Buffalo Chicken Soup - It's Like Chicken Noodle, but Not.

If you find yourself wishing you could just drink buffalo sauce but don’t want the world to judge you… I’ve got a solution for you.

Buffalo Chicken Soup with Orzo Recipe

Recipe adapted from Bake Your Day 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup uncooked orzo pasta
2 tsp. olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium carrots, peeled, and cut into half moons
2 tsp. ranch dressing seasoning mix (such as Hidden Valley)
3 Tbs. fresh cilantro, divided
40 ounces chicken stock
2/3 cup Frank’s Buffalo Wing Sauce
4 ounces cheddar cheese, grated
4 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated
2 cups cooked chicken, cubed or shredded
1 bundle green onions, chopped and divided

Directions:

Cook orzo according to package directions.

While orzo cooks heat olive oil in a large pan/pot over medium/high heat. Sauté onion, garlic and half of the green onions in the olive oil for 2-3 minutes or until the onions are opaque and fragrant. Add carrots, ranch dressing seasoning and 2 tablespoons cilantro. Stir to combine and sauté until the carrots begin to soften.

Add chicken broth, buffalo sauce and chicken. Also sprinkle in cheddar and parmesan cheese while slowly stirring so that it does not create a large mass. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the carrots are tender, but still have a slight bite.

Add orzo and continue to simmer for another 3-5 minutes.

Serve with sliced green onions, additional cilantro and maybe a little shredded mozzarella or another favorite cheese.

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I have already altered this recipe instead of listing off my changes so yay for ease of reading the recipe this time! For the record though I would like to apologize on the wacky way to measure cheese, I mean who weighs cheese? Well I don't and I didn't. I literally looked at the weight of the bag I bought and configured how much to pour in - because I refused to take the few moments it would have taken to pull out my scale, configure it, weigh it and so forth. So I'm sorry it still says ounces, use the guessing how much of the bag trick, it'll be okay. Can't go wrong with cheese, unless you aren't using it!

Now for those of you that don’t dream of drinking Frank’s its okay this recipe can be for you too.  I was actually pleasantly surprised the first time I made this as I was a little worried on how much buffalo would be happening, but it’s actually a really nice meld once everything is done and plated. Logan loves this one, but he’d drink the bottle of sauce if I’d let him. So this soup definitely works for the sauce drinker, and the normal sauce is an extra not a main dish eater.

It's tip time. If you don’t know this little trick the skies are currently opening and the sun is about to shine down on you. Anytime recipes require shredded chicken head to the grocery store and grab a rotisserie chicken. Not only do these little guys provide more bang for their buck (for the record I was going to say more cluck for their buck, but then I didn’t want you to think I was horrible at jokes all the time) but they are super moist and ready to be shredded. I’ve made other meals such as enchiladas with rotisserie chicken not just soup, and it works like a charm every time. And if you are lucky to have extra after whatever your recipe calls for, make something else! Make a sandwich, make a pasta salad – there are so many options, it’s crazy.

Okay kids. Another recipe in the books and a cooking tip - it’s a good day. 

Noming Score: 3.5/5