Orzo Soup with Kale and White Bean {30 Min, Vegan, GF}

This eight ingredient vegan orzo soup with kale, white bean and pesto comes together in 30 minutes and is hearty enough for a full meal. Perfect for cooler fall nights. Gluten Free. 

Hellooooooo Fall and hellloooooooo soup season. Now you know I love soup all year round, but as soon as the days start to get chillier my body simply needs soup to stay warm.

It’s like a warm blanket for my soul. Soup is my comfort food. Any kind of soup – it can be a pureed creamy soup (my vegan creamy pumpkin soup comes to mind) or a super chunky topping rich soup (kind of like my vegan quinoa black bean pumpkin soup), I don’t discriminate.

I love all soups.

But what I never really make is soup with pasta. So white bean soup with pasta + greens sounded like a good recipe idea to me.

And then I remembered that I bought a bag of gluten free orzo at a Seattle farmers market back on my road trip last year. Pasta doesn’t spoil ever right? Well this bag didn’t have an expiration date so I was taking that as a sign that we were good to go.

I also happened to have just made a batch of my all time favorite cheesey vegan basil pesto with hemp seeds (which I make anytime I have friends or family coming to town since it seems to be the ultimate crowd pleaser.

I also recently decided that I need to start growing massive amount of basil so I can start making this pesto in bulk and selling it at farmers markets. I mean you wouldn’t even know it was vegan. It tastes just as rich and cheesey as a regular Parmesan laden basil pesto – except it’s completely vegan. And if you’ve bought the vegan pesto at Whole Foods, you know there’s a lot of room for improvement in that market.

An idea for the future, or at least when I get tired of spending the majority of my year traveling overseas.

For now I’ll continue to make one jar of pesto at a time, which gets gobbled up in pretty much the time it takes me to make it.

Back to this vegan orzo soup.

Only a few key ingredients needs for this vegan orzo soup recipe – garlic + onions for the base (I pretty much never cook without these two), vegetable broth (extra points if yours is homemade), kale (yay vitamins!), white beans (so creamyyy), gluten-free orzo (kind of my favorite pasta) and pesto (because everything in life gets better with a dollop of pesto).

This vegan orzo soup cooks in under 30 minutes and is a low fuss minimal clean up filling meal. If you didn’t have all that broth it would just be an awesome pasta entree (hmm that’s an idea for the future).

This soup is super hearty and earthy with the creamy white beans, sharp kale leaves, soft pasta, and herbal pesto. A classic family favorite that comes together in now time. And is vegan + gluten free.

A new fall favorite. 

5 from 1 vote

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Orzo Soup Recipe with Kale, White Beans and Pesto {Vegan}

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

20 mins

Total Time

30 mins

 

This eight ingredient vegan orzo soup with kale and white bean topped with with pesto comes together in 30 minutes and is hearty enough for a full meal. Perfect for cooler fall nights. Gluten Free.

Course: Lunch, Soup

Cuisine: American, Healthy, Vegan

Servings: 6

Calories: 252 kcal

Author: Vicky

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup diced onion 1 medium onion
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon salt
• pepper to taste
• 7 cups vegetable broth
• 4-6 oz gluten free orzo
• 1 19 oz can white beans rinsed and drained
• 1 10 oz bag kale pre cut, thick stems removed
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup vegan basil pesto
• optional: lemon zest and slivered basil as a garnish

Instructions

1. Heat oil over medium heat in a large pot.
2. Add onion and saute for a few minutes. Add garlic, saute for additional minute.
3. Add salt and pepper. Mix.
4. Add vegetable broth and bring to a boil.
5. Add orzo bring to a boil again. Reduce heat and simmer. Cook for 5 minutes.
6. Add white beans, cook for additional 5 minutes.
7. Add kale and cook until orzo is cooked through. Add vegan basil pesto. Mix.
8. Optional: serve garnished with lemon zest and fresh slivered basil

Nutrition Facts

Orzo Soup Recipe with Kale, White Beans and Pesto {Vegan}

Amount Per Serving

Calories 252 Calories from Fat 27

% Daily Value*

Fat 3g5%

Sodium 1511mg66%

Potassium 775mg22%

Carbohydrates 45g15%

Fiber 5g21%

Sugar 4g4%

Protein 12g24%

Vitamin A 5775IU116%

Vitamin C 65.2mg79%

Calcium 162mg16%

Iron 3.9mg22%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.