This Instant Pot Sausage Soup with Orzo is not only satisfying but also quick and easy.
My picky son recently tried pizza that had spicy sausage on it. And much to my surprise he liked it, like, a lot. So, as a mom of picky kids does, I immediately started brainstorming on a way to combine this newly acknowledged food into dishes he will eat.
Since one of his favorite canned soups (yes, on occasion, I feed my kids canned soup, get over it) is an Italian Wedding Soup, I thought maybe if I combined spinach (like in his soup) with the sausage, we'd have a winner.
As usual, I was right 🙂
CAN I MAKE THIS ON THE STOVE TOP?
You could totally make this on the stove too. Follow the first few steps but do it in a pot on the stove. You would simmer the soup for about a half hour or so and cook the orzo separately and add in at the end with the spinach.
EASY STEPS TO MAKE INSTANT POT SAUSAGE SOUP
- Start off by sauteeing the onions and garlic and then the sausage.
- DEGLAZE the pan with a little of the broth.
- Next, add in the rest of the broth, salt and pepper and orzo. Pressure Cook.
- Last step is to add in the spinach. You don't have to cook to wilt in the spinach, the soup should be hot enough to wilt it with a quick stir and trapping the heat in by popping the cover on for a few minutes.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO DEGLAZE AND IS IT IMPORTANT?
Deglaze - a cooking technique for removing and dissolving browned food residue from a pan to flavor sauces, soups, and gravies (source Wikipedia).
Basically, you pour in a small amount of liquid and use that to help scrape up any bits from the bottom of the pan/pot.
VERY IMPORTANT when using an Instant Pot. If you don't deglaze after browning meats you will most likely result in getting the dreaded BURN message. You've been warned!
DO I HAVE TO USE SPICY SAUSAGE?
No. It will change the flavor if you substitute though. I like the spicy sausage as it adds a lot of flavor and I don't have to add a whole lot of spices/seasonings. You may need to add additional seasonings such as more garlic, crushed red pepper etc. if you use a substitution. Some subs would be:
- ground turkey sausage
- ground chicken sausage
- sweet Italian pork sausage
Check out my entire collection of Instant Pot recipes: INSTANT POT RECIPES including my most popular recipe which is Instant Pot Taco Pasta
Instant Pot Sausage Soup with Orzo
Ingredients
- 1 T olive oil
- ½ C diced sweet onion
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 lb spicy ground sausage
- 6 C chicken broth
- 1 C orzo pasta dry
- 6 oz baby spinach fresh
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
- Optional parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Set IP to saute. Once hot, add oil and then onions. Saute 2-3 minutes, stirring cocasionally. Add in garlic and cook just 30 seconds more before adding in sausage. Allow sausage to cook with onion and garlic, stirring every few minutes until cooked thru.
- Pour in about ¼ C of the broth and deglaze the pot by scraping cook bits from the bottom of pot.
- Add the rest of the broth, salt and pepper and orzo pasta. Cover and seal pot. Set to 4 minutes high pressure and then quick release the steam.
- Open pot and quickly stir in spinach. Pop the cover back on just for a minute or two to help the spinach wilt.
- If desired, grate fresh parmesan cheese into soup just before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
This recipe for Instant Pot Sausage Soup with Orzo was inspired by HowSweetEats.
It been a while since I had orzo soup.
Coffee is on
This looks a very tasty recipe …
All the best Jan
Thank you!
I can see the recipe for IP version, but not the timing/buttons.......???
Wow, I have no idea what happened! Thank you so much for letting me know so I can fix this! All set now! My apologies.
This is beautiful. And I can see enjoying this soup year round.
Question- can I substitute green beans for spinach??
How long to cook or when add in ??
I’m sure green beans would be a welcomed addition. Unfortunately, I have not tried this so I can not comment on timing.