Lemon Chickpea Orzo Soup (Vegan Avgolemono)
Lemon Chickpea Orzo Soup (aka Greek vegan avgolemono soup) features soothing citrus, chickpeas, orzo, refreshing dill, and fresh baby greens with tahini for added creaminess!
Wrap your hands around a bowl of this hearty, Greek-inspired Lemon Chickpea Orzo Soup!
Why We Love This Recipe!
Brimming with chickpeas, orzo, carrots, kale (or spinach), lemon, and dill and made creamy with tahini, this is my vegan version of Greek avgolemono soup and it’s so delicious! Plus, it’s healthy, super easy to make, and ready in 30 minutes!
One of my favorite parts about this soup is the freshly squeezed lemon juice. The lemon brightens up the soup, adding pure comfort in a bowl with a hint of refreshing, lemony broth. This is a hearty and satisfying soup that I know you’re going to love!
Without further ado, let’s make a pot of delicious, healthy soup!
Ingredients You’ll Need
In this recipe, onion, carrots, and garlic are sauteed, then simmered with orzo, chickpeas, spinach, veg broth, and tahini, creating a bright and flavorful, creamy vegan soup perfect for a healthy lunch, dinner, or weekly meal prep.
Here is everything you will need:
- olive oil – use water for oil-free
- onion
- carrots
- garlic
- vegetable broth – or a combo of water and veg broth
- orzo – whole wheat pref
- chickpeas – aka garbanzo beans
- tahini – store-bought or make homemade Tahini
- lemon juice (about 3 – 4 large lemons)
- baby kale or spinach
- dill – use fresh, as much as you like
- salt + pepper – lemon-pepper would be great too!
Top Tips
The tahini adds a delicious buttery creaminess. If you don’t have tahini on hand, this soup will still be fantastic without it! The inspiration for using tahini comes from the Greek soup called avgolemono, which adds eggs stirred in at the end of cooking to thicken the soup. The tahini does this well, making a vegan version of this classic Mediterranean recipe. Soup thickens upon standing.
For the broth, I prefer to use a combo of half broth and half water. To keep the sodium to a minimum, source out low-sodium vegetable broth. I almost always use this vegetable broth concentrate, and for this recipe, I would add about 1 teaspoon to 4 cups of water, along with 3 – 4 cups of plain water. It works well without losing out on too much flavor.
The herbs can be changed up to suit your taste. If you don’t care for dill, try using rosemary or oregano.
Replace the orzo with white rice for a gluten-free soup, using the same measurements and cooking as directed, adding 10 – 15 minutes to the cooking time or until the rice is tender.
How To Make Chickpea Orzo Soup
Making Chickpea Orzo Soup is easy as can be!
(Note – The full printable recipe is at the bottom of this post)
- Saute. Saute the onion and carrot, saute for about 5 – 7 minutes, add the garlic, and saute for 1 minute more.
- Simmer with chickpeas and orzo. Add the broth or water, bring to a boil, add the orzo and chickpeas, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook at a gentle boil for 7 – 8 minutes.
- Add brightness + creaminess. Once done, turn the heat off and stir in the tahini and lemon juice.
- Add leafy greens. Add the baby kale or spinach, and give a good stir, greens will soften and wilt within a few minutes.
- Stir in herbs + season. Add as much dill as you like, and season well with salt & pepper.
How To Store Leftovers
- Refrigerator: Leftovers will keep for 5 – 6 days in the refrigerator, stored in a covered container.
- Freezer: This chickpea orzo soup is freezer friendly and freezes well for up to 2 – 3 months. To freeze, let cool completely and store in freezer safe containers (affiliate link), leaving 1/2 inch head space for expansion. You can also freeze larger portions in large ziplock bags (remove as much air as possible before zip locking). Let thaw before reheating.
- Reheat: Simply re-warm on the stovetop over low heat until warmed through. Alternatively, reheat in the microwave using 30 – 60 second intervals, stirring after each, until warm.
- Meal prep: It makes a great meal prep idea for the week with homemade Naan or Artisan Bread on the side for soaking up the juices.
Serving Suggestions
- Bread: Serve in individual bowls with your favorite crusty artisan bread or Vegan Naan for soaking up the wonderful juices.
- Salad: Serve with a simple leafy green salad with Creamy Ranch Hemp Dressing, Vegan Ranch or Healthy Flax + Evo Balsamic Vinaigrette. Would also be nice with this Green Salad + Lemon Tahini Dressing.
More Easy Soup Recipes!
Get cozy with these other flavorful vegan soup recipes. They’re great all year round!
- Vegetable Quinoa Soup
- Lemony Kale, Leek & White Bean Soup
- A Very Good Split Pea Soup
- Spicy Thai Curry Corn Soup
- Creamy Broccoli & Red Lentil Soup
- Hearty Chickpea Noodle Soup
- West African Peanut Stew
- Easy Lemon Rosemary White Bean Soup
- Vegan Minestrone Soup
If you try this vegan avgolemono recipe, please let us know! Leave a comment and rate it below. I love to hear what you think, or any changes you make.
PrintLEMON CHICKPEA ORZO SOUP
This Greek inspired lemon orzo soup recipe (aka vegan avgolemono) with chickpeas and dill is super easy to make and will be ready in 30 minutes!
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 20 min
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4
- Category: Soup, Entree
- Method: simmer
- Cuisine: Greek, Mediterranean
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or 1/4 cup water (for water saute)
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 3 carrots, peeled and diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 7 – 8 cups vegetable broth or water (or combo)
- 1 cup whole wheat orzo
- 2 cans (15oz.) chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 1/4 – 1/2 cup lemon juice (about 2 – 4 large lemons)
- a large handful fresh baby kale or spinach
- chopped fresh dill, to taste
- mineral salt, to taste
- fresh cracked pepper or lemon-pepper, to taste
Instructions
Heat oil or water over medium heat, add onion and carrot, saute for about 5 – 7 minutes, add the garlic and saute for 1 minute more.
Add the broth or water, bring to a boil, add the orzo and chickpeas, reduce heat to medium-low and cook at a gentle boil for 8- 9 minutes, orzo should be tender.
Remove from heat, add tahini and lemon juice (start with the smaller amount of juice, adding more to taste), stir well. Add the baby kale or spinach, give a good stir, greens will soften and wilt within a few minutes. Add as much dill as you like, and season well with salt & pepper. Soup will thicken upon standing, add more liquids as needed.
Serve in individual bowl with your favorite crusty artisan bread for soaking up the wonderful juices.
Serves 4
Notes
The tahini adds a delicious buttery creaminess. If you don’t have tahini on hand, this soup will still be fantastic! Replace the tahini with 100% cashew butter, as it will be free from additives such a sugar, salt, and/or flavorings.
For the broth, I prefer to use a combo, usually half broth and half water. To keep the sodium to a minimum, source out low-sodium vegetable broth. I almost always use this organic vegetable broth concentrate – for this recipe I would add about 1 heaping teaspoon to 4 cups of water, and then use 3 – 4 cups of plain water. It works well, without losing out on too much flavor.
The herbs can be changed up to suit your taste. If you don’t care for dill, try using rosemary or oregano.
To make this soup gluten-free, replace the orzo with white rice, using the same measurements and cooking as directed, adding 10 – 15 minutes to the cooking time or until the rice is tender.
FOLLOW TSV on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, or RSS for more updates and inspiration!
This soup is amazing! It is quick to put together and is so flavorful. It is going to become a staple in my house this winter.!
Love this soup! Conforting and warm, hearty, but refreshing and unexpected with the dill and lemon. I added more garlic and onions, used chicken stock since I am not vegan and that is what I had on hand, and barley instead of orzo (I cooked it for a while before adding it to the soup). Will definitely do it again. I did not have tahini but I confirm it is delicious without.
This soup is like nothing I’ve made before and it it DELICIOUS!!
Brooo this recipe was BOMB my sister fell inlove she even drizzled lemon over the top for extra bitter taste and I used spinach and kale was best combo
So good, so simple and bonus that it’s freezer friendly! I make this at least 1x a month and it never disappoints.
Love that you’re enjoying the recipe often! Thanks for sharing, Margot!
I love this soup! I didn’t have tahini, so I substituted an equal amount of white miso paste. I think I prefer the flavor profile and it’s good for the microbiome to boot!!
This soup was AMAZING. I made it four weeks in a row, and I live alone so I was eating it almost every day at least once. For four weeks. I used 7 tsp of better than bouillon veggie broth concentrate, I used two 5 oz. boxes of baby kale, the whole little plastic container of dill, 4 large carrots, and about 3/4 cup of lemon juice. Then, when I ate it I added about 1/2 cup extra water to each bowl. I can’t stop eating it!! Thank you for this recipe!
One of my favorite dinner recipes! It’s on my regular cooking rotation. The soup is super delicious and comforting, and it also freezes really well so I usually set some aside. The orzo tends to soak up the broth after a few days, so I just add a few teaspoons of water back in when reheating. Thank you for this gem!
This is one of my favorite recipes ever. I make it as is, or sometimes replace the orzo with potatoes. So good.
Made this soup for my Greek American Boyfriend and I , he loved it so much, I’m making it again for like the third time. Thank you for the Recipe, we both enjoyed this, God Bless!