Made with simple ingredients, this easy and quick to make homemade vegetarian Tomato Orzo Soup is a delicious, hearty and healthy meal.
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There's something so soothing about making a hot pot of soup on a cold stormy day. This Tomato Orzo Soup was just what we needed to warm us and re-energize us after shovelling several feet of snow off our steps this past week.
What goes into this Tomato Orzo Soup
You don't need any complicated ingredients to make this delicious and simple soup recipe.
Ingredients Overview:
This vegetarian tomato orzo soup starts off with aromatic vegetables such as carrots, celery, onion and garlic.
Typical Italian seasonings such as dried bay leaves, oregano and basil are used to flavour the soup.
Orzo pasta, which is a short pasta that resembles a large grain of rice, is used here but if you don't have it in your pantry, you can use macaroni or any other short-cut pasta, even broken up spaghetti works.
Fresh spinach is added near the end of cooking but can be omitted if you don't have it or just prefer to leave it out.
How to make this Soup
This soup couldn't be easier to make. Just follow the steps below for a delicious and heartwarming soup.
Steps Overview:
To make this soup, start by chopping and cooking the aromatics, add the broth and crushed tomatoes or you can use canned diced tomatoes (fire-roasted ones are really delicious) and the seasonings.
Let the soup come to a boil and add the uncooked orzo. Lower the heat to a simmer and let the pasta cook in the soup until it's al dente. Add the spinach, cook for 2 to 3 minutes until it wilts and the soup is ready to serve.
An alternative way of cooking this soup is to cook the pasta partway in a separate pot, then add it to the rest of the ingredients and let it finish cooking in the soup. Ina Garten uses this method in her tomato soup recipe. Doing it this way prevents the pasta from absorbing too much of the soup broth.
How to Serve
Top the soup with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese and if available, a few thinly sliced fresh basil leaves would also be delicious.
How to Store
When at room temperature, poor leftover soup into an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to five days.
Enjoy!
More Delicious Soup Recipes
- Creamy Chicken Noodle and Vegetable Soup
- Creamy Asparagus Soup
- Easy Black Bean Soup
- Creamy Leek and Potato Soup
- Red Lentil and Cauliflower Soup
Tomato Orzo Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 small onion diced
- 3 medium garlic cloves minced
- 1 cup carrots chopped
- 1 cup celery chopped
- 6 cups broth vegetable or chicken
- 2 cups crushed tomatoes strained tomatoes or tomato sauce also works
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 bay leaf optional
- ¾ cup orzo pasta or pasta of choice
- 5 cups spinach
- Optional Topping: Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- In a large heavy-bottomed pot, heat the butter and olive oil over medium-high heat.
- Add onion, saute for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the garlic, carrots and celery and saute for an additional 4 minutes.
- Add broth, crushed tomatoes, bay leaves, dried basil, dried oregano and season with salt and pepper. Let the soup come to a boil and add the orzo or pasta of choice. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until pasta is al dente, stirring occasionally so orzo doesn't stick.
- Taste to adjust seasoning and add spinach. Once wilted, remove bay leaves and serve soup with freshly grated Parmesan and fresh basil (if available).
Notes
- Nutrition data doesn't include optional Parmesan cheese.
Rose
Tuesday 16th of March 2021
So easy to make. Love the flavours.
Sweet and Savoury Pursuits
Tuesday 16th of March 2021
Thank you for writing and letting me know that you enjoyed the soup! It makes me so happy to hear that ☺️.
Amber
Monday 18th of January 2021
This soup was AMAZING! Perfect for a snowy winter Sunday!!! Only changes I made—chicken broth, and 3 tablespoons of heavy cream! This one will be made again and again. Thanks for sharing.
Sweet and Savoury Pursuits
Monday 18th of January 2021
I'm so happy to hear you loved the soup. I really like the idea of adding a bit of cream to the soup for a touch of creaminess!
Rosana
Monday 24th of August 2020
Hi how much is a serving?
Sweet and Savoury Pursuits
Monday 24th of August 2020
Hello Rosana, the soup serves 6. If you need to know the exact serving size, I suggest you divide the soup into 6 portions and measure how much that is for you. Thank you!
Joanne
Wednesday 5th of February 2020
In the list of ingredients you show two bay leaves and then further down one bay leaf (optional). So do you really mean up to three leaves?
Sweet and Savoury Pursuits
Wednesday 5th of February 2020
Hi Joanne, sorry about the confusion. One large or two small bay leaves is enough for this recipe. And if you don’t have any at home it can be skipped as it’s not an essential ingredient .
Debbie
Tuesday 31st of December 2019
Made this soup for lunch today and it was delicious. I did however, omit the spinach as I don’t like spinach and the soup was tasty with the orzo and spices. Will definitely make again.
Sweet and Savoury Pursuits
Saturday 4th of January 2020
Thank you Debbie for writing and letting me know you enjoyed the soup even without the spinach!