I’ve been testing recipes for chicken in a pot for years but they all come out tasting like chicken soup. In her cookbook Cook, Eat, Repeat, Nigella Lawson inspired me by browning the chicken first, which adds lots of flavor, and then adding orzo to thicken the soup.
| Level: | Easy |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- Good olive oil
- 1 (3 1/2 to 4-pound) whole chicken
- 2 cups carrots, scrubbed, 3/4-inch diced (10 ounces)
- 2 cups (3/4-inch) diced celery (4 ribs)
- 2 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts (3 leeks) (see Cook’s Note)
- 2 cups chopped fennel, tops and core removed
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic (2 cloves)
- 4 cups simmering chicken stock, preferably homemade
- 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme
- 8 sprigs fresh parsley, plus extra for serving
- 10 sprigs fresh dill, plus extra for serving
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3/4 cup orzo
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium (11-inch) Dutch oven, such as Le Creuset, over medium to medium-high heat. Dry the chicken all over, place it in the pot breast side down, and sear for 5 to 7 minutes, until the skin is nicely browned. Turn the chicken over and sear for another 3 to 5 minutes, until browned on the bottom. Transfer the chicken to a plate.
- Add the carrots, celery, leeks, and fennel to the pot and sauté for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are a little tender. Add the garlic and cook for one minute. Return the chicken to the pot, breast side up, spreading the vegetables around the chicken. Add the chicken stock, saffron, and enough water to cover the chicken with just an inch of the breastbone exposed. Tie the thyme, parsley, and dill together in a bundle with kitchen string and add to the pot along with 1 1/2 tablespoons salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper. Bring to a boil, cover, and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Check occasionally to be sure the liquid is simmering.
- Discard the herb bundle, stir the orzo into the broth, cover, and allow to sit for 20 to 25 minutes, until the orzo is tender. Reheat on the stove, if necessary. Pull the chicken apart in quarters with forks (I leave the bones in the leg portion and carefully pull the breast meat away from the bones) and serve the chicken, soup, and pasta together in large shallow bowls. Sprinkle generously with minced parsley, minced dill, and salt.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 4 servings |
| Calories | 995 |
| Total Fat | 60 g |
| Saturated Fat | 15 g |
| Carbohydrates | 47 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 7 g |
| Sugar | 13 g |
| Protein | 66 g |
| Cholesterol | 224 mg |
| Sodium | 2162 mg |
Reviews
I made this for lunch today and it was absolutely amazing I omitted the fennel, but everything else was spot on
Just made this today after seeing it on Norah Jones/Be my guest rerun from 2023. This has to be some of the best chicken soup I’ve ever had, much less ever made.
I made it as the recipe directed EXCEPT I didn’t have saffron (I thought I did when I went to the store), so substituted Turmeric for the saffron. For you chefs out there, I had/have no idea if there was any similarity – so, I gave it a shot. The result was still terrific!
I would agree with comments that there could be more orzo. However, I might try it with arborio rice the next time, realizing there will be more cooking of this more substantive carb than the orzo.
Oh, yeah, and I added butter to the olive oil while browning the chicken and cooking the veges. Butter is good, folks. We’re not going to live forever anyway. Incredible flavor!
There are only two of us in my family, so I used a small chicken. Might use just thighs next time because we like dark meat instead of white. And while the breasts were still moist, I’m happy to debone some thigh/leg combos to get the dark meat.
And I don’t have/don’t do “homemade chicken stock”. So I used a 322 oz “box” of chicken broth and added water which I mixed with Kroger sold Better than Bouillon. I thought the Better than Bouillon would give it depth, and I was not disappointed.
Finally, I am NOT a licorice person, but the anise/fennel gave this soup a delightful taste. Give it a try, folks.
Looking forward to a cold day when this will be especially tasty!
Fantastic… Some of the reviews are nuts.. To much salt? Did you use Kosher Salt and not table Salt? Makes a difference. I made it by mistake with 1tbl spoon of table salt and realized my mistake and added half a tbl spoon of Kosher. I also completely botched the pepper by adding 1.5 tbls of pepper instead of teaspoons. Added some Vinegar to fix that. Saffron is expensive, not a substitute for that and definitely made this soup full of flavour and different. Fennel? It’s awesome with this, core the bulb and bung in the 2 cups required. It isn’t licorice forward at all… unless you totally don’t like licorice, then perhaps another recipe is for you. Brown the chicken both sides and nestle in the middle of the all the other veggies when sautéed lightly. Used our Staub 11inch pot and this was almost perfectly 4 cups broth/4 cups H2O and a little splash more to bring up to an inch of the breast bone with a Whole Foods 3.5lbs chicken. Oily or fatty.. no way. Splurge and realize this is called flavour.. Yeah we our in our 60’s and are watching our intakes.. Didn’t find this fatty one bit. Did check to make sure the soup was simmering, after I put it in the oven at 350 when it came to a roiling boil. BTW, the reason you add hot broth is to get the soup up to boil quickly. We enjoyed the chopped dill and parsley on top and had crunchy french bread/butter alongside, while snarfing down the soup. We loved the Orzo and more then likely when I make it again, will add probably a cup or cup and a quarter, rather than 3/4 of a cup. Found the soup to be very filling and was easily stored when removing the rest of the bones and frozen in containers in the freezer. This is stellar. Saffron is such a fabulous addition. Didn’t remind us of any chicken soup I have made before…. but, you know.. it is a chunky chicken soup afterall. Thanks INA, love the episode with Normah Jones.. (Come away with me was our wedding song).
Delicious and worth the time. I trimmed the fat on the chicken that was hanging. Not fatty at all. Will be making this again. Thanks Ina.
I’ve made a virtual ton of soup in the past few years. This recipe, by far, is my favorite. I made this exactly as in the recipe. I make and use my own chicken stock, which I’m sure aids in the good result. This is so flavorful, and is easy to make. It makes about 10 pints of soup (not including a the legs and thighs.). I’ll absolutely make this again. I’ll also make this for friends who are needing food for illness/surgery recovery.
This was very good and comforting. But for all the cutting and chopping that went into it, I thought the flavor was just “ok.” It was basically chicken soup.
I have made this dish many, many times, and family and company RAVE about it. I don’t understand anyone saying it was “greasy”. This is basically french cuisine, which leans on animal fat for all that amazing flavor. I’ve never had anyone comment on it being greasy. I usually only need 1-2 tbsp olive oil to brown the veggies, and you could certainly use bone in chicken breast for a slightly leaner version. This usually makes 7-8 servings for us, based on a 3-3.5 lb chicken. I use 1 cup of orzo instead of 3/4c. Great one dish meal packed with tons of vegetables and flavor.
This is a family favorite and so comforting on a cold winter night! Thanks Ina!
This was so yummy! I used turkey stock instead of chicken because it was in the pantry. Followed the rest of the recipe and will make it again soon. No issues with greasy-ness.
I used à cut whole chicken (minus the wings). I cut off extra fat because of comments made. This kept it from being too oily. The unusual vegetables and seasoning made this a very special dish. Very very good. Because it was a cut up chicken I reduced time to one hour.