Vegetable Orzo Soup
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my privacy policy.
Delicious and nutritious, this Vegetable Orzo Soup is the perfect 30-minute comfort meal. Using only simple ingredients and made in one pot, this hearty soup is sure to warm your soul.
Real talk, cold weather and I don’t always get along so well. So when fall and winter come around, I need something to keep me warm. That’s when I reach for a big pot of soup!
Okay, you caught me. I eat soup all year long. I mean, who doesn’t love Chicken Corn Soup in the summer?
Anyway, this soup has orzo and a bunch of my favorite veggies included! It goes great topped with some air fryer croutons and paired with this super tasty and festive prosciutto and pomegranate salad.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Soup-er good for you: Thanks to all of the hearty veggies in this soup, it has lots of great nutrients to fill you up.
- Easy to customize: One of my favorite parts of this soup is the option to swap out the veggies for whatever I have on hand! You can also easily add protein.
- Only 30 minutes needed: In just half an hour you can whip up the perfect dinner for soup season. What’s not to love?
Ingredients You Will Need
- Vegetables: My go-to veggies for this soup are onion, garlic, carrots, celery, tomatoes, zucchini, and bell pepper.
- Broth: Using vegetable broth for the base of your orzo soup gives you some good flavor to start with. If you don’t have vegetable broth on hand, chicken broth will work!
- Tomato paste: Both sweet and savory, tomato paste is the perfect way to enhance those veggie flavors.
- Seasonings: I use a lot of spices and herbs to pack this soup with flavor! This recipe calls for turmeric, oregano, and thyme.
- Orzo: This tiny rice-shaped pasta is perfect because it cooks quickly and adds some filling carbs to your soup.
*For a detailed list of instructions, ingredients and measurements, please reference the recipe card down below.
How to Make Vegetable Orzo Soup
Step 1: Sauté veggies. Heat oil in a soup pot and cook onion, garlic, carrots, and celery until softened.
Step 2: Make broth. Stir in chicken stock, tomato paste, diced tomatoes, and seasonings. Bring to a boil.
Step 3: Stir in orzo. Add uncooked pasta and give the soup a good stir, then cook until tender.
Step 4: Finish and serve. Add the zucchini and peppers in the last few minutes of serving, then ladle into bowls and top with parsley or basil.
Variations
- Chicken Vegetable Orzo Soup: Stir in some cooked shredded chicken with the zucchini and peppers. This is a great way to use leftovers, or you can buy a rotisserie chicken and shred it yourself.
- Slow Cooker Vegetable Orzo Soup: This soup can also be made in the slow cooker! Use the sauté feature on your slow cooker for the veggies, then stir all of the ingredients for the broth and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4. Add the orzo and the softer veggies about 30 minutes before serving.
- Lemon Orzo Vegetable Soup: Similar to my Lemon Orzo Chicken Soup, add fresh lemon zest and lemon juice at the end of cooking for a bright citrus flavor.
- Creamy Vegetable Orzo Soup: Use some heavy cream, coconut milk, or half and half to thicken the broth and give your soup a creamier consistency. You can also mix in some shredded Parmesan or mozzarella cheese, or use an immersion blender to blend some of the soup for a thicker texture.
- Spring Vegetable Soup With Orzo: Make this recipe in the spring and use in-season veggies like asparagus, snap peas, spinach, potatoes, and carrots.
Storage and Reheating
Let your soup cool to room temperature, then transfer to an airtight container. It keeps well in the fridge for a couple of days but you can also freeze it if you need it to hold for longer.
I use these silicone molds to store my soup in the freezer. Once they’re frozen I pop them out and put them in freezer safe ziploc bags to free up the cubes for more soup!
I sometimes zap a bowl of soup in the microwave if I’m having an individual portion, but to reheat a lot at once I recommend adding it back to a soup pot over the stove. Let frozen soup thaw in the fridge before reheating to make the process easier.
FAQs
Nope, two different ingredients! Rice is a type of grain and orzo is actually a type of pasta that just happens to be rice-sized. Orzo also tends to have more protein, which makes it a great soup ingredient!
Most root vegetables or leafy greens work well in soups! Potatoes, carrots and parsnips are good examples of root veggies. For greens you could add spinach, kale, or chard.
If you can’t find orzo, you could also use another small pasta shape like pastina, mini shells, ditalini, or even classic elbow macaroni.
One way to streamline prep is to chop all of your veggies a day or two beforehand. Keep them sealed well in the fridge in the meantime.
I love to serve a soup like this with a side of some nice crusty bread or a hearty sandwich like my turkey pesto sandwich. You could also throw together a quick salad. I like to pair my veggie soup with an easy zucchini salad or a more savory broccoli bacon salad!
More comforting soup recipes to try:
- Dill Pickle Soup
- Chicken Pastina Soup
- Roasted Vegetable Soup
- Mushroom And Wild Rice Soup
- Creamy Bacon Corn Chowder
If you tried this Vegetable Orzo Soup or any other recipe on my blog please leave a 🌟 star rating and tell me how it went in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you!
Vegetable Orzo Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 medium carrots peeled and diced
- 2 celery stalks diced
- 8 cups vegetable broth
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons turmeric
- 1 can 14.5 oz diced tomatoes
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup orzo pasta
- 1 zucchini finely diced
- 1 yellow bell pepper finely diced
- fresh parsley or basil chopped (optional for garnish)
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, carrots, and celery. Cook for about 8 minutes until the vegetables begin to soften.1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 medium onion, 2 cloves garlic, 2 medium carrots, 2 celery stalks
- Pour in the vegetable broth and add the tomato paste, turmeric, diced tomatoes, oregano, thyme, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil.8 cups vegetable broth, 1 tablespoon tomato paste, 2 teaspoons turmeric, 1 can 14.5 oz diced tomatoes, 2 teaspoons dried oregano, 2 teaspoons dried thyme, salt and pepper to taste
- Stir in the orzo and lower the heat to a simmer. Let the soup cook for about 10-12 minutes, or until the orzo is tender.1 cup orzo pasta
- During the last 5 minutes of the orzo cooking, stir in the zucchini and bell pepper. Continue to cook until all vegetables are tender.1 zucchini, 1 yellow bell pepper
- Remove the soup from the heat, divide between bowls, and garnish with fresh parsley or basil.fresh parsley or basil
Notes
- Topping options: If you’re looking for extra flavor, I’d suggest parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes.
- Additional mix in options: Spinach, kale, cannellini beans, or chickpeas would be great for additional nutrients.
- Make it creamier: Mix in full fat coconut milk or blend half the soup with an immersion blender to thicken it up.
- You can cook the orzo in a separate pot, according to the package instructions, and add to the soup after step 4. This method uses less broth, ensuring the orzo won’t soak up too much broth. It’s also great if you’re storing the soup for later! Just be sure to keep the orzo separate.
