This vegan orzo soup recipe with lemon and spinach is completely addictive! Made with your choice of vegan chicken or chickpeas, in a savory broth with healthy spinach and a generous squeeze of lemon. This soup is true vegan comfort food!
❤️ Why make this recipe
This soup is delicious any time of year, but it's especially good in summer with a lite lemony broth. You can swap out different veggies if you choose and make it your own creation. It's even easy to make gluten-free!
🧾 Ingredients and substitutions
- Olive Oil - to saute the veggies in.
- Onion - for flavor. You can also use onion powder if you don't have an onion or simply omit it.
- Garlic - fresh cloves of garlic taste best, but you can use garlic powder instead if needed.
- Carrots - for color and sweetness.
- Celery - for flavor and texture in the soup. You will only need about 2 stalks of celery.
- Fresh Garlic - minced for flavor.
- Vegan Chicken Broth - I like Not Chick'n Broth or the Better than Bouillon brand chicken flavor. You can also use any vegetable broth that you want or half vegetable stock and half water with a little extra salt.
- Bay Leaf - optional for flavor.
- Thyme - to flavor the soup. You can also use an Italian seasoning mix, oregano, rosemary, or poultry seasoning mix instead of thyme if you choose. Fresh herbs are also delicious in this soup, especially fresh parsley at the end of cooking.
- Vegan Chicken - to swap for chicken in traditional orzo soup. I like to use my vegan shredded chicken, easy vegan seitan chunks, sliced-up seitan chicken for this recipe, or Butler Soy Curls. You can also simply use chickpeas instead of chicken for a more plant-based soup.
- Salt and Pepper - for flavor. I also like to add a dash of red pepper flakes.
- Orzo - This is small rice-shaped pasta. You could also use any small pasta if you don't have orzo pasta. See my vegan pasta guide to find what brands of pasta are vegan.
- Baby Spinach - You can also use fresh kale and collard greens, or Swiss chard. Fresh greens are best, but you can use frozen ones as well.
- Lemon - The juice of half a lemon brightens up this soup and makes it totally addictive. Add the lemon juice to the whole pot or serve it with lemon wedges on the side for adding to individual bowls.
🔪 Helpful tools
- A large dutch oven or soup pot.
🥄 How to make vegan orzo soup
Step 1 - Peel and dice 1 onion and saute it in olive oil with 1/2 teaspoon of salt over low heat in a large pot while you are preparing the rest of the vegetables. (Cooking the onion slowly brings out the sweetness and gives a nice flavor to the soup.)
Step 2 - Wash and chop the carrots and celery into small pieces and add them to the pot with minced garlic and spices then stir well.
Step 3 - Turn up the stove to medium heat and saute for 3 minutes then add 10 cups of chicken-flavored vegan broth.
Step 4 - Bring to a low boil for 5 minutes, then add the vegan chicken of your choice (2 cups Soy Curls, 3 cups chicken seitan, or 2 cans of chickpeas drained and rinsed) (Add 2 additional cups of broth if using soy curls since they will absorb 2 cups of liquid.)
Step 5 - Allow to simmer for 5 more minutes, then add 1 1/2 cups of orzo pasta and simmer for 10 more minutes.
Step 6 - Turn off the heat and stir in 6 cups of rough-cut baby spinach and the juice of 2 lemons.
If you like this orzo soup recipe, you have to try my orzo pesto salad or my vegan orzo pasta recipe too!
👩🏻🍳 Pro Tips
- Add the spinach at the end of cooking so it just wilts in the soup and doesn't get cooked down.
- Don't overcook the soup or the orzo will become mushy.
- Swap out orzo for 3 cups of cooked white rice if desired.
❓ Frequently asked questions?
To make this orzo soup gluten-free, simply use a gluten-free orzo. Many brands of pasta make gluten-free orzo. You can also swap out the orzo for 3 cups of cooked white rice. Use Butler Soy Curls or chickpeas for the vegan "chicken" instead of seitan for a gluten-free protein.
This soup recipe makes a lot. My family loves it and will eat a whole pot for dinner, but I'm sure smaller families will have leftovers. Feel free to cut the recipe in half. However, the leftover orzo soup is delicious for lunches for a few days. The soup freezes great too, so if you are going to the effort of making a pot of soup, I recommend making a big pot that you can get a few meals out of.
What to serve with orzo soup?
We love to make vegan drop biscuits, vegan Red Lobster biscuits, or vegan focaccia bread to eat with this soup to make it a full meal. It's also delicious with a vegan Caesar salad.
🥡 Storage and reheating
Refrigerate: This vegan orzo soup will keep well in the fridge for up to 5 days in an airtight container.
Freeze: Orzo soup freezes well and can be stored in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
Reheating: Reheat the soup in the microwave for about 3 minutes or add a few tablespoons of water and reheat it in a saucepan on the stovetop until warm.
🌟 More vegan soup recipes
- Vegan Cream of Chicken Soup
- Vegan Wedding Soup
- Dairy-Free Cream of Celery Soup
- Vegan Cream of Broccoli
- Vegetarian 15 Bean Soup
📌 Be sure to follow me on Pinterest for new vegan recipes!
📋 Vegan Orzo Soup Recipe
Vegan Orzo Soup
Equipment
- souper cubes (for storage)
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 medium carrots peeled and chopped
- 4 celery stalks chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme (or Italian herb mix)
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
- 12 cups not chick'n broth (or 6 cups broth and 6 cups water with extra salt to save money)
- 2 cups Butler Soy Curls or 3 cups diced chicken seitan or 3 cups chickpeas
- 1 1/2 cup orzo pasta (or other small pasta)
- 6 cups baby spinach roughly chopped (or leafy greens of choice)
- 2 medium lemons
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Peel and dice 1 onion and saute it in olive oil with 1/2 teaspoon of salt over low heat in a large pot while you are preparing the rest of the vegetables. (Cooking the onion slowly brings out the sweetness and gives a nice flavor to the soup.)
- Wash and chop the carrots and celery into small pieces and add them to the pot with minced garlic and spices then stir well.
- Turn up the stove to medium heat and saute for 3 minutes then add 10 cups of chicken-flavored vegan broth.
- Bring to a low boil for 5 minutes, then add the vegan chicken of your choice (2 cups Soy Curls, 3 cups chicken seitan, or 2 cans of chickpeas drained and rinsed) (Add 2 additional cups of broth if using soy curls since they will absorb 2 cups of liquid.)
- Allow to simmer for 5 more minutes, then add 1 1/2 cups orzo pasta and simmer for 10 more minutes.
- Turn off the heat and stir in 6 cups of rough-cut baby spinach and the juice of 2 lemons lemon.
Notes
- Add the spinach at the end of cooking so it just wilts in the soup and doesn't get cooked down.
- Don't overcook the soup or the orzo will become mushy.
- Swap out orzo for 3 cups of cooked white rice if desired.
- Use low sodium broth or half broth and half water for low sodium soup.
Nutrition
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Click the stars above or leave a comment! I'd love to hear from you!
This is my son's favorite soup. He asks for it all of the time. Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Monica, I have a huge bag of TVP to use up. It has a crumbled texture to it. Do you think it would work in this recipe? I know nothing about using TVP! Thanks so much