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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 buried 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. 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 Tomato Orzo Soup
To make this soup, start by 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 part way 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.
Top the soup with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese and if you have any around, some fresh basil would also be delicious. Enjoy!
If you make this recipe be sure to take a picture and share it with me on Instagram by tagging #sweetandsavourypursuits, I love to see your photos!
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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
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 bay leaf optional
- 3/4 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).
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?
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 .
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.
Thank you Debbie for writing and letting me know you enjoyed the soup even without the spinach!
Can I freeze this soup and add the spinach later?
Hello Frederica, I wouldn’t recommend freezing this soup, the orzo (pasta) will be overcooked and get mushy when you thaw and reheat the soup.
Great soup! Easy to make. Turned out perfect. Good flavors.
Thank you, glad you enjoyed the soup so much!
This was a delicious soup! Super easy to make, low on calories, and healthy! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Ghina, thanks so much for giving it a try and letting me know what you think of it .
Really delicious; love the addition of orzo, a great way to make it a one pot meal.
Thanks, I agree, the orzo will makes this soup hearty and delicious!