Creamy Tomato Orzo Chicken Soup (Hale & Hearty copycat)

If you ever had the chance to have Hale and Hearty soup, specifically the Creamy Tomato Orzo one, consider yourself lucky! It was one of my favorite soups of all time and was also such a treat when I decide to order it for lunch back when I was working in an office. Once they went out of business, I was very bummed but challenged myself to figure out how to make a copycat version at home and let me just say….it tastes almost identical to it. It might help that I haven’t had it in a few years so my tastebuds forget what it the real one tastes like.

Watch video HERE. Directions below!

INGREDIENTS—

• 1 32oz carton of low sodium chicken stock

• 1 28oz can crushed tomatoes

• 1 chicken breast; butterflied in half to get two thin pieces

• 1/2 yellow onion

• 3-4 cloves garlic

• 3 stalks celery; finely diced

• 1 carrot. finely diced

• 1/8 tsp white pepper

• 1/4 tsp cayenne

• 1/2 tsp paprika

• 2-3 tsp sugar

• 1 tsp onion powder

• 1 tsp garlic powder

• 1 tbsp chicken flavored better than bouillon

• salt to taste

• 1 tbsp butter

• avocado oil

• 1 tbsp chopped fresh basil

• 3oz heavy cream

• 1 cup uncooked orzo pasta

DIRECTIONS—

1. Finely dice onion, garlic, celery, carrots and put on a plate.

2. Butterfly chicken breast in half so you get 2 thin pieces of chicken. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder on both sides.

3. Heat a large soup pot over medium high heat.

4. Add 1 tbsp avocado oil. Once hot, carefully add in chicken breast and sear both sides until golden browned. Remove from pot and set aside.

5. Add 1 tbsp butter and a drizzle of more avocado oil. Swirl butter around to melt and add in your plate of chopped veggies — onion, garlic, celery and carrots.

6. Mix around until slightly browned and softened. 2-3 minutes.

7. Add in your can of tomatoes and the seasonings below:

   • 1/8 tsp white pepper

   • 1/4 tsp cayenne

   • 1/2 tsp paprika

   • 2-3 tsp sugar

   • 1 tsp onion powder

   • 1 tsp garlic powder

   • 1 tbsp chicken flavored better than bouillon

   • salt to taste

8. Mix around and add in chicken broth.

9. Place chicken breast back into the pot and add in chopped fresh basil.

10. Bring the soup to a gentle simmer on medium low heat for 25-30 minutes until the celery and carrots are soft and almost disintegrated.

11. In the meantime, cook 1 cup of orzo according to package. Drain and set aside.

12. Once soup is done, turn off heat, remove chicken breast and chop into bite sized pieces. Place chopped chicken back into the soup.

13. Swirl in 3oz heavy whipping cream. Taste and adjust seasonings accordingly.

14. Spoon orzo into a soup bowl and ladle soup over top! Enjoy!

*Keep orzo in separate container in the fridge to avoid the starch sucking up all the liquid in the soup