Tomato and Orzo Soup With Marinated Feta
Updated February 27, 2026
Andrew Bui for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.
- Ready In
- 40 min
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
1 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
1 small carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
10 tablespoons olive oil, divided
¼ cup tomato paste
1 tablespoon cumin seeds, finely crushed with a mortar and pestle
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1½ teaspoons paprika
1 cup/6 ounces orzo
1 teaspoon sugar
Fine sea salt and black pepper
4 cups (1 quart) store-bought or homemade chicken or vegetable stock, plus more if needed
¼ cup heavy cream
¼ cup parsley leaves and soft stems
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper, plus extra if desired
6 ounces Greek feta, roughly crumbled
Preparation
- Step 1
Add the onion, carrot and garlic to a small food processor and pulse until very finely chopped. (Alternatively, finely chop the vegetables by hand.)
- Step 2
In a large saucepan for which you have a lid, heat 4 tablespoons of oil over a medium-high heat. Add the vegetable mixture and cook for 6 minutes, stirring frequently, until softened.
- Step 3
Stir in the tomato paste, cumin, oregano and paprika and reduce the heat to medium. Cook, stirring constantly, until the tomato paste has become a deep red. Stir in the orzo, sugar, 1½ teaspoons of salt and a generous grind of pepper, then pour in the stock. Bring to a simmer, then top with the lid and turn the heat down to medium-low.
- Step 4
Cook for 20 minutes, stirring a couple times throughout, until the orzo has cooked through and the soup has thickened. Add the cream, replace the lid and cook for 5 minutes more. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper at this point. If you prefer a thinner soup, add a splash more stock or water.
- Step 5
While the soup is simmering, combine the parsley, crushed red pepper and remaining 6 tablespoons oil in the small food processor and blitz until smooth. (Alternatively, finely chop the parsley and then combine with the other ingredients.) Transfer to a bowl and stir in the feta.
- Step 6
To serve, divide the soup among four bowls and spoon over the marinated feta. Top with extra crushed red pepper if you like.
Private Notes
Comments
L? I always read the comments before preparing a recipe. Thanks to all who contribute
Delicious recipe! I used the approximately 5 oz block of feta I had remaining in my fridge with a half-bunch of parsley I had, I wouldn't worry about being too precise with it. I also chopped everything by hand. I added the recommended chickpeas (15 oz can) and the remaining orzo I had (probably 1.25 cups in total) and this had the effect of making it into a stew and almost a pasta dish, which was still delicious but I would add more broth and seasoning if you want it to be decidedly a soup.
@JKC I would think adequate subs could be: crème fraiche, yogurt, sour cream, 1/2 & 1/2. Possibly cottage cheese blended really well. I’m not sure but sounds pretty complimentary.
This was very good. A few tweaks due to necessity....this is a great springboard recipe. I increased the cumin and added coriander, added cataluna (from La Boite in NYC...you are welcome in advance), oregano, and more smoked paprika. Added a little more oil to the feta (a bit dry), increased the red pepper flakes, added zataar, and used cilantro (no parsley). Totally forgot the cream and didn't miss it. This is going into rotation.
Really good, pretty easy, and reasonably healthy. I cut the vegetables by hand (no blender) so that adds to prep time, but otherwise, it was pretty quick.
This is a variation on Melissa Clark’s now-legendary red lentil soup with orzo subbing for the lentils but otherwise pretty much the same. It resembles no tomato soup I’ve ever seen or tasted and is more like a hearty stew. As others have pointed out, lemon brightens it considerably (as it does Clark’s recipe) and you can sub Greek yogurt for the heavy cream that loads an otherwise healthy dish with saturated fat.