Description
Your new favorite vegetarian orzo soup is here! Say hello to cozy and bright, lemony chickpea soup with orzo, spinach and silky cashew cream. This healthy one-pot-meal tastes even better as leftovers and is filling enough for a main. Shockingly dairy-free and done in 35 minutes. Grab your soup pot and let's get cooking!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1/2 cup raw cashews
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 3 large carrots, diced
- 3 stalks celery, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 cups spinach
- 7 cups water, divided
- 1 tbsp dried dill, to taste (or use double the amount of fresh!)
- 1 15oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 2/3 cup orzo
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 2 tsp salt, or to taste + freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Place cashews in a bowl and cover with hot water.
- Heat oil in a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, carrot and celery for 10 minutes, stirring often. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Add spinach, 6 cups water, dill (I use 1 tbsp) and chickpeas. Bring to a boil over high heat and then reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add orzo and cook for another 8 minutes (or until orzo is tender), stirring often so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.
- Remove soup from heat. Drain cashews and add to high-speed blender with remaining 1 cup water (I use my Nutribullet) until very smooth and creamy.
- Add cashew cream to soup along with lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. (Soup made with water needs LOTS of salt to bring it to life, so don't be shy! I always add more). Keep in mind the soup will thicken significantly and get amazingly creamy as it sits from the starch of the orzo, so don't fret if it appears thinner at first.
Notes
*My original recipe called for 2/3 cup brown rice instead of orzo, which was added to the soup in step 2 and cooked for 35-45 minutes, or until tender.
Broth can be used instead of water, but reduce the salt (to taste).