Looking for a super easy midweek dinner idea? This Sausage Orzo soup is the perfect meal for those days when you don’t want to spend a ton of effort on making dinner. It can be made in the crock pot and left to cook slowly all day or it can come together in 20 minutes on the stove top. I prefer making it in the crock pot so I don’t have to do much when it comes time for dinner.
This soup is the epitome of comfort food on a cold winter night and will quickly become one of your go to dinner recipes October thru March. We love eating this soup with grilled cheese or buttered and toasted baguettes. You can easily customize it by adding more veggies or using Italian sausage instead of breakfast sausage. (I am not a fan of Italian sausage so I prefer it with Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage).
Tips & Tricks:
- If making this on the stove top and not in the crock pot, brown your sausage in a large sauce pot and then drain the excess grease. Add the remaining ingredients, minus the orzo and fresh basil and allow the mixture to come to a low boil. At that point add your orzo and cook according to package directions or until al dente. Stir in fresh basil and serve.
- As mentioned above, I do not like the taste and flavor of Italian sausage but you can easily use it instead of breakfast sausage if you prefer.
- The orzo cooks a lot quicker than you would think, so stay close and check it often once you add it. The worst thing that can happen is cooking it too long and having it be mushy.
- Once your orzo is al dente, remove the crock pot insert completely out of the housing unit so that the orzo won’t continue to cook.
Sausage Orzo Soup
Ingredients:
- 1 lb Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage
- 1 small onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 32-oz carton chicken broth
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp garlic salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 3/4 cup uncooked orzo noodles
- 1/2 cup fresh basil, cut into strips
- In a large skillet (or large stock pot), brown sausage and chopped onion until sausage is fully cooked. Stir in minced garlic and cook for an additional minute.
- Transfer mixture to your crock pot. (Or if making stove top version, leave everything in the stock pot).
- Add remaining ingredients minus the orzo and fresh basil.
- Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
- 15 minutes before you’re ready to eat, add fresh basil and orzo and stir.
- Orzo will cook within 10-15 minutes. Check it often to ensure you don’t over cook it. The soup is done when the orzo is al dente.
- Serve soup with crusty bread or grilled cheese.
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