandra, yes, you would need to brown the sausage beforehand!
I’d like to prepare the soup in a large pot first. I’d like to know do you stir the tomato paste so it doesn’t get gunky. I am making this soup for a work soup donation where me and a few others are doing crockpot soups. I have a 4 qt. crockpot and they said each person would get a 12 oz cup of soup. I am not super with math so I hope that will be enough if a bunch of people want the soup
yes go ahead and stir at the beginning but also remember to stir at the end too! Good luck!