Italian Sausage & Orzo Soup
This one-pot Italian sausage soup made of spicy Italian sausage and orzo pasta with rich tomato flavor, is incredibly delicious.
Delicious Italian sausage soup with Orzo pasta is our new favorite. It has so much flavor and texture in every spoonful of it. A loaf of crusty bread and a big bowl of this soup will be winter comfort food.
This soup is satisfying and filling with refreshing tomato-based broth, spicy Italian sausage, orzo pasta, and spinach. I am sure this soup with sausage will get you through the winter.
Soup doesn’t have to be bland. You can easily make it tasty and healthy at the same time. And it took me years to convince the same to my husband. And now he can happily have a bowl of soup for dinner.
This Sausage Soup is already a household favorite. Tomato Soup is an all-time favorite, and I make it very frequently. When the regular Tomato Soup gets an upgrade with spicy sausage and pasta, it is even better, isn’t it? My little one was very excited to see those cute little Orzo pasta, and of course, there was a lot of cheese on top for her.
Check out these authentic dishes for recipes with Italian flavors – Italian Chopped Salad, Pesto Pasta Salad, or Pasta Alla Norma (Eggplant pasta).
Orzo Pasta
Orzo looks like rice but means ‘barley’ in Italian. It is commonly made from white flour but healthy wheat versions are made from semolina flour, which itself is made from durum wheat.
Orzo has a soft texture like pasta and is considered a kind of short pasta. Originally from Italy, orzo has been popular since the last century in cuisines of Europe, Mediterranean region and the middle east.
Because of its small size and soft rice-like look and texture, orzo is widely used to make soups and salads. Chicken orzo soup is quite popular and you will find its delicious recipe here with a citrous flavor – Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup.
Salads made with orzo like this Shrimp Orzo Salad With Pesto salad, Orzo salad with spring veggies are nutritious, healthy and fulfilling. Another delicious recipe with chicken and orzo with tomato base and freshness of basil is One Pot Tomato Basil Chicken Orzo.
Cooking orzo before using it in a recipe is quite simple. It cooks relatively quickly and cooking orzo is like cooking any other pasta. You boil it in a pot of water and follow the time as per the packet instructions.
Italian Sausage
Italian sausage is a type of pork sausage which is referred as such in North America. It is made with fennel and other spices. The variety and choice of spices determine the heat in the sausage. Italian sausages are available as mild, sweet or hot variants.
I have made the Italian sausage used in this recipe, at home. Homemade sausages are better than store-bought ones as the spice powders used are fresh and potent. You also have control over the ingredients. Remember – spice powdered or whole lose their potency over time. So the best sausage you can make is with freshly ground spices and good quality minced pork.
I made it with minced pork and Italian seasoning and spices like parsley, fennel seeds, black pepper, paprika, red pepper flakes. I have also used minced onion and garlic for added flavor and body. They need to be salted with salt.
Ingredients
- Italian Sausage – I have used homemade Italian sausage. You can do the same or get store-bought ones. The sausages I made are mildly spiced. You can choose from sweet, mild or hot sausages.
- Orzo Pasta – dry orzo looks like rice and has a soft texture.
- Chicken Broth – gives body to the soup. Broth also provides a flavor base that elevates any soup.
- Half & Half cream – is a mixture of half whole milk and half cream. It has less than half the fat of heavy cream and tastes like rich, creamy milk. It is used in soup recipes to get a creamy texture.
- Parmesan cheese – Used to sprinkle over the soup when plated. Gives a cheesy flavor in each spoonful.
- Crushed Tomato – forms the base of the soup along with onion and garlic.
- Onion & Garlic – used as flavoring agent when sauteed in olive, they release flavors and elevates the soup.
- Italian Seasoning – classic seasoning that gives the Italian flavors to the orzo soup.
- Olive Oil – used as a source of fat to sauté the onions, garlic and sausages.
- Spinach – stir in fresh baby spinach as a source of fiber and high mineral and vitamin content. You can substitute spinach with kale.
- Red chili flakes – add to increase the heat as per your tolerance.
- Salt and pepper – brings all the other flavors out and balances the soup.
(Optional) – This is optional but you can use mushrooms and vegetables like carrots, celery and red bell pepper. Parsley is another option to use as herb.
Instructions – How to make Italian Sausage Orzo Soup
Making Sausage Orzo Soup is pretty easy and quick. It comes together in just 20 minutes, and you need only one pot to make it. Start with caramelizing the onion and garlic in oil on medium heat. Break sausage into small chunks and brown along with onion and garlic. We are talking about big flavors here, and frying onion, garlic in oil, and brown sausage are what will give you flavors.
Browning and caramelizing the sausage helps to release flavourful oil into the pan. Once the browning is done, dump all the ingredients into the pan except Spinach and let it cook until the pasta is done. Then add the spinach and let it soften. Tada!! It is done.
But wait! What’s comfort food without cheese or cream??? Well, you will not miss your favorite creamy Chicken soup because I have taken care of that. Add a couple of tablespoons of cream and sprinkle a handful of parmesan cheese at the end before serving.
How to make in the Crockpot
While it is always easy and quick to make things on the stovetop, Slow cooking comes in handy when you don’t want active involvement. This Italian Sausage Orzo Soup can easily be made in a crockpot. It can’t be a total dump-and-forget kind of recipe. Browning of Onion, garlic, and sausage is an essential step to release all the flavors. So before adding all the ingredients to the slow cooker, it is important to brown in a pan.
Once the meat is browned, add the onion, garlic, and sausage Mixture to the Crockpot and the other ingredients (except Spinach, cream, and cheese). Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hours. 20 minutes before the cooking time ends, add spinach to the pot. After 10 minutes, add cream and cheese to the pot.
More Soup Recipes
Italian Sausage Soup With Orzo
Ingredients
- 500 grams Mild Italian Sausage
- 1 cup Orzo Pasta
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- ½ Onion
- 1 tbsp Garlic
- 1 28 Oz Crushed Tomato
- 2 tspn Italian Seasoning
- ½ tspn red chili Flakes (optional)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 4-6 cups Chicken Broth
- 2 cups Spinach (Tightly Packed)
- ¼ cup Half and Half
- ½ cup Parmesan Cheese (to serve)
Instructions
- Heat Oil in a heavy bottom pan. Once Warm add chopped onion and garlic. Saute until the onion has softened and raw garlic smell is gone.
- Roughly break sausages to small chunks. Add to the pan. Saute for 5-6 minutes until they are browned and aromatic. Break any bigger chunk of sausage.
- Deglaze the pot by adding stocks. Scarp the bottom of the pan to remove any brown bits. Stir in the tomatoes, Italian seasoning, chilli flakes, salt and pepper
- When the stock comes to a boil stir in Orzo Pasta,
- Cover and let it cook for 8-10 minutes in the medium-low heat until Orzo is almost cooked. Stir in between to prevent Orzo from getting stuck at the bottom.
- Stir in Spinach to the pot and let it cook for 2 minutes. Switch off the flame.
- Stir in half and half.
- Serve with a generous topping of parmesan cheese.
Nutrition
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Soup was delicious! My picky daughter even enjoyed it . Wonderful! Will definitely make again this fall.
Thank you for trying. So happy the little one enjoyed, as it is always tricky to please the little ones.
Hi there,
This recipe looks amazing!! If my family doesn’t like spinach can I use Kale instead or just leave it out all together? What would you suggest? Thanks a bunch!!!
Kale would be a great substitute or else you can skip adding any greens. Would love to know if you made it. Thanks.
Sorry for my ignorance-but what is half and half?
Hi Frauke, ‘Half & Half’ is a packaged product consisting of 1/2 cream and 1/2 milk. It’s available in stores under multiple brands. Thanks for reading.
What kind of tomatoes are used?
Also I would like to know how much is a serving,(oz. /grams)
Hi Rosana,
The serving size is 200 gms or 7 oz. To the first question, I have used Crushed Tomatoes.
This recipe was wonderful! My husband isn’t a huge soup/ stew person, but he loved it, so we will definitely be making it again. It was super easy and delicious! I didn’t have half and half, so I just used some milk instead and it still tasted great. I also didn’t have that much parmesan cheese left, so I just sprinkled a little on top of the soup before serving it. Thanks for the great recipe!
Yay! Glad your family liked it. My husband became a convert too after serving him a few
This has become the most requested recipe at my house. (I split the tomatoes – equal amounts of crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce.) I’ve made it several times now and will be teaching my 12 year old son how to make it today. He loves it so much he is now inspired to learn how to cook. Thank you!
This was cooking on the stove when my hubby came home and he commented that it smelled good. It ended up being really tasty and will be a keeper in our rotation! Thank you!
Thank you. Just made for my sister and friend who are on the mend and it’s lovely. One question. The park…. I didn’t stir it in worried might make the soup overly salty… is it meant for a garnish?
This soup is amazing! One of the best recipes I’ve made on Pinterest!! Thank you for sharing!
Best rated from family! Was a huge hit! Thank you so much for this recipe!
Great recipe. Super flavorful and my family’s new go to meal
Thank you 🙂 Glad you liked it.
Thanks for the recipe, it was delicious! I also added some cabbage, chopped green beans and leftover bits of bacon.
I’ll definitely make it again in other variations too.
If using crockpot, leave out the orzo until you add the spinach, cream and cheese. If you add it at the beginning like the instructions say, it will blow up like a balloon and be mushy.
This soup is wonderful. Made it for the first time I used hot sausage. It was a hot with my family. Adding it to our soup rotation. Thanks for a yummy recipe
How much salt and pepper do you add?
It’s little difficult to tell. Amount of salt and pepper depends on your personal preferences. The sausage and stock already has salt in it. The amount of salt depends on the stock you use too. Because I use homemade stock,it’s less salty. So I add about 1/2- 1 teaspoon of salt.
Definitely very little salt needed. Lovely recipe, I added a handful of broad beans for extra ‘body’. My only problem – the orzo kept floating down and sticking to the bottom of the pan, so I had to keep stirring all the time. Will cook orzo separately next time.
This sounds amazing. Do you think it could be made in the instant pot?
Instant Pot will definitely work. As I have not tried cooking Orzo I can not tell you exact timing or the amount of stock you would need for it. Would love to know if you tried in the Instant Pot.
I just made it in the instant pot. I did high pressure for 15 minutes. Then added the cream, orzo, and spinach and did high pressure for 4 more minutes and it was perfect. This is probably my new favorite soup!
This sounds amazing. Do you think I could make it in the instant pot?
Fresh or frozen spinach?
Either would work.
The recipe says tomato, I only have a can of diced tomato and a can of tomato sauce. Which one would you suggest?
Diced tomato.
Do you think this would turn out OK with a different kind of pasta like shells or farfalle, if the cooking time is adjusted?
It should work with any kind of pasta. You might have to adjust the amount of stock and cooking time. I would prefer shells or any other small sized pasta though.
This is in the strove and house smells amazing
Can’t wait to try it
Really great soup! So much flavor! We loved it!
Thank you for trying. Glad that you liked the soup.
It says 28 oz Tomato. Crushed, whole? Tomato soup?
Crushed Tomatoes.