Single Serving Soup: Creamy Chicken Cheddar and Orzo - Recipe

Earlier this week, I mentioned buying one of those rotisserie chickens from my grocery store. I used about half the meat for my Creamy Tomato Italian Chicken and White Bean Soup, and had the rest for leftovers. But after about five days of just sprinkling the chicken over my salad for some added protein, I decided to get creative.


There wasn't much chicken left, but I wanted to do something with it that was totally different from my southwest style salad that I eat pretty much every day for lunch. I was determined to make a delicious single-serving soup with that little bit of leftover chicken.

Basically thrown together on a whim, this soup uses basic ingredients that I had lying around my kitchen, but it turned out to be delicious. The following recipe is for a single-serving size, but I'm really looking forward to making this on a larger scale. But this recipe is perfect if you have a little bit of leftover cooked meat lying around and have no idea what to do with it! Creamy, cheesy, and ready in less than 10 minutes, this soup was a winner in my book.

Creamy Chicken Cheddar and Orzo Soup

Ingredients

Diced onion --about 1/8 of a cup, more or less depending on your tastes (or larger pieces if you're like me and love onions)

1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. olive oil
1 c. water
3-5 baby carrots, sliced
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. cooked meat (I used leftover rotisserie chicken, but any ground meat or sausage would do!)
Shredded cheddar cheese (just a sprinkle)
1/8 c. orzo pasta
Ancho chili powder (optional, to taste)
parsley (sprinkle)
1 tbs. Trader Joe's Many Clove Garlic Simmer Sauce (optional, but delicious...read my post about it!)
                                                                              Salt and pepper to taste

Procedure

In a small pan, heat about a tsp. of olive oil over medium high heat. Add garlic and onion and saute for about 2 minutes.

Add 1/2 c. of water and allow the onions and garlic to flavor the broth by bringing it to a steady boil. The water should turn brown from being infused with the flavors. After it has browned, add your orzo.

Add 1/2 c. of milk, sliced baby carrots, chicken (or other meat) and the garlic simmer sauce (if you have it...it makes the soup extra garlicky!). Bring to a simmer and allow to cook covered for about 5 minutes.

After about 5 minutes, add another 1/4 to 1/2 c. of water, depending on how much of the soup has reduced. Add salt, pepper, a sprinkle of parsley, and a dash (or more) of Ancho chili powder. Add moderately sized sprinkle of shredded cheddar cheese (more if you want it to be even cheesier) and stir into the mixture until it is fully melted. Simmer uncovered for another 3 minutes or so, or until the pasta is cooked through. If you think it could be a little creamier, add another dash of milk!

Transfer to a bowl, add some croutons if you wish, and voila! A single-serving soup! Enjoy this with my delicious single serving Chocolate Chip Mug Cake for a full homemade, quick and scrumptious single serving feast.