Tangy, slightly spicy and ultra delicious, this cilantro chicken soup ticks all the boxes and is sure to become your next favorite comfort food. This soup is light, refreshing and filling at the same time, making it a great lunch or dinner choice for the warmer months of the year.
Top it with a drizzle of ginger scallion oil or Sichuan chili oil to take the flavors up a notch!
Soup is absolute comfort food for me, and every time I'm feeling down, I end up making a nice bowl of chicken soup for dinner. My Tom Yum Gai soup is perfect for colder nights, and I love making my Napa cabbage soup whenever I want to have something light.
This cilantro lime chicken soup has similar flavors, but is more filling thanks to the orzo added in!
Quick Look: Cilantro Chicken Soup
- 🔪 Prep time: 10 minutes.
- ⏲️ Cook time: 30 minutes.
- 👪 Servings: 2.
- 📋 Main ingredients: Chicken breast, chicken broth, cilantro, cabbage, orzo, ginger, garlic, jalapeño, lemon juice.
- ♨️ Cooking method: Sauté → simmer the broth with chicken → shred → finish with orzo and garnish.
- ⭐ Difficulty: Easy.
- 🥣 Serving ideas: Enjoy on its own, or pair with crusty bread, spicy Asian cucumber salad for a comforting meal.
Jump to:
What's So Great About the Recipe?
- The simplicity and versatility of this soup leaves so much room to bring about variation. You can totally experiment with toppings (sprinkle some chicken floss on it) and mix-ins.
- You’ll need just a few pantry staples to whip this up, and you’re good to go- it is actually a great budget friendly meal too- like my favorite chicken egg roll in a bowl.
- You can actually prep this recipe in advance and freeze it for whenever I want to enjoy a home cooked meal without too much effort.
Recipe Ingredients
Chicken: I’ve used chicken breast for this recipe, and cooked it in the broth. You can use any other cut of chicken you like. Chicken thighs are a good choice because they have a lot of flavor and are tender too.
Chicken broth: I’ve used homemade chicken broth, but you can use the store bought version if you want to. Sometimes, I like using my low sodium vegetable broth too!
Ginger and garlic: Ginger and garlic are the key aromatics that add tons of flavor to this Asian soup. Use them fresh or start off with ginger garlic paste.
Jalapeño: For that kick of heat. Use fresh jalapenos or dried jalapeno flakes.
Cilantro stem & leaves: These are an absolute must. The younger portion of the stems are super flavorful and adding them to the broth will make the soup more flavorful.
Lime juice: A dash of freshly squeezed lime juice really balances out the other flavors and ties the dish together.
Whole spices: I’ve used a bay leaf and some whole peppercorns to make the soup more flavorful. You can skip adding these if you don’t have them.
Cornstarch: To thicken the soup
Cabbage: I had some cabbage in my refrigerator, so I added it in. You can use almost any veggie of your choice. The veggies will add a nice bit of texture to the soup too!
Orzo: I’ve used orzo to make the soup more filling. If you don’t have it, you can use any other pasta of your choice.
Oil: While you can use practically any cooking oil for this recipe, I would recommend olive oil or avocado oil to get some good fats into the picture.
Seasonings: Just some salt and pepper. Use an infused salt like citrus salt or jalapeno salt for extra flavor.
See recipe card for quantities.
Substitutions & Variations
- I’ve used orzo to make this cilantro chicken soup more filling. If you want to make it a lighter meal, just skip adding the orzo.
- You can also choose to add some udon noodles or egg noodles into the soup if you’re looking for an alternative to orzo. I like to top the noodles with some crispy air fried noodles too!
- Cornstarch is great as a thickening agent, and that’s what I’ve used for this recipe. If you don’t have it, you can use arrowroot powder instead
- Add a pinch of homemade rice seasoning to add an extra depth of flavor to the soup.
- Add dehydrated veggies to the soup while it is simmering for a bit of texture. I love adding my Air Fryer dehydrated peppers!
How to Make Cilantro Chicken Soup
Start by chopping the ginger, garlic, coriander stem and jalapeno roughly.
Heat oil in a large soup pot and add these in along with the whole peppercorns and bay leaf and sauté for a minute or two.
Next add the chicken breast, chicken broth, salt and water and let this simmer on low heat for 15 minutes.
Allow this to cool down, remove the chicken breast and set it aside. Strain the soup and discard the chopped bits and pieces.
Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a pot and add the chopped cabbage and cook for a few minutes. Now add the stock and the orzo and cook on medium heat until the orzo is done.
Prepare the cornstarch slurry and add it in, stirring it continuously until the soup thickens and bring to a boil.
Next, add the shredded chicken into the soup along with some lemon juice or lime juice and ladle the soup into individual bowls.
Top with some chopped jalapeños, crushed black pepper, lime slices and chopped cilantro stems and leaves.
💭Top Tip
To cut down the cooking time for the recipe, you can use rotisserie chicken or leftover grilled chicken and packaged or store-bought stock.
Tips & Tricks to Nail the Recipe
- You can add in some chopped or diced veggies like carrots, celery, mushrooms, onion, bell peppers, broccoli, sprouted mung beans and green beans to bulk up the soup.
- I also think these flavors would work wonderfully as a vegetarian soup too. You can skip the chicken completely and add in lots of veggies instead, and swap the chicken broth for mushroom or vegetable broth and try a vegan, gluten free version of the lemon cilantro soup.
- If you have an Instant Pot, you can totally use it for this recipe! In fact, you’ll be able to speed up the process too!
- I would also recommend using bone-in chicken for this recipe if you want your broth to have more flavor.
- Another great idea is to add a dash of light soy sauce to the soup to lend it a bit of that umami goodness.
- You can also choose to cut down the cooking time of the recipe by using some shredded chicken or rotisserie chicken instead.
- To bring some creaminess to the soup, you can also add some cheese and homemade sour cream into it and cook over medium heat for a few more minutes.
How to Serve Cilantro Chicken Soup
This comforting soup can be a great meal all on its own. It has protein from the chicken, fiber and vitamins from the veggies and the carbs from the orzo. Team it up with some Korean green onion salad or teriyaki veggie stir fry to make the meal more hearty and wholesome.
I also like to drizzle some homemade chili garlic oil over the soup right before serving for some extra yumminess!
Troubleshooting & FAQs
Your leftover cilantro chicken soup can be refrigerated for 2-3 days, and then reheated in the microwave or over the stovetop. I would highly recommend using an airtight container for storage. This will help keep the soup fresh and prevent it from catching any unwanted refrigerator smells.
Yes, you can! This soup is actually a great meal prep recipe. Just prepare the soup without the cornflour slurry and allow it to cool down before transferring to freezer safe containers. You can then freeze this soup for months.
More Comforting Mains
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
If you tried this cilantro chicken soup or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Cilantro Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 50 lbs chicken breasts
- ¼ cup Cabbage
- ¼ cup orzo
- 2 teaspoon jalapeno
- ¼ cup Cilantro
- ½ cup Cilantro stems
- 1 tablespoon Garlic
- 1 tablespoon Ginger
- 2 cups Chicken broth
- 2 tablespoon Lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon cornflour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon Pepper fresh ground
- 12 Peppercorns black
- 2 tablespoon Oil
- 2 cups Water
- 2-3 bay leaves
Instructions
- Start by chopping the ginger, garlic, coriander stem and jalapeno roughly.
- Heat oil in a pot and add these in along with the whole peppercorns and bay leaf and saute for a minute or two.
- Next add the chicken breast, chicken broth, salt and water and let this simmer on low heat for 15 minutes.
- Allow this to cool down, remove the chicken breast and set it aside. Strain the soup and discard the chopped bits and pieces.
- Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a pot and add the chopped cabbage and cook for a few minutes. Now add the stock and the orzo and cook until the orzo is done. Prepare the cornflour slurry and add it in, stirring it continuously until the soup thickens.
- Finally, shred the chicken and add it into the soup along with some lemon juice, and ladle the soup into individual bowls. Top with some chopped jalapenos, crushed black pepper, lemon slices and chopped cilantro stems and leaves.
Notes
- Use rotisserie chicken or shredded chicken to make things quicker.
- Use vegetable broth and lots of veggies to make a vegetarian version of the soup.
- Experiment with different mix-ins like rice, noodles or even tortellini if you don't have orzo.
