Made with simple ingredients, this easy and quick to make homemade vegetarian Tomato Orzo Soup is a delicious, hearty and healthy meal.
If you like this soup, you may also want to try this Creamy Chicken Noodle and Vegetable Soup.
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 tomato soup with pasta recipe.
Here's an overview of the ingredients needed to make this vegetarian tomato orzo soup. 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 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
- 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.
- Add the broth, crushed tomatoes and their juices. Season the soup with salt and black pepper and the Italian 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.
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 tomato pasta soup. 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 sausage.
- For a meatball orzo soup, 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
- Beef Barley Soup
- Easy Black Bean Soup
- Creamy Asparagus 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 or strained tomatoes or tomato sauce
- 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
- Store leftover tomato orzo soup into an airtight container and refrigerate for up to five days.
- Nutrition data doesn't include optional Parmesan cheese.
Donna says
I added a pound of ground beef, small bag of frozen mixed vegetables, and used 2 each 32 oz organic chicken stock, and 23 oz stewed tomatoes. I threw in 3 handfuls of fresh organic baby spinach. Delicious! It was very hearty and perfect for the rainy chilly day we were having. Will definitely make again.
Fida | Sweet and Savoury Pursuits says
Sounds delicious, love the addition of ground beef for a hearty and comforting soup!
Elise says
Absolutely love this soup, so easy and delicious! Will be making again.
Holly says
looks great but nothing in ingredients show the carrots that are clearly in the picture. how much do you put or just eyeball it? Same for celery. I would think that makes this soup very delicious...
Fida | Sweet and Savoury Pursuits says
Hello Holly, the full recipe is in the recipe card at the end of the post . I hope you enjoy the soup!
Linda says
Made this today and really enjoyed it. Will be making again for sure.
Fida | Sweet and Savoury Pursuits says
That's great, thanks so much for letting me know you enjoyed this soup!
Elaine says
I am going to make this soup today & wondering what broth would you suggest?
Cheers,
Elaine
Fida | Sweet and Savoury Pursuits says
Hello Elaine, I like to use either vegetable or chicken broth with this recipe. I hope you enjoy the soup!
Fida
Lisa says
@Elaine, I use chicken or vegetable broth for mine.
Amina says
Awesome soup, thank you for the recipe!
Fida | Sweet and Savoury Pursuits says
Hello Amina! Thank you for letting me know you enjoyed this soup ☺️. I'm so glad you liked it!
Rose says
So easy to make. Love the flavours.
Sweet and Savoury Pursuits says
Thank you for writing and letting me know that you enjoyed the soup! It makes me so happy to hear that ☺️.
Amber says
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 says
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 says
Hi how much is a serving?
Sweet and Savoury Pursuits says
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 says
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 says
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 says
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 says
Thank you Debbie for writing and letting me know you enjoyed the soup even without the spinach!
Frederica Robertson says
Can I freeze this soup and add the spinach later?
Sweet and Savoury Pursuits says
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.
Joan Cheshuk says
Great soup! Easy to make. Turned out perfect. Good flavors.
Sweet and Savoury Pursuits says
Thank you, glad you enjoyed the soup so much!
Ghina Khaled says
This was a delicious soup! Super easy to make, low on calories, and healthy! Thanks for sharing!
Sweet and Savoury Pursuits says
Hi Ghina, thanks so much for giving it a try and letting me know what you think of it .
vanyadhanya says
Really delicious; love the addition of orzo, a great way to make it a one pot meal.
Sweet and Savoury Pursuits says
Thanks, I agree, the orzo will makes this soup hearty and delicious!