• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Healthyish Appetite

Healthyish Appetite

Approachable plant-forward recipes.

Show Search
Hide Search
  • Home
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Work with Me
  • Shop
  • Contact
  • facebook
  • instagram
  • pinterest

Spring Vegetable Orzo Soup

Filed Under: beans and lentils, quick and easy, recipe, vegetarian entrees Written By Leanne April 4, 2022

Jump to Recipe

This vegetable orzo soup is fresh, vibrant and vegetarian. It’s full of seasonal ingredients like spinach and fennel. Because it’s meatless, it comes together in 30 minutes or less making it very weeknight-friendly!

vegetable orzo soup in a bowl

So I think I nailed it with this one. We’re big soup fans in my household and once I had this idea I needed it to be perfect.

No huge chunks of clunky vegetables. Big flavor broth. Lot’s of fresh herbs. A spring soup that helps you bridge the gap between warmer weather one day and snow the next.

The result is a beautiful, vibrant bowl that is just the epitome of a feel-good meal.

Here’s what you need to make my spring vegetable orzo soup:

Ingredients for Orzo Vegetable Soup:

  • shallots
  • fennel & carrots
  • garlic
  • fennel seeds
  • vegetable broth
  • orzo
  • spinach
  • chickpeas
  • fresh lemon juice
  • for topping: lemon zest, fresh dill, sour cream or yogurt, fresh ground black pepper
ingredients for vegetable orzo soup

There is some chopping and vegetable prep involved here so I’m not going to pretend it’s the most low-maintenance thing you’ve ever made. BUT, I do have a few tips for speeding things up.

Tips for Faster Vegetable Prep

  • Use a mandoline to thinly slice the fennel and carrots. This also makes for a quicker cook.
  • Grate the garlic using a microplane instead of mincing (or use these frozen garlic cubes!)
  • Use pre-washed, bagged baby spinach. This is a great way to quickly add greens to just about any meal.
vegetable orzo soup in a bowl with sour cream and dill on top

The finishing touches really make this soup, so be sure not to skip them. I was inspired by this chicken noodle soup recipe and now I add sour cream or yogurt, herbs and lemon to most of my brothy homemade soups. It adds such a silky texture and satisfying mouthfeel, without that rich and overly heavy cream soup vibe.

Who else is team dill?

eating a vegetable orzo soup

Soups really are so forgiving, so take this idea and riff on it based on what you have and love! Here are some substitution questions you might have:

Vegetable Orzo Soup FAQs

Can I use a different type of pasta?

Yep. Orzo cooks fast (like 7 minutes), but you can also try another small pasta like orecchiette or even Israeli couscous.

What’s a good sub for the sour cream?

I often use plain whole milk yogurt (siggi’s 4% is my fave). The inspiration recipe that I linked above calls for crème fraîche which is fantastic but I don’t usually keep it on hand.

If I don’t have a mandoline, can I just chop the vegetables?

Yes. You may need to cook them a bit longer (step 2 in the recipe card), but it will still work just fine.

closeup of spring vegetable soup

If you give this one a go I would love to hear about it! Be sure to add a star rating and comment below if you do. It is so helpful for others!

More spring recipes:

  • Carrot Cake Baked Oats
  • Mushroom Chive Quiche
  • Vegetarian Strawberry Cobb Salad
Print

Spring Vegetable Orzo Soup

vegetable orzo soup
Print Recipe

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

4.8 from 5 reviews

This vegetable orzo soup is fresh, vibrant and vegetarian. It’s full of seasonal ingredients like spinach and fennel. Because it’s meatless, it comes together in 30 minutes or less making it very weeknight-friendly!

  • Author: Leanne Ray, MS, RDN
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 5 servings
  • Category: Mains, Entreés
  • Method: Stovetop
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Vegetarian

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 shallots, minced
  • 1 bulb fennel, sliced thin
  • 2 carrots, sliced thin
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced or grated
  • 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
  • 1.5 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 6–8 cups vegetable stock (per preference)
  • 1 cup dried orzo
  • 3 ounces baby spinach
  • 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • for topping: lemon zest, fresh dill, sour cream, flaky salt and fresh ground black pepper

Instructions

  1. Heat olive oil in a dutch oven or stock pot over medium.
  2. Add shallots, carrots and fennel and cook for a few minutes until just softened. Add garlic, fennel seeds and salt. Stir and cook for an additional minute until garlic is fragrant. 
  3. Add broth and bring to a boil. Add orzo and cook for 7 minutes. Turn off heat. 
  4. Stir in chickpeas, spinach and lemon juice. 
  5. To serve: ladle soup into bowls and top with a dollop of sour cream, lemon zest, flaky salt, fresh ground black pepper, and lot’s of fresh dill (torn). 

Equipment

dutch oven

dutch oven

Buy Now →

mandoline

Buy Now →

microplane

Buy Now →

Notes

  • The equipment section above provides affiliate links to things I use often in my kitchen and love.
  • If you reheat this soup as leftovers, you may need to add more broth since the orzo will naturally soak up liquid as it sits. 

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @healthyish_appetite on Instagram

Want More Plant-Forward Recipes?

Join my VIP list and I'll send you five reader favorites! Healthy, flavor-packed recipes. What's not to love about that?

Success! Now check your email to confirm your subscription.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

I promise I won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time. Powered by Kit

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Julie says

    April 7, 2024 at 4:43 pm

    This recipe was prepped late Saturday night and ate it Sunday after church. It is a perfect spring soup.

    I had somehow never bought or used fennel, so thank you for the push!

    Reply
  2. Jess says

    April 5, 2024 at 3:58 pm

    This was so flavorful and filling! I’d never cooked with Fennel before, but it was so easy and my kids loved it too. Will definitely be making this again!

    Reply
  3. Emily Murtaugh says

    April 5, 2024 at 12:40 pm

    Another win! The lemon and dill really lighten this up. A great spring addition. Easy on a week night too.

    Reply
  4. Jaclyn says

    April 4, 2024 at 1:30 am

    What a good soup! Nice and light, and the lemon juice at the end gives it a good brightness. We made some sandwiches to go with it, and it was the perfect weeknight meal.

    Reply
  5. Lani Morris says

    April 3, 2024 at 11:22 pm

    So delicious! This Orzo Soup was the perfect meal on a dreary day. It was hearty and filled me up and had lots of flavor. My first time using a fennel bulb and it was so yummy.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

Primary Sidebar

Welcome

Welcome!

I’m Leanne and I created this space to share beautiful, wholesome, plant-forward recipes that are equal parts approachable and delicious.

Read More

Never miss a recipe.

Get new recipes straight to your inbox, every week.

Most Popular Recipes

  • Purple Cabbage Slaw
  • 4 Ingredient Oatmeal Cookies
  • Chickpea Cookie Dough Bites

Quick & Easy

Salads & Bowls

Sweet Treats

Footer

Never miss a post

Get new recipes straight to your inbox, every week.

  • About
  • Contact
  • Press
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

© healthyish appetite · PRIVACY POLICY · design by lr creative

Copyright © 2025 · Leanne Ray ·

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
SAVE & ACCEPT
spring orzo soup pin