Sometimes all you need is a bowl of soup to warm you from the inside out. This Vegetable Soup with Orzo is perfect for an easy dinner or lunch, or for when you’re feeling under the weather.
For another favorite veggie packed soup, try this Minestrone recipe.
This Vegetable Soup with Orzo is another example of an older recipe posted here on Taste and Tell that underwent re-testing, and came out completely different.
And much, much, better – if you ask me.
This soup recipe is so easy to throw together and it’s packed full of veggies. Great for if it’s cold outside, for if you are feeling under the weather, or if you are just wanting some extra vegetables in your life. It’s great for lunch or dinner, and even though you’d mostly think about vegetable soup in the depths of winter, I really think this would be a great soup to eat year round!
Ingredients
- Oil: You will need some sort of fat to cook the vegetables. I used olive oil, but another oil of your choice will work, or butter would be a good choice, as well.
- Vegetables: For the vegetables, you’ll start off with carrots, onions, and celery. Then you’ll adding zucchini, garlic, and some spinach at the end.
- Broth: To keep this vegetarian, use vegetable broth. I do love the flavor of chicken broth, so I will sometimes use that for a little more flavor.
- Seasoning: I keep things really simple with this soup – just using Italian seasoning, along with salt and pepper.
- Tomatoes: I have had a thing with fire roasted tomatoes lately, so of course, that is what I added here. You can also use regular diced tomatoes if you don’t want the smokiness from the fire roasted tomatoes.
- Orzo: The orzo adds some substance to the soup, and goes perfectly with the vegetables.
How to Make Vegetable Soup with Orzo
STEP 1: Heat the oil in your soup pan and add the onions, carrots, and celery. Cook this until it is softened.
STEP 2: Add in the zucchini and the garlic and cook another minute. Then add in salt and pepper, to taste.
STEP 3: Pour the broth into the pan. Add the undrained tomatoes. Bring this mixture to a simmer.
STEP 4: Once at a simmer, add in the pasta and the Italian seasoning. Cook this at a simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring often so that the orzo doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
STEP 5: Once the pasta is tender, stir in the spinach. Cook this for a couple of minutes, until the spinach is wilted.
STEP 6: It’s ready to serve! If desired, you can top each bowl with a bit of freshly grated parmesan cheese.
Tips and Tricks
- This soup is best served right away because the orzo will continue to absorb the liquid. I still liked the leftovers, but it is best when it is served just after making it.
- If you are planning on serving people at different times, you can cook the orzo separately and add some to each bowl when serving.
- Feel free to take out or add any additional vegetables. This recipe is very forgiving!
- If you are wanting to add some extra protein, feel free to add in some cooked chicken or some beans.
More Comforting Soup Recipes
Chicken Stew
Roasted Red Pepper and Sweet Potato Soup
Chipotle Corn Chowder
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Vegetable Soup with Orzo
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion diced
- 3 medium carrots diced
- 2 stalks of celery diced
- 2 small or 1 medium zucchini chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 6 cups vegetable broth
- 1 (14.5 oz) can fire roasted tomatoes undrained
- 3/4 cup orzo pasta
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 2 cups baby spinach
- Parmesan cheese for serving
Instructions
- In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the zucchini and garlic and cook an additional minute. Season to taste with salt and pepper.1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 medium onion, 3 medium carrots, 2 stalks of celery, 2 small or 1 medium zucchini, 3 cloves garlic
- Mix in the vegetable broth, as well as the fire roasted tomatoes. Bring the soup to a simmer, then add the pasta and the Italian seasoning. Cook, stirring often so that the orzo doesn’t stick, until the pasta is cooked, about 10 minutes.6 cups vegetable broth, 1 (14.5 oz) can fire roasted tomatoes, 3/4 cup orzo pasta, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- Stir in the spinach, and cook for another minute or two, until the spinach is wilted.2 cups baby spinach
- Serve topped with parmesan cheese, if desired.Parmesan cheese
Emily says
What’s parmasean rind? This sounds very good!
Deborah says
If you buy parmesan with the rind on still, save the rind and then put it in soups like this and it will add some great flavor. You can leave it out if you don’t have one (as far as I know, you can’t just buy the rind – you have to buy the cheese with the rind) but I always save mine for soups like this one!
Chels R. says
First, I love her and her cookbooks and her show! So I’m thrilled that you reviewed this book because I haven’t yet got my hands on it. Second, I’m making this tomorrow for lunch. Grace has got a cold and I was wishing I had some extra chicken on hand (I need to make a Cosco run) and I wanted to make her soup. This is perfect!!!
Chels R. says
Okay, I made this tonight and it was so incredibly amazing good! That bit of fresh lemon at the end, WOW!
Deborah says
Yay – I’m so glad you liked it. The lemon is perfect, isn’t it!?
Chrissy says
I love this soup! If you have Barilla Pasta in your area supermarkets, they make a tiny pasta called “stelline” that is what she probably uses.
Deborah says
I wish my grocery store carried it – I’ll have to check around at some other grocery stores because I think it would be great!
Liz says
Wonderful soup. Thank you.