Love Italian subs? Then you’ll love this Italian sub soup made with orzo pasta.
Perfect for when you’re craving a hearty, meaty meal yet want to enjoy the comfort of a warm bowl of soup.
What’s in Italian sub soup?
Pretty much everything you’d find on an Italian sub — even the bread! Plus some orzo pasta to bring it all together.
We are stirring in: ham, pepperoni, Italian sausage, onion, red bell pepper, spinach, tomatoes, and croutons on top. If you love banana peppers on your Italian sub, then you could also add these to this soup!
This recipe is inspired by Rachel Ray’s Italian sub stoup with some modifications. I simplified the cooking process, eliminated the cheese and arugula, and changed up a few ingredients.
All you need is one pot.
I love a good one-pot soup. This can be made using just one pot and works best if you use a dutch oven however, you can use a regular stock pot too. A short-sided, wide pot works best so you can get in there and cook the meat and veggies before adding broth.
Sweet Italian sausage is key.
This is a very meaty and acidic soup due to the tomato. So to balance that out, a sweet element is crucial. Be sure to choose sweet Italian sausage to help achieve this nice balance. If you still feel like you need a bit more sweetness, then go ahead and add a few tablespoons of sugar. It’s what my grandma would do and it works well to soften the flavors.
Choose your tomato.
You can use tomato soup, diced tomatoes or crushed tomatoes in this soup. I like to go with whatever I have on hand. Diced or crushed tomatoes are a little more mellow in flavor since they don’t have as many extras as the soup, so if a more simple and clean flavor profile appeals to you, then go this route.
Love a good soup?
I have lots of great soup recipes I think you’ll love to try.
This easy recipe for Italian Sub Orzo Soup was featured on South Your Mouth!
Italian Sub Orzo Soup
Ingredients
- 1 lb sweet Italian sausage
- 1 red bell pepper chopped
- 1 small onion chopped
- ½ cup chopped ham
- ¼ cup chopped pepperoni
- ½ tsp Italian seasoning
- 8 cups chicken or vegetable broth half chicken, half vegetable is also tasty!
- 16 oz orzo pasta
- 10.75 oz condensed tomato soup, diced tomatoes or crushed tomatoes
- 2 cups chopped spinach
- 5 oz croutons
- Optional: banana peppers
Instructions
- In a dutch oven or soup pot, saute sweet Italian sausage with bell pepper and onion until sausage is browned.
- Add ham, pepperoni and Italian seasoning then cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes.
- Add broth and orzo pasta and boil for 8 minutes.
- Stir in tomato soup, spinach, and Italian seasoning. Bring to boil, stir, then remove from heat.
- Spoon into bowl and top with croutons and optional banana peppers.