I like to make this lemon orzo soup on busy weeknights! A comfy, wholesome one-pot meal, it has a lemony broth crammed with tender orzo and veggies.
Let’s make lemon orzo soup! This recipe has shortly turn into a favourite in our home this winter, a brand new go-to dinner for busy weeknights. I like that it’s cozy sufficient to really feel warming and satisfying on a chilly day, however that it’s nonetheless wholesome and contemporary. A vivid lemon broth surrounds tender orzo pasta, flavorful greens, and creamy white beans. A sprinkle of dill or parsley takes it excessive.
Like all the very best weeknight dinners, this lemon orzo soup is simple to make. It comes collectively in a single pot with easy substances and cooks up in about half-hour.
I hope this recipe is as huge a success in your home because it has been in ours. Even Ollie, my four-year-old, can’t get sufficient of it. He loves to assist make it too. His favourite job is manning the pepper mill, which implies that our soup is at all times very, very properly peppered. 🙂 Hey, if he’s excited to eat greens, I’ll take it!
Lemon Orzo Soup Elements
Right here’s what you’ll have to make this lemon orzo soup recipe:
- Orzo, in fact! Orzo is a small, rice-shaped pasta. Its fast cooking time makes it good for utilizing in soups like this one!
- Onion, garlic, carrots, and celery – These greens create the soup’s flavorful base.
- Vegetable broth – Make home made vegetable broth, or use store-bought.
- Contemporary thyme – It provides woodsy, earthy depth of taste to the soup. Be at liberty to substitute dried thyme when you don’t have contemporary readily available—1 teaspoon will do the trick.
- Cannellini beans – Stuffed with fiber and protein, they make this soup a satisfying meal.
- Contemporary spinach – For an additional veggie punch. I like the silky texture of the leaves on this soup.
- Contemporary lemon juice – It provides vivid, citrusy taste to the broth.
- Contemporary parsley or dill – Non-obligatory, however beneficial! They make this soup really feel particularly gentle and contemporary.
- And salt and pepper – To make all of the flavors pop!
Discover the whole recipe with measurements under.
Recipe Variations
I like this soup as written, however there are all kinds of how you possibly can change it up! Be at liberty to range the substances based mostly on what you’re craving or what you’ve gotten readily available. Listed here are a couple of concepts to get you began:
- Substitute the celery with fennel.
- Use a leek as an alternative of the onion.
- Use rosemary or dried Italian seasoning as an alternative of thyme.
- Substitute the spinach with kale or Swiss chard.
- Substitute cooked lentils or different white beans for the cannellini beans.
- Substitute the orzo with one other small pasta, like ditalini or small elbows, and even cooked rice.
Let me know what variations you strive!
The right way to Make Lemon Orzo Soup
This lemon orzo soup recipe is a simple one-pot meal. Right here’s a fast overview of the way it comes collectively:
Begin by sautéing the onion, carrots, and celery in a soup pot over medium warmth. Prepare dinner till they soften, 6 to eight minutes. Stir within the garlic.
Subsequent, simmer the soup. Add the orzo, beans, thyme, and broth and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes, or till the orzo is tender.
- One thing I like about this soup: Because the orzo cooks within the soup, it releases starches into the broth. They thicken it barely, giving it a very comforting, virtually creamy texture. So good!
End the soup with the lemon juice and contemporary spinach. As soon as the spinach wilts, season to style with salt and pepper. Serve topped with contemporary herbs!
- Tip: For an additional-lemony soup, high your bowl with lemon zest too.
What to Serve with Lemon Orzo Soup
We frequently get pleasure from this soup for dinner by itself, with some crusty bread on the aspect for sopping up the lemony broth.
For a bigger meal, pair it with a easy arugula salad or a inexperienced veggie like roasted inexperienced beans or roasted broccoli.
Storage Suggestions
Retailer leftover soup in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 3 days. The orzo will take up the broth because it sits within the fridge, so that you’ll seemingly have to skinny the soup with water once you reheat.
Extra Soup Recipes to Strive
For those who love this lemon orzo soup, strive certainly one of these cozy soup recipes subsequent:
Lemon Orzo Soup
Serves 4
This lemon orzo soup recipe is a contemporary, wholesome, and comfortable one-pot meal! Considered one of our favourite weeknight dinners, it has a vivid lemon broth crammed with tender orzo and veggies.
Forestall your display from going darkish
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Warmth the olive oil in a big pot or Dutch oven over medium warmth. Add the onion, carrots, celery, salt, and several other grinds of pepper and cook dinner, stirring sometimes, for six to eight minutes, or till softened.
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Stir within the garlic, then add the broth, thyme, orzo, and beans and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes, or till the orzo is tender.
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Add the spinach and lemon juice and stir till the spinach is wilted. Season to style and serve topped with freshly floor black pepper and contemporary herbs, if desired.
