This Orzo Vegetable Soup is a quick and easy one-pot wonder and a delicious way to warm up on a cold day!
Once upon a time I used to think orzo was just “pastified” rice and didn’t see the point.
I clearly had the dumb.
These days I am all about the orzo!
It’s small enough to load up a spoonful with pasta goodness (with no worry of getting slapped in the face with an extra long noodle or having oversized pasta push all the other ingredients off the dang spoon) but just big enough to hold it’s own in soups, salads, and pasta dishes aplenty.
It also makes the most baller adult mac and cheese of my life.
Orzo may actually have taken over as my favorite pasta shape come to think of it. I love it so!
One-Pot Orzo Vegetable Soup
This scrumptious soup is a small-batch version of Ali’s Italian Orzo Spinach Soup on Gimme Some Oven that I tweaked based on the ingredients I had handy! The original recipe makes a LOT of soup but with Paul spending more and more time in Texas lately I don’t quite need a boatload of soup to slurp by myself.
Three or four bowls to reheat for lunches and dinners throughout the week are perfect, and pairs great with cold sandwiches, melty grilled cheese, and even leftover chicken which makes a marvelous mix in!
I’ve also started doing this thing where I pair a cup hearty veggie soup with a loaded baked potato on the side and it’s pretty much the dinner of my dreams lately! DELICIOUS!
Ready for the recipe? Let’s do this!
One-Pot Orzo Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
- 1 TBSP olive oil, avocado oil, or butter
- 1 cup diced yellow onion
- ½ cup diced carrots
- ½ cup diced celery
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and minced
- 3 cups vegetable stock or chicken stock
- 1 cup canned diced or crushed tomatoes
- 1/2-3/4 cup orzo pasta
- ¼ tsp dried thyme
- ⅛ tsp dried oregano
- ⅛ tsp dried rosemary
- 2 cups fresh spinach
- salt and black pepper to taste
TASTY TOPPINGS: choose your favorites
- freshly grated Parmesan cheese (SO GOOD!)
- crushed red pepper flakes
- garlic roasted chickpeas (one of my favorite soup toppers)
- garlic bread croutons
- fresh parsley
- fresh torn basil
Instructions
- Heat 1 TBSP oil or butter in a large pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat.
- Add onion and sauté until tender, approx. 4-5 minutes.
- Add carrots, celery and garlic and sauté for an additional 3-4 minutes.
- Add stock, tomatoes, orzo, thyme, oregano, rosemary and stir to combine. Bring soup to a simmer, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is al dente and the vegetables are tender.
- Ready to eat? Stir in the spinach at the last minute and stir into the hot soup to wilt the greens. Give it a taste and season with salt and black pepper as desired. Add your favorite toppings and dive in while it’s hot!
Notes
Nutrition
If you get a chance to try this one-pot orzo vegetable soup, let me know! Leave some love in the comment form below or tag your photos with @peasandcrayons on Instagram so I can happy dance over your creation!
Questions & Reviews
I added 1/2 cup more veggie broth, and veggies, ended up with more of a pasta dish, still yummy, tho!!!
Absolutely love this recipe, it actually one my whole family enjoyed, which doesn’t often happen. I will definitely be making it again.
Thank you Mandy! I’m so over the moon excited the whole fam approved of this one! It’s always cause for celebration when that happens 😃
Cozy bowl of soup. Delicious and easy to make.
Yay! Thank you Mari!
This soup was easy to make and very flavorful!
Where’s the sodium content at the end?
Hi Mary! I think because I wrote in veggie or chicken stock and had season with salt to taste as an option it couldn’t calculate it. The sodium content is going to vary based on how much you season with as well as if you’re using vegetable stock or chicken stock and jarred versus homemade. A lot of friends and readers also opt to make this with broth instead of stock which is a much lower sodium content too. Do you typically use an app to calculate it for you so you can monitor daily values? That will for sure give you the best reading. If you want to let me know what you’re using I could help you calculate it as well? Just let me know! xoxo
This was great. Left out the spinach
I just made it and added red, yellow and green pepper strips, broccoli, and shelled edamame and it tastes so good!!!
Amazing recipe we loved it thank you and I’m making it again today on this frosty morning in January 2025
Fantastic and tasty recipes I have learned and made today. So easy to prepare because all Ingredients are available or you already have them.
I am one of barley lovers and with this recipe I am very rich in having healthy eating habits
Delicious, quick and easy to make … I sprinkled on some parmesan and served with crusty bread
Yay! Thank you Linda! ❤️❤️
This was very good. I added extra spices so suit our tastes. Will definitely make this again. Versatile enough to substitute beans for orzo and other vegetables for spinach.
Use freeze dried spinach rather than fresh
Went together quickly and was delicious!
This was easy and good–just what I was looking for to use what I had in the fridge.
This soup was excellent, needed a quick pantry stock soup and used this to start off with. Used beef broth to mollify my husband who says he will eat vegetarian , but then announces it would be better with some meat in it. Didn’t have any thawed, oh well. Doubled the recipe used extra celery, onion and garlic, then a bag of frozen mixed vegetable. Subbed a large can of chickpeas for the orzo. Seasoned with 2 tsp Tuscan Herbs ( limited time), freshly ground pepper, and a 6oz can Spicy V8. No salt since the chickpeas were regular pack, as well as the V8. I’m not supposed to add salt so I’ll only have a little, but tasted good. Was going to add some kale (holds better, and is cheaper, but the pan was too full. Next time I’ll use a bigger pan. He’s taking it for meals tomorrow for his double shift, he really liked it. Saved for future.repeats.
This soup was so easy & so delicious!
Thank you! So happy you enjoyed the recipe!
Really good! Made as written, except I didn’t have any spinach. Changed the method slightly: at step 4, added all except the orzo and simmered for an hour or so. Then gave a quick blitz with the stick blender then added the orzo and simmered until it was done. Lovely texture.
Beautiful soup! This one made my day. Thanks for the recipe.
In the Instructions, Step 4 says to bring the soup to a simmer. Then Step 5 says to reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Isn’t the soup already simmering before the heat is reduced? OR perhaps are we to bring the soup to a boil in step 4?
Made this for dinner tonight- it’s so so good! Next time I’ll add the roasted chickpeas! YUM!
Very easy and super yummy. I used 4 cups of chicken broth and added some shredded chicken that needed used up. Delicious and perfect for a snowy weeknight.
Delicious and so easy to make
This recipe is a win-win! I had extra fresh veggies that I needed to use as well as chicken tenders that I needed to cook. I added them and the soup and it was delicious!! I am happy that I can freeze the leftovers for meal prep!
SOO delicious! I made it exactly as written and topped with the roasted chickpeas! Can’t wait to make this again, it was both filling and satisfying. Thank you 🙂
This was easy and delicious. This will be my veggie soup base recipe from now on. I added a full quart of stock, 1.5 c. of crushed tomatoes, doubled the herb amounts because I had these varieties fresh in my garden thanks to warmer than normal winter weather, plus half a zucchini, diced. What a great way to clean out the veggie drawer in the fridge!
I’m so thrilled you enjoyed it, Heather! Love the extras you added and totally agree – such a great way to clean out the crisper! xoxo
Family favorite! Thanks for sharing! I use brown rice on side instead of orzo and still delicious with the roasted chickpeas. The lemon zest on chickpeas is worth the extra work and no cheese needed.
I make it exactly as the recipe and I love it. Usually, I’m done cutting and cooking in 20 minutes. So it’s quick, healthy and yummy!
How can I do this in a crockpot!? Thanks for this great recipe!
Hi Julie! You’ll lose a wee bit of flavor by not sautéing the veggies first but that can be made up by with spices and such, just add any extra seasoning or extras to taste. It’ll be much like the regular crockpot soups where you toss everything in except for the pasta and spinach then cook it 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low, adding the orzo towards the end for several minutes until al dente, then toss in the spinach to wilt and dive on in! xoxo
Not bad! I used my own made veggie stock, elbow macaroni, half cup tri-color beans and fresh chopped tomatoes! A little bit more herbs and red pepper flakes! Simple and delicious!
Sounds like you made some fun changes!
So easy
RIGHT!? I love how I can just throw this soup together and have a delicious dinner ready to go! xo
Thank you for posting this recipe! While I had to make several substitutions because of allergies, it turned out really well. The biggest changes were that I subbed the carrots and celery for turnip and zucchini but it was still super tasty!
So glad it was a hit, Cat! Thank you!!
This soup was so incredibly satisfying. I added one chopped zucchini, basil and rosemary from my garden and a can of kidney beans. Even my 3 year old gobbled it up. Thank you!
I’m so glad y’all enjoyed the soup! Zucchini and kidney beans sound like perfect mix-ins! xoxo
As written sounds amazing, but I am thinking about adding some cooked Italian sausage to this. Do you think that would be ok???
Hi Janet! I think it would be an excellent pairing! xo
Hi I was wondering if you recommended diced or crushed tomatoes? Is there one you prefer over the other for this recipe? Thanks.
Hi Laura! Crushed is always my go-to when want to add a little extra thickness to soups (which I just adore!) but both are just wonderful here. I usually always reach for crushed first though, when I have it.
Hi Jen. I’ve looked at a number of Orzo Soup recipes and this one looks best! I plan to make a large batch and share with friends and family. My question: I’m using diced tomatoes and would like to know; do I use the liquid in the can as well? Thanks.
Thank you Larry! I’m so honored you chose my recipe to try! For canned diced tomatoes you will use the liquid as well as the tomatoes. It all adds to the flavor of the broth. xo
How long should I cook this in a Instant Pot for?
Hi Cece! I’d have to test it to know for sure as the Instant Pot is quite finicky with timing.
This is a delightful soup and sooooo easy to make. I had it for lunch today and packed the rest for lunch this week. Ooh and all the veggies make me feel so healthy! ???
The list of ingredients says roasted garbanzo beans but in recipe there is no mention of them in the steps ????
Hi Tracey! Are you speaking of the optional toppings? Would you like to add the roasted chickpeas? I have the link I the recipe card and also here: https://peasandcrayons.com/2017/01/crispy-roasted-parmesan-chickpeas.html. Since it was an optional topping it’s not part of the recipe, just a yummy extra! xoxo
Can I double the recipe and freeze half of it?
Absolutely! The orzo/pasta likes to drink up the soup so, for the best freezer-friendly results, you can actually make the veggie soup on it’s own and then add the orzo when reheating. Planning on doing a big meal prep batch this way now that the temps are dropping!
Thank you Jenn! ?
very filling and so easy to make. One pot makes it even better❤️.
I didn’t have the rosemary and I added a bit of smoked paprika but, otherwise, I made it exactly as you wrote out. It was really good. I’ve never cooked anything with orzo before, but my husband remembers his family making it back in Italy, so it took him back a bit.
We enjoyed this soup today! I didn’t have spinach in the kitchen so I added fresh green beans and some frozen peas from the freezer at the same time you added the stock, tomatoes, etc.
My mom and mother-in-law will love it when I bring them some of this wholesome soup to share
Had to double this cos we love leftovers for lunch at work. Omg soo easy and tasty…this will definitely be done regularly!!
Yay! So excited it’s making a repeat appearance- thanks Maata!
This looks so tasty and comforting!
Thanks Rose!
Yummy! I made this tonight. Our family has been fighting off a nasty cold. I used bone broth and extra garlic. Also added some frozen peas, because I love peas. It was delicious and made us all feel better. Thanks for the awesome and easy recipe!
Hope y’all are feeling better, Sasha! So glad the soup was a hit and love the addition of peas – they’re a favorite here as well!
love this soup and all of its ingredients, thank you, one pot too is absolutely perfect!
Thanks Sabrina! xo