Tomato Orzo Soup

Made with simple ingredients, this easy and quick to make homemade vegetarian Tomato Orzo Soup is a delicious, hearty and healthy meal.

There's something so soothing about making a hot pot of soup on a cold stormy day. This delicious recipe for Tomato Orzo Soup is the perfect soup to make when you are craving something warming and comforting. And just like this simple Red Lentil Soup it is filling and nutritious.

What goes into this Tomato Orzo Soup

You don't need any complicated ingredients to make this delicious and simple soup recipe. Here's an overview of the ingredients needed.

You can see the ingredient amounts and detailed step-by-step instructions in the recipe card at the end of the post.

Ingredients Overview:

This vegetarian tomato orzo soup starts off with aromatic vegetables such as carrots, celery, onion and garlic.

Crushed tomatoes or you can use canned diced tomatoes (fire-roasted ones are really delicious).

Typical Italian seasonings such as dried bay leaves, oregano and basil are used to flavour the soup. You can also add some red pepper flakes if you would like to make it spicy.

Orzo pasta, which is a short pasta that resembles a large grain of rice, is used in this recipe. If you don't have it in your pantry, you can use macaroni or any other short-cut pasta, even broken up spaghetti works. Use gluten-free pasta if you need the soup to be gluten-free.

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. Please see the recipe card below for the full instructions.

Steps Overview:

1. To make this soup, heat the butter and olive oil in a large pot. Add the chopped aromatics and cook them over medium-high heat. 
2. Add the broth, crushed tomatoes and their juices. Season the soup with salt and black pepper and the Italian seasonings.
3. 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.
4. Add the spinach, cook for 2 to 3 minutes until it wilts and the soup is ready to serve.

Tip: 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. Doing it this way prevents the pasta from absorbing too much of the soup broth. Ina Garten uses this method in her tomato soup recipe.

Variations:

There are lots of ways you can vary this recipe. Here are some suggestions:

• Add more vegetables. Peas, corn, green beans and cauliflower are all great options.
• Add chickpeas, kidney or black beans.
• If you don't need to keep this soup vegetarian, you can shred leftover rotisserie chicken and add it a few minutes before serving for a chicken orzo soup.
• Add cooked sausage, you can use mild or hot Italian sausages.
• Add beef, chicken or turkey meatballs, mini meatballs are especially fun for kids.

Serving Suggestions

Top the soup with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese and if available a few thinly sliced fresh basil leaves would also be delicious.

You can also serve the soup with slices of warm crusty bread or garlic bread. If you've got some extra time on your hands, make a batch of these Sweet Potato, Parmesan and Rosemary Biscuits or these Mini Cornbread Muffins and serve them warm along with the soup.

Storage Instructions

When at room temperature, poor leftover orzo 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