Name: Orzo Soup with Chickpeas, Tomatoes, and Spinach
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil; 2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped; 2 celery stalks, chopped; 1 medium onion, chopped; 2 garlic cloves, minced; Pinch of red-pepper flakes; 2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary; 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth; 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained (OR 1 bag of dried chickpeas, cooked according to package directions, and drained); 1 cup roughly chopped cherry or grape tomatoes; 1/2 cup dried uncooked orzo; 1 bag of spinach leaves (15 oz.); Salt and black pepper; ¼ cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more as needed

This post contains links that, if you click on them and make a purchase, will earn me money. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. . Regardless, I only recommend products or services that I believe will be good for my readers. Thanks for helping me continue to produce great content!

Jump to Recipe

Colorful and complex, Orzo Soup with Chickpeas, Tomatoes, and Spinach is rich with vegetables, olive oil and Parmesan cheese. Carrots add sweetness, celery brings depth, and cherry tomatoes contribute brightness, sweetness and looks. Tender green spinach, added at the end lends a slightly herbaceous note. This gorgeous soup is a showstopper, and super easy, too!

Sprinkle grated Parmigiano-Reggiano on top.

Have a bowl! With some grated Parmigiano-Reggiano sprinkled on top.

This soup can EASILY be made strictly vegetarian by substituting vegetable broth for chicken broth.

How Easy is this Orzo Soup with Chickpeas, Tomatoes and Spinach to make?

1. Prep Work:

Dreading chopping things usually lasts longer than the actual chopping takes. Fear not the prep. Put on some happy tunes, and have some fun.

You’re going to chop onions, carrots, and celery. Halve some grape tomatoes. Mince some garlic and rosemary. Put them in bowls, and set aside.

Celery Carrot and Onions, chopped and ready for the pot.

Celery, carrots and onion are chopped and ready for the pot. Also known as the “mirepoix”, in French. (The aromatic vegetable mix you sauté to make broth.

2. Boil Some Water.

Measure the Chicken-flavored Better than Bouillon to make some broth. (Of course, if you have some homemade chicken broth stored in the freezer, that’s even better!!! By all means, go with that.) I have recently discovered that Better than Bouillon tastes better than canned broth, or boxed broth, and is far cheaper. So if ease is your goal, buy a jar of chicken, and beef, and keep the opened jars on hand in your fridge. Think of them as staple pantry items. I’ve put in an Amazon link for your convenience. If you’re making this soup strictly vegetarian, Better Than Bouillon also has a vegetable stock variety.

Since I don’t always have homemade chicken broth on hand, in the freezer, I have found that making Better Than Bouillion is a great easy substitute. Better tasting and cheaper than a boxed or canned chicken broth, too!

Sauté the Veggies

Adding the carrots and celery to the onions.

Carrots and celery are added into the onions. I always add the garlic at the last minute of sautéing the mirepoix.

Carrots, celery and onions are the three veggies that are typical of what the French call a mirepoix. Basically, they are the standard veggies you sauté to flavor any broth or soup you might be making in many dishes of American cuisine. Sometimes they’re referred to as the aromatics.

Adding rosemary to the simmering veggies.

Garlic, rosemary and red pepper flakes added to the simmering veggies.

To bump up the flavor of your mirepoix mixture, you can add herbs and spices. For this soup, I went with rosemary, minced garlic, and red pepper flakes. I add them during the last minute of this step so I don’t burn the garlic.

Add the Broth to the Veggies.

Adding the broth.

Look at that: you’ve created a rich, beautiful, flavorful broth!

Add the Orzo, Chickpeas, and Tomato and Simmer

What is Orzo?

Orzo is a tiny pasta, masquerading as rice. Takes less cooking time!

Here’s what the orzo looks like. Orzo is pasta, masquerading as rice. Takes less cooking time!

Orzo is a PASTA, but it looks a whole lot like rice. You’ll usually find it packaged in boxes, or sometimes compact little plastic bags of it, in the pasta section. Although it LOOKS like rice, it is NOT rice, and cooks much more quickly than rice. Usually around 10 minutes, instead of the 20 it takes rice. So once you add the orzo, your soup is on the clock, because you still want that pasta to be al dente. (Don’t over cook it. Check the package directions to see how long your variety takes to cook.)

2. Dried and Home cooked vs. Canned Chickpeas

Garbanzo beans/chickpeas imitating lemmings. Everybody over the cliff!!!

Of course chickpeas you’ve cooked yourself from dried is the first choice here. Yours will likely have more flavor than canned chickpeas. But I’ve made this soup with both types, and canned, drained chickpeas work just fine. No shame! (You realize that chickpeas and garbanzo beans are the same thing, right? Good. I thought you did.)

3. Add the halved grape tomatoes.

My mini-Pearls (grape tomatoes), being halved.

Further integration of the neighborhood pool. Orzo joins the party.

Following the addition of the orzo, chickpeas and tomatoes, simmer the soup for approximately 10 minutes.

Add Spinach.

Add the spinach about a minute or two before you're ready to serve.

Last to take the plunge: the spinach. Shy? Perhaps. Delicate? For sure. Only needs a minute or two.

Adding the raw spinach to the pot, to just wilt it.

A farewell to raw. The spinach should just be wilted.

Finish cooking your gorgeous soup by cooking just till the spinach is wilted. That will only take one or two minutes.

To Serve Your Orzo Soup with Chickpeas, Tomatoes, and Spinach:

Have a bowl! With some grated Parmigiano-Reggiano sprinkled on top.

Finish each bowl with a sprinky-dink of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, and a swirl of Extra-Virgin Olive oil on top, for a bit more flavor and richness. This soup is healthy, and just delightful, as well as beautiful. What more could you ask???

Please, pin this on Pinterest.

Yield: 6 servings