Chicken and leek barley soup
A warm chicken soup with soft leeks, carrots and pearl barley.
About 55 min · 405 kcal · 36 g protein per serving
Turkey meatball and orzo soup
Small turkey meatballs, orzo and spinach in a clear herb broth.
By The foodose editorial team. Nutrition calculated from USDA FoodData Central. Checked on paper on 12 September 2026; not yet cooked in a test kitchen or photographed, so the times and yield are estimates. How we develop our recipes
What still needs a real kitchen
- Confirm sixteen small meatballs cook through in 10 to 12 minutes
- Photograph the finished bowls
- Time
- About 45 min
- estimated
- Serves
- 2
- see below
- Energy
- 420 kcal
- per serving
- Protein
- 34 g
- per serving
Ingredients for 2 servings
Check off ingredients as you go.
Contains gluten, milk. Check the labels on packaged ingredients:
- dried breadcrumbs. Breadcrumbs can contain soya or milk; check the label.
- chicken stock. Stock often contains celery, and sometimes gluten or soya; check the label.
- orzo. Most dry pasta is just wheat and water, but some contains egg; check the packet.
Cooking steps
Soak the breadcrumbs in the milk for 5 minutes, then mix them with the turkey and half the parsley. Shape into about sixteen small meatballs, all much the same size.
Bring the stock to a simmer in a large pan, add the carrot and cook for 6 minutes.
Lower in the meatballs and add the orzo. Simmer for 10 to 12 minutes, until the pasta is tender and the meatballs are cooked through.
Cooked when: 74°C / 165°F in the thickest part. A food thermometer is the reliable way to tell.
Stir in the spinach until it wilts, then the rest of the parsley.
The useful detail
Keep meatballs small and uniform for even cooking. In a broth you cannot see them cook, so matching sizes is the only way to know they are all done at the same moment.
Make it work for you
One serving is A large bowl, half the pan. You can switch to a smaller portion in the ingredients above; it is three quarters of this, and it contains correspondingly less energy and protein. It is an option, not a goal.
Chicken mince instead of turkey
Softer, with the same safe endpoint.
Per serving: about 10 kcal less, about 2 g less protein, about the same fat.
Rice instead of orzo
Cook it 5 minutes longer than the pasta.
Per serving: about the same energy, about 2 g less protein, about the same fat.
Allergens: Removes gluten from the pasta; the breadcrumbs still contain it.
Kale instead of spinach
Firmer, and it needs 4 or 5 minutes rather than a moment. Nutrition is not recalculated.
Estimated nutrition
Per standard serving, calculated from the ingredients above. Nutrition changes with substitutions, brands and how much oil stays in the pan.
A broth with real substance. The meatballs carry the protein and the orzo most of the carbohydrate.
| Energy | 420 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 34 g |
| Fat | 13 g |
| of which saturates | 3 g |
| Carbohydrate | 42 g |
| of which sugars | 7 g |
| Fibre | 4 g |
| Sodium | 1,800 mg |
Show calculation notes
Each ingredient’s weight is multiplied by its USDA FoodData Central values per 100 g. The whole recipe is added up and divided by 2. Raw weights are used for meat, fish and vegetables; beans and lentils are drained weights. All of the oil is counted as eaten. Added salt is not included; sodium from stock, bread, cheese and tinned food is.
| Ingredient | Weight used | Source | Energy | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| dried breadcrumbs | 20 g | FDC 174928Bread, crumbs, dry, grated, plain | 79 kcal | 2.7 g |
| milk | 31 g | FDC 171267Milk, reduced fat, fluid, 2% milkfat, with added vitamin A and vitamin D | 15 kcal | 1.0 g |
| turkey mince | 250 g | FDC 172850Turkey, ground, 93% lean, 7% fat, raw | 375 kcal | 46.8 g |
| parsley | 5 g | FDC 170416Parsley, fresh | 2 kcal | 0.1 g |
| chicken stock | 840 g | FDC 174536Soup, chicken broth, ready-to-serve | 51 kcal | 5.4 g |
| carrot | 100 g | FDC 170393Carrots, raw | 41 kcal | 0.9 g |
| orzo | 70 g | FDC 169736Pasta, dry, enrichedFoodData Central records dry pasta as one entry rather than by shape. Orzo is the same durum wheat pasta, cut small. | 260 kcal | 9.1 g |
| spinach | 80 g | FDC 168462Spinach, raw | 18 kcal | 2.3 g |
| Whole recipe | Divided by 2 | 841 kcal | 68.4 g |
Per serving the energy is rounded to the nearest 5 kcal, grams to the nearest whole gram and sodium to the nearest 10 mg. Calculation method 1.0, September 2026. How the calculation works.
Storage and reheating
- In the fridge
- Cool it quickly, cover and refrigerate within 2 hours. The FDA chart gives soups and stews 3 to 4 days. The orzo drinks the broth; add water when reheating.
- In the freezer
- The same chart gives soups and stews 2 to 3 months in the freezer for best quality.
- Reheating
- Reheat until it reaches 74°C / 165°F, steaming hot throughout, stirring so it heats evenly.
Checked against US Food and Drug Administration, Refrigerator and Freezer Storage Chart, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, Leftovers and Food Safety, FoodSafety.gov, Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures and FoodSafety.gov, Cold Food Storage Chart. UK guidance from the Food Standards Agency is shorter, at two days for most leftovers.
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About 50 min · 345 kcal · 20 g protein per serving
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