Vegetable Orzo Soup

minestrone con pasta

When I’m in the mood for a cozy and hearty soup, I turn to this vegetable orzo soup. It transports you to a Tuscan hillside on a cool, windy day being served this comforting soup by a friendly grandmother.

This is essentially my version of an Italian minestrone soup, which is a vegetable soup, often with potatoes, pasta or rice. For my vegetable orzo soup, I am adding beans and orzo pasta, making it very nourishing and providing essential vitamins and minerals.

Vegetable orzo soup is a great vegetarian, healthy option that is packed with natural, rustic flavor. The bonus is that it is quick to prepare and doesn’t require hours simmering on the stove.

This hearty veggie soup is also customizable and can be made with whatever vegetables you have in your fridge or freezer. You can also add cubed potatoes for extra starchiness. Vegetable orzo soup really is the perfect one pot weeknight meal!

Ingredients

• Onion
• Carrots
• Celery
• Garlic cloves
• Dried thyme
• Dried oregano
• Crushed red pepper flakes
• Bay leaves
• Vegetable broth
• Can of peeled whole or crushed tomatoes
• Can of cannellini beans
• Orzo pasta
• Kale or spinach

While it is a long list of ingredients, don’t be intimidated! It is mostly pantry staples and dry herbs and spices that you most likely already have on hand.

An interesting note about orzo pasta in Italy – it’s actually called risoni, because of the shape’s resemblance to a grain of rice, riso in Italian. If you look for “orzo” in an Italian supermarket, you will find the grain, barley. You might also find caffe d’orzo, barley coffee. This is roasted and ground barley and used as a coffee substitute for those who prefer a caffeine-free coffee.

Step by Step

Start by heating a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in a large soup pot set over medium heat. Add the chopped onion, carrots and celery. Give that a stir and let that saute until the vegetables are starting to soften and the onion is turning translucent, about 5 minutes.

Now that we have that as a base, add the aromatics and seasonings. Add in the minced garlic, and dried herbs. I’m using thyme, oregano and crushed red pepper flakes. Dried herbs work well for soups because they can stand up to being simmered for longer periods of time, whereas fresh herbs would just disappear.

Then add the vegetable broth and tomatoes. I’m using a can of whole peeled tomatoes and breaking them up with my hands as I put them in the pot. I prefer a soup with lighter tomato broth rather than a thick chunky tomato base, so I’m only using one can. But feel free to add another can if you love tomatoes and want more.

Season with salt and freshly cracked black pepper and add a couple bay leaves. Bring the soup up to a simmer, stirring occasionally. And then turn the heat down to medium-low.

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Now add the beans and kale. Canned beans are great in soup because they are precooked so they add a quick and easy protein kick. I’m using kale that I roughly chopped because I like the hearty texture it brings to the soup. It takes longer to cook than some other leafy greens like baby spinach, so I make sure it has enough time to cook in the soup and become tender.

Let the beans and kale simmer away with the soup for about 10-15 minutes, letting all thse lovely flavors develop.

Then lastly, add the orzo pasta. It only needs a maximum of 10 minutes to cook so make sure you are serving the soup soon after adding the pasta. If the pasta sits in the soup too long, it tends to absorb a lot of the broth and can become mushy.

Taste to check if the pasta is al dente and if the soup needs more salt and pepper. Adjust accordingly.

Last step is to serve! I like a squeeze of lemon juice for a fresh kick and ciabatta breadsticks to soak up the herby tomato broth. Vegetable orzo soup is also best with freshly grated parmesan cheese on top which melts into the hot broth and adds this salty umami kick that will warm your soul!

Tips and FAQs

Try adding other frozen or fresh vegetables! Zucchini, bell peppers, green beans, green peas, corn, butternut squash, or cauliflower are great options!

Variations

• Substitute potatoes or rice for the orzo pasta
• Substitute other pasta shapes for the orzo, like ditalini
• Substitute other beans for the cannellini, like kidney or great northern beans
• Substitute other leafy greens for the kale, like spinach or chard
• Substitute chicken broth or stock for the vegetable broth

Vegetable Orzo Soup Recipe

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