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My Shrimp Soup is So Good!
If you’ve never had shrimp in soup before (and you’re a shrimp lover, like me), I need you to try this recipe!
The shrimp cooks in minutes, stays tender, adds some serious flavor and the tomatoey broth is great for bread-dipping (always a win, right?!)
This recipe starts with a classic mirepoix—a mix of onion, carrots, celery, and garlic that gives the soup a strong base. Personally, I like taking the time to chop everything by hand (weirdly satisfying), but if I’m in a hurry, the food processor works great.
Even my kids are obsessed with this one, which doesn’t happen often. When they asked for it again and again, I knew I had to share it with you!
Ingredients For Shrimp Soup
- Olive oil: You can use avocado or vegetable oil if that’s what you have.
- Onion, carrots, celery: These vegetables will make the shrimp soup flavorful. I wouldn’t leave any of them out!
- Garlic: I prefer fresh, minced garlic, but you can try 1 teaspoon of garlic powder instead.
- Diced tomatoes: You can also use canned whole tomatoes and chop them up or break them apart by hand.
- Dried oregano: Some brands of dried oregano are more potent than others and you might need to use more or less because of that!
- Vegetable broth: My recipe calls for low-sodium vegetable broth, but you can use regular or chicken broth instead.
- Orzo pasta: Orzo’s small and cooks fast. Ditalini or acini di pepe would work, too.
- Shrimp: You can use frozen, thawed shrimp!
- Dill: Fresh, chopped parsley or cilantro are good swaps.
- Red wine vinegar: This brightens the whole soup. Also try white wine vinegar or lemon juice!
Popular Additions
- Red peppers. 1 large, diced. When I first developed the recipe, I tried it with green and red peppers, and I loved the flavor and color of the red peppers. I decided to remove it from the final recipe in the spirit of trying to keep my ingredient list short and sweet.
- Spinach or Kale. Add 1–3 cups of fresh spinach or chopped kale during the last 2 minutes of cooking for extra greens and nutrients.
- Lemon Juice. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon into the soup just before serving to brighten up the flavors.
- Chili Flakes. For a little heat, add ½ teaspoon of red chili flakes along with the oregano, or sprinkle some on top when serving.
- White Beans. Stir in 1 cup of canned, rinsed white beans (like cannellini or navy beans) with the broth for extra heartiness and protein.
- Seafood Medley. Replace some or all of the shrimp with a mix of seafood for variety. Here’s a suggestion:
- ½ pound raw shrimp (peeled, deveined, tails off)
- ½ pound bay scallops
- ½ cup cooked mussels or clams (shelled)
- ½ pound firm white fish, cut into 1-inch chunks
How to Make Shrimp Soup
Tips for Making Shrimp Soup with Vegetables
- Make sure the shrimp is peeled and deveined. I detail how to do both here! I find it easiest to use kitchen shears.
- Boil the pasta until al dente. It’ll continue to cook when you add the shrimp, so this makes sure the orzo doesn’t get mushy.
- Don’t overcook the shrimp. Overcooked shrimp are rubbery and tough! You want to cook the shrimp until they just turn pink.
- Reheat the soup over low heat. If you have any leftovers make sure you warm them up over low heat. This is to avoid overcooking the shrimp!
What to Serve
Frequently Asked Questions
Kept in the fridge in an airtight container, the soup will keep 3-4 days. To reheat it, you can do so in a pot over low heat or in the microwave for 2-3 minutes.
Stir the soup frequently after adding the orzo to prevent it from sticking. If it’s already stuck, don’t scrape the bottom too hard to avoid burnt bits mixing into the soup.
This can happen if the shrimp were overcooked or if they were too small and delicate. Use medium or large shrimp, and add them to the soup at the end to cook just until pink and firm.
I don’t recommend freezing this soup because the shrimp can become rubbery and lose flavor. Also, the orzo pasta in the soup will likely become mushy and absorb too much liquid when thawed and reheated. However, you can freeze the soup base and add the shrimp and orzo when you reheat it.
More 30 Minute Soup Recipes:
- Mediterranean White Bean Soup
- Vegan Lentil Chili
- Red Lentil Chicken Soup
- Red Curry Noodle Soup
- Easy One-Pot Ravioli Soup
If you try this feel good Orzo Shrimp Soup recipe or any other recipe on Feel Good Foodie, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below! It helps others who are thinking of making the recipe. We would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots, share it on Instagram so we can repost on Stories!
Shrimp Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 3 carrots diced
- 3 celery stalks diced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- ½ cup orzo pasta
- 1 pound raw small shrimp peeled, deveined, tails off
- ¼ cup fresh dill chopped, plus more for garnish
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are softened.
- Stir in the canned tomatoes, season with oregano, salt, and pepper and cook for 2–3 minutes until fragrant.
- Pour in the vegetable broth and the orzo, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 7–8 minutes, or until the orzo is al dente.
- Add the shrimp to the pot and cook for 3–4 minutes, or until they turn pink and opaque.
- Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the fresh dill and red wine vinegar. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with extra dill.
Equipment
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
Delicious! Substituted the dill for parsley as suggested and turned out great. Will be making again. Thank you!
So glad you loved swapping in parsley, that’s great!! Thank you for sharing, Steve!
Such a great recipe!!! I will for sure make it again! It was easy to make and sooooo good! I added shredded Parmigiano once it was served in my bowl and it went so good with the soup!
Yum, that sounds great!! So happy you liked the soup, Mónica! Thank you!
This recipe turned out great! My wife was very happy with the flavor she LOVES the dill! Nice and easy to make, maybe used half the amount of red wine vinegar and was delish!
Aww, yay!! So happy you and your wife loved it! Thank you!
Hi! Can you freeze this soup? It was SO GOOD!!!
You technically can, but freezing soup with shrimp can make the shrimp rubbery and lose some flavor. Same with the pasta, it will likely become mushy and absorb too much liquid when thawed and reheated. I’m so glad you liked it though!!
This was the perfect soup after a cold day outside. I had all the ingredients in my pantry already so I didn’t have to go anywhere to make this. I added 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and used water instead of stock. I omitted the vinegar. It’s so yummy! And super healthy! It’s a bit thicker which is great and I’m serving it next to rice.
Yay, so happy you loved it!! It really is a cozy soup for winter. So glad you had all the ingredients on hand! Thanks, Ghada!!
Does this soup works without dill?
Hi Lina! You can definitely leave the dill out if you’d like. If you still want to brighten up the soup but don’t like dill, I recommend fresh chopped parsley or cilantro. You could also add 1-3 cups of chopped leafy greens like baby spinach or kale instead. Hope that helps!
I made this and it was so delicious! I followed the timing exactly and all ingredients had the right consistency. My swaps were using seasoned boullion cubes, leaving out the salt because it’s in the boullion, and using fire roasted canned diced tomatoes. A hack is adding the water and bouillon cubes right in the pot. You don’t need to make the broth separately.
Thank you!! Bouillon cubes are a great timesaver, love that they went well with this soup!