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!
This is my vegan version of Greek avgolemono soup, brimming with chickpeas, orzo, carrots, kale (or spinach), lemon, and dill and made creamy with tahini. 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 to 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 and then simmered with orzo, chickpeas, spinach, vegetable broth, and tahini, creating a bright and flavorful, creamy vegan soup.
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, but without it, this soup would still be fantastic! 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 as 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 can be stored for 5 – 6 days in the refrigerator 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 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.
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I just made this soup and it is delicious! Creamy with a clean lemon flavor. Yummm. This recipe is a keeper❤️can’t wait to try the gluten free option too. Thank you for coming up with this recipe.
This soup was WONDERFUL! We only used 2 lemons and it still had such a fresh flavor! My new favorite!
Amazing and way better than I even imagined! I used generous amounts of dried dill, which I added while sautéing onions and carrots (local store didn’t have fresh dill),. Doubled the recipe and used 1 whole head of garlic, Subbed sunflower butter for tahini as the local store did not have tahini. Added extra lemon juice at end as I prefer a bit more lemony flavor. Lastly used one bunch of kale about double what the recipe called for. So happy I doubled the recipe!!! Had a big mug right away and am freezing the rest. The best comfort food ever! Soooooo goooood!
Soup turned out great! Lovely flavors and great balance of creaminess and fresh lemon tartness. I subbed out orzo for potatoes, dill for rosemary and thyme, and went with 8c water but only 7 equivalent servings of veg broth concentrate – could have gone with less – no salt was needed.
I love your substitutions, sounds wonderful! Thanks for the inspiration Lana! Cheers :)
Delicious!
Thank you so much for sharing Casey! :)
Delicious!
Restaurant quality and quick to make. Tahini, as others have said, is genius! Thank you for sharing.
So happy you loved it Mary! It’s one of my favorites! Cheers :)
made this recipe a few times already and it is absoluuuuuuutely delicious. Top favorite soups of all time! Thank you, it’s such a simple and great recipe
This soup is seriously so delicious! Love the all the ingredients and the tahini is genius!
Love this soup! Quick to prepare. Healthy and delicious. Always looking for new ways to use tahini.
So glad you’re loving the soup! Cheers