Sarra Ina Garten’s tomato orzo soup is a creamy, saffron-spiked tomato soup with orzo pasta stirred in, made from crushed San Marzano tomatoes, caramelized onions, garlic, chicken stock, and heavy cream. The grilled cheese croutons scattered on top are the bonus that makes it a complete meal. It serves 4 to 6 and comes together in about 45 minutes.
This recipe appears in Barefoot Contessa Foolproof as the Easy Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese Croutons. Ina says her friend Frank Newbold told her about tomato soup with grilled cheese croutons on top and she thought, “OMG what a great idea!” The saffron is what separates this from a basic tomato soup because it “has enough flavor to stand up to the Gruyère in the croutons.” She calls the whole thing “nursery food updated.”
The onions need a full 15 minutes over medium-low heat until they turn golden brown, not just translucent. That long, slow cook breaks down the sugars in the onions and gives the soup a sweet, caramelized base that balances the acidity of the San Marzano tomatoes. Cut that time to 5 minutes and the onions stay sharp and raw-tasting, which throws off the whole balance between the tomatoes, saffron, and cream.
Ina Garten Tomato Orzo Soup Recipe
Course: SoupsCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy6
servings10
minutes35
minutes320
kcalIna’s “nursery food updated” from Foolproof: a saffron-laced tomato soup with tender orzo and cubes of grilled Gruyère croutons scattered on top. The saffron is what elevates this past a standard tomato soup, and the croutons make it feel like tomato soup and grilled cheese in the same bowl. Ready in 45 minutes start to finish.
Ingredients
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For the Soup:
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3 tablespoons good olive oil
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3 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions)
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1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
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4 cups (960ml) chicken stock, preferably homemade
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1 (28 oz / 794g) can crushed tomatoes, preferably San Marzano
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Large pinch of saffron threads
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1 tablespoon kosher salt
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1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
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1/2 cup (about 4 oz / 115g) orzo pasta
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1/2 cup (120ml) heavy cream
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For the Grilled Cheese Croutons:
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4 (1/2-inch-thick) slices country white bread
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2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
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4 oz (115g) Gruyère cheese, grated
Directions
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Caramelize the onions: Heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions and cook over medium-low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden brown. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
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Build the soup: Stir in the chicken stock, crushed tomatoes, saffron, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
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Cook the orzo separately: While the soup simmers, bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Add the orzo and cook for 7 minutes. It will finish cooking in the soup. Drain and set aside.
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Add the orzo and cream: Add the drained orzo and heavy cream to the soup. Return to a simmer and cook for 10 more minutes, stirring frequently so the orzo doesn’t stick to the bottom.
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Make the grilled cheese croutons: Heat a panini grill or a skillet over medium heat. Brush one side of each bread slice with melted butter, being sure to get the corners. Flip two slices over and pile the grated Gruyère on the unbuttered side. Top with the remaining slices, buttered side up. Grill for about 5 minutes until nicely browned and the cheese is melted. Let rest for 1 minute, then cut into 1-inch cubes.
- Serve: Ladle the soup into bowls and scatter the grilled cheese croutons on top. Serve immediately while the croutons are still warm and crispy.
FAQs
Why does Ina add saffron to tomato soup?
Saffron adds a warm, floral, slightly honeyed note that rounds out the acidity of the San Marzano tomatoes. Without it, this would be a straightforward tomato soup. With it, the flavor is more complex and interesting, closer to a bisque than a basic tomato broth.
Ina designed the saffron specifically to match the Gruyère croutons. As she puts it, saffron “has enough flavor to stand up to the Gruyère.” The nutty, sharp cheese needs a soup with backbone, and the saffron gives it that. A plain tomato soup would disappear under the richness of the melted Gruyère.
Why cook the orzo separately?
Orzo releases a lot of starch as it cooks, and boiling it directly in the soup would turn the tomato broth thick and gummy. Cooking it in a separate pot of salted water for 7 minutes gets most of the starch out before it goes into the soup.
Ina also undercooks the orzo slightly because it finishes cooking during the final 10-minute simmer. If you cooked it all the way through in the separate pot, it would be overcooked and mushy by the time the soup was done. The 7-minute head start plus 10 minutes in the soup gives you pasta that’s tender but still has a little bite.
How is this different from Ina’s other tomato soups?
Ina has at least four tomato soups across her cookbooks, and they’re all built differently. Her Roasted-Tomato Basil Soup in The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook roasts fresh plum tomatoes with no cream and no pasta. Her Cream of Fresh Tomato Soup in Back to Basics uses 4 pounds of fresh vine-ripened tomatoes with heavy cream and no pasta.
This version from Foolproof is the quickest and most weeknight-friendly. It uses canned San Marzano tomatoes instead of fresh, adds saffron for complexity, stirs in orzo for substance, and finishes with cream. It’s the one you make on a cold Tuesday when you want something warm and filling in under an hour.
Can you use a different pasta instead of orzo?
Small pasta shapes work best because they fit on a soup spoon. Ditalini, tubetti, stelline, or acini di pepe are all good swaps. Avoid long pasta like spaghetti or fettuccine because they tangle and make the soup hard to eat.
Whatever shape you use, cook it separately and slightly underdone, just like the orzo. The final 10-minute simmer in the soup finishes the cooking. If you’re making this ahead, keep the cooked pasta in a separate container and add it when you reheat, because any small pasta absorbs broth overnight and turns bloated.
Do the grilled cheese croutons get soggy in the soup?
They stay crispy for about 5 to 10 minutes after you scatter them on top, which is long enough to eat the bowl. The key is cutting them into 1-inch cubes so the outside stays crunchy while the inside stays warm and cheesy.
Don’t add the croutons until the moment you serve. If they sit in the pot, they dissolve into the broth. Ina says you can assemble the sandwiches ahead of time, but grill them right before serving so they’re hot and crispy when they hit the soup. Make the croutons while the orzo simmers in the soup and the timing works out perfectly.
