Tofu Orzo Veggie Soup, Protein and fiber packed Orzo soup loaded with lots of colorful veggies, white beans and flavorful shredded baled tofu using Instant Pot.
Cold weather means a big bowl of soup every other night. I love me soupy slurpy filling meal during colder months with lots of flavors. This soup is loaded with lots of veggies, protein orzo, fiber packed beans and shredded tofu. Simply cook it all in Instant pot to make a big batch and enjoy it throughout the week. Having a nutritious meal ready in my fridge that I can just warm up and enjoy on busy days is a huge win for me. And this soup is just that!
I have been very mindful of making my meals well balanced with enough fiber, protein and fats. And what could be better than having them all in just one soup. This soup holds multiple servings of your daily vegetables like carrots, zucchini, celery, spinach. Adding white beans not only adds volume but also adds that extra fiber. For protein, I like to shred and bake tofu with lots of seasoning. It is one of the easiest way to add hidden protein without much of an efforts.
This Tofu Orzo Veggie Soup hols amazing flavors from garlic, hot fresh red pepper, onions and simple seasoning along with pasta sauce for that tangy touch. And the best part about this soup is that it is made in Instant pot for the ease. This is also great to make ahead type of recipe. I make a batch and keep it in fridge. It comes super handy on busy work days. This is also very family friendly soup. Top it with generous amount of freshly grated parmasan cheese and serve it with warm breadsticks to take it up a notch!
If you are like me and love loaded filling soups, check out many other soup recipes on my blog that will bring you lot of comfort and joy! If you end up making this Tofu Orzo Veggie Soup or any other soup from my blog, please leave me a comment below. Or simply tag me on Instagram @myvegetarianroots. I would love to get your feedback on my recipes!
Happy & Healthy Eating!
Tofu Orzo Veggie Soup
Equipment
- 1 Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 4 cloves Garlic large cloves
- 1 Fresh Red Hot Pepper can be sub with half serrano or 1 medium jalapeno
- 1 tsp Red Chili Flakes
- 1½ cup Finely Chopped Sweet Yellow Onion
- 2 cup Finely Chopped Carrots
- 2 cup Finely Chopped Zucchini
- 2 cup Finely Chopped Celery
- 3 cup Finely Chopped Baby Spinach
- 1 tsp Dry Oregano
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp Onion Powder
- ½ tsp Black Pepper Powder
- 3½ tsp Salt
- 3 cup Rao's Marinara Pasta Sauce or any of your favorite pasta sauce
- 6 cup Low Sodium Vegetable Broth or Water and extra cup of water if you making this ahead of time
- 4 oz Banza Orzo
- 16 oz Organic Great Northern Beans – Trader Joe's
- 3 tbsp Choice of Pesto
Baked Tofu Ingredients
- 12 oz Big mountain soy free tofu or 14 oz regular firm tofu
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp Onion Powder
- 1 tsp Dry Oregano
- 1 tsp Red Chili Flakes
- ½ tsp Black Pepper Powder
Instructions
Bake tofu
- Press down tofu to remove as much water as possible. Then Shred it on a baking tray.
- Once shredded, coat it all with seasonings listed under "Baked Tofu Ingredients". Spray with cooking oil, I user chosen foods avocado oil spray.
- Set shredded tofu in thin layer on the baking tray, and bake it on 375℉ for 16-18 minutes. Once done, keep it aside.
Cook soup in IP
- Put Instant pot on saute mode. Add in 2 tbsp of EVOO and let it warm up.
- Mince garlic and hot red pepper in a chopper. Add it into the IP along with 1 tsp of red chili flakes. Saute for 20 seconds.
- Add in finely chopped onions with ½ tsp of salt. Mix well and cook it for 30-40 seconds.
- Add in finely chopped carrots, zucchini, celery & dry uncooked Banza orzo. Mix well.
- Add in pasta sauce and vegetable broth (or water), along with rest of the dry seasoning including dry oregano, onion & garlic powder, black pepper powder and 3 tsp of salt. Mix well, bring it to simmer while keeping IP on saute mode.
- Once simmering, close the lid, seal the valve and set IP on high pressure for 3 minutes. The cook time is half the amount of what the pasta box instruction says. Banza orzo box says 6-8 min for stove top, take the lower number 6, cut it in half and that will be your high pressure cook time in IP for that pasta. For Banza orzo it will be 3 minutes.
- Once cook time is done, let the pressure release naturally for 3-4 minutes. Then manually release rest of the pressure.
- Once IP valve is released, open the lid. Then immediately add in pesto, chopped baby spinach, canned white beans (water removed and rinsed well) and baked tofu. Stir well.
- Taste for salt and adjust if needed. Serve it with generous amount of freshly grated parmesan cheese & side of breadsticks! The longer it sits, the thicker it gets. Use some water to thin it down if it gets too thick, especially when you reheat.
