Italian Sausage Soup with Orzo

Italian sausage soup with orzo and spinach is a healthy and filling soup recipe perfect for year round! Serve with a crusty piece of bread and a salad for a well-balanced meal.

Italian sausage soup is one of those meals I love eating at my parents. When I'm out of ideas for meal planning, I'll usually give them a call and ask what they're eating and add it to my upcoming menu. This was the lucky meal in question the day of a recent phone call.

There are several differences in our soups, one being that my mom doesn't always measure things. So our beloved Italian sausage soup was described to me as "a few of these, a can of this, a couple good shakes of this, and two handfuls of that". But I got the gist.

A couple of extra spices, a pasta switch-up, and a few practice rounds later, I've landed on my own spin on Italian sausage soup, this one featuring orzo and spinach.

P.S. If you're into orzo in soup, you may also want to check out this vegetable beef soup, too. And for something a little different on the sausage front: Cajun-inspired smoked sausage potato soup.

Reasons to Love This Recipe

• Everything is cooked in one pot to keep the clean-up count low.
• Like minestrone soup, it's a great recipe to use up odds and ends from your kitchen, such as different vegetables, pasta shapes, greens, etc.
• You can easily lighten it up by using chicken or turkey Italian sausage instead of pork.

Recipe Ingredients

• Italian sausage: Sweet, mild, or hot Italian sausage all work, depending on your preferences. So do chicken, turkey, or traditional pork.
• Mirepoix: Comprised of onions, carrots, and celery, try and chop them up into equally-sized pieces so they soften in similar timing.
• Crushed tomatoes: If you can find crushed tomatoes with added basil flavoring, even better.
• Spices: You can simplify most of these by using a pre-made Italian seasoning blend. One-half teaspoon of crushed red pepper helps bring flavor and not heat. Add extra if you like things on the spicier side.
• Orzo: Another smaller pasta shape can be used here, such as acini de pepe, pastina, or ditalini.
• Greens: Spinach is my usual pick here but other greens, such as baby kale or arugula also work great. If using standard kale, such as curly or lacinato, keep in mind those varieties will need several additional minutes to wilt.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Getting a rough "mise en place" situated always helps me to move smoothly through a recipe. For this soup, first chop up the celery, onions, and carrots, as well as measure out the dried spices.

2. Add the ground Italian sausage to a soup pot set over medium heat, breaking the sausage up into small pieces until fully cooked. This should take around 10 minutes. Once cooked, remove the sausage crumbles to a paper-towel lined plate to drain the fat.

3. Add the oil to the now-empty pot, then once heated add in the onion, carrot, and celery. Cook for 6-8 minutes, or until the vegetables are beginning to soften.

4. Pour in a small portion of the broth (around one-third cup or so) to deglaze the pan. As the broth bubbles, scrape up the stuck-on, burnt bits from the bottom of the pot until it's clean to incorporate all that flavor into the vegetables. Add back the cooked sausage, then pour in the rest of the broth, crushed tomatoes, water, and spices.

5. Let the soup simmer for an hour or so, then raise the heat to a boil. Add the orzo and cook according to package directions, usually about 10 minutes. Stir it often so it doesn't stick together.

6. Stir in spinach (or arugula - see notes on other greens) when there's 1-2 minutes remaining on the orzo cook time. Once wilted, adjust the seasonings to taste and serve.

Recipe Tips and Tricks

• The amount of water you add doesn't have to be precise. I fill up the empty 28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes as much as I can without risking spilling it on the way from the sink to the stove and pour it in.
• I highly recommend sprinkling grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese over top for serving. It melts into the hot soup in a delicious way.
• Six ounces of fresh spinach may look like a lot going in, but it wilts and reduces significantly. Do add as much as you like, but I found this amount to add heft to each serving without overwhelming.
• Freezing fresh spinach is one of my favorite tricks to always have this quick-to-get-slimy produce on hand. And there's no need to thaw, just add it frozen right to the soup.

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