Comforting and delicious, this easy one pot vegetable orzo soup is filled with flavor and goodness. Loaded with nutritious veggies, it's a great vegetarian recipe for a cold winter meal. You will love it!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- This soup is comforting, delicious and super easy to put together! And everything is cooked in a single large pot, which is convenient and easy to clean-up. A great soup on a cold winter evening.
- It's loaded with nutritious veggies full of vitamins and minerals. Carrots, celery, onion, leeks, tomatoes, white beans and spinach. It's vegetarian if you use vegetable broth instead of chicken. Finished with fresh lemon like my favorite lemony white been soup.
- You can easily customize this vegetable orzo soup to your taste. Use any veggies you love, add some shredded chicken, your favorite herbs and spices. It's also great for meal-prep and it's budget-friendly.
Key Ingredients
- All the veggies: the trio of onion, celery and carrots. I added leeks for extra flavor, fresh garlic, crushed tomatoes, fresh spinach and canned white beans. You can easily use other veggies, like broccoli, cauliflower, chickpeas, green beans, kale...
- Orzo: it's the star of the dish, making this soup ultra comforting and satisfying. You can use gluten-free orzo (follow the cooking time on the packaging). While a half cup looks very little when dry, it's plenty when cooked. If you add too much, the orzo pasta will soak up all the broth.
- Crushed tomatoes: using crushed tomatoes will make your broth rich and delicious. You could use diced but if you can, use crushed for this soup.
- Tomato paste: this ingredient deepens the taste of the soup, it just gives it that little extra pop of amazing flavor.
- Spices: keeping it pretty simple but very effective, I use Italian seasoning because it has all the good herbs commonly use in soup like thyme and rosemary. A little garlic and onion powder, salt and pepper. You can use any herbs of your liking.
- Broth: veggie broth to keep this soup plant-based, or chicken broth or bone broth for extra protein and a different flavor.
- Fresh lemon: this finishes the soup beautifully with that acid balancing it all.
- Parmesan: melted cheese makes everything better. Shredded mozzarella, gruyère, Italian mix would be great too.
How to make this vegetable orzo soup
- Start by chopping all the veggies. Onions, carrots and celery should be fairly small and close to the same size so they cook evenly.
In a large pot, heat up olive oil, add chopped onion, carrots, celery and leeks, cook stirring often for 7-8 minutes.
Mix up all the spices together.
Add the spices, minced garlic and tomato paste to the veggies. Stir and cook for another 2 minutes.
Add the crushed tomatoes, broth, and water. Simmer uncovered, stirring from time to time for 15-20 minutes.
Then when the carrots are tender, add the drained white beans and orzo to the pot.
Finally add fresh lemon and spinach and cook for 2 minutes. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Serve soup with shredded fresh parmesan. Enjoy!
More Soups To Try
If you love soups check these out!
Tips
- Leftovers should be stored in an airtight container refrigerated for up to 5 days. You may have to add a little water when reheating. Reheat in the microwave or in pot on the stove.
- Add some spice with red pepper flakes, a little cayenne pepper, or some hot sauce like sriracha.
- Serve this vegetable orzo soup with crusty bread, fresh parmesan, fresh basil or parsley.
- Don't add too much orzo. Only add it towards the end of the cooking time so it doesn't get mushy.
- Add protein with extra beans or chicken.
- Don't skip the fresh lemon. The acidity balances the soup.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sure, a small shape pasta like small macaroni, pastina or ditalini would work.
Add extra broth or water, and don't add to much orzo as it will soak up the liquid.
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Vegetable Orzo Soup
Equipment
- wooden spoon
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup chopped yellow onion about 1 small onion
- 3-4 carrots about 2 cups chopped
- ½ cup finely chopped celery about 2 stalks
- ½ cup chopped leek about 1 small leek, white part only
- 4-5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning or more to taste
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon salt more or less to taste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper more or less to taste
- 1 15.5 ounces can crushed tomatoes
- 4 cups broth chicken or vegetable
- 2 cups water
- 1 15.5 ounces can white beans rinsed and drained
- ½ cup orzo uncooked
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice or more to taste
- 2 cups fresh spinach roughly chopped
- freshly grated parmesan to taste
Instructions
- In a large pot, heat up olive oil over medium high heat. Once hot, add chopped onion, carrots, celery and leeks, reduce heat to medium, and sautée stirring often for 7-8 minutes.
- Mix all the spices together: onion powder, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, salt and black pepper.
- Add the spices, minced garlic and tomato paste to the veggies. Stir everything well and cook for another 2 minutes.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, broth, and water, stir everything. Up the heat, bring the pot to a low boil, then lower to medium-low and simmer uncovered, stirring from time to time for 15-20 minutes.
- After 15-18 minutes, or when the carrots are tender when poked with a fork, add the drained white beans and orzo to the pot. Cook for 10-12 minutes or until orzo is fully cooked.
- Finally add the fresh lemon juice and roughly chopped spinach, and cook for 2 minutes. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Serve soup with shredded fresh parmesan if desired. Enjoy!
Notes
- Broth: add a little more broth (or water) if the soup feels too thick to your taste. I like to add water to the carton of broth and shake it to get all of it.
- Orzo: don't add too much orzo, it might seem like it's not enough when it's dry but it'll expend a lot and absorb a lot of the broth.
Nutrition
About Priscilla Lawrence
Hi there, I'm Priscilla Lawrence! Welcome to Sprinkled With Balance where I share elevated and approachable nutrient-rich recipes that aren't overly restrictive, complicated or boring! Based in California but born and raised in France, I'm a mom of two, former certified nutritionist, recipe developer, and food photographer.
Janine says
Very good! I doubled the orzo and added a bit more lemon juice.
Priscilla Lawrence says
I'm so glad you enjoyed this recipe Janine! I like more lemon in mine too!