Vegetarian Italian Farro Soup Recipe

It’s been too long since I’ve posted any recipes or food photos, but I finally have some to share! I suppose this recipe is more geared towards future days of cooler weather (fall/winter), but I really enjoyed it anyways. Introducing my Vegetarian Italian Farro Soup Recipe. See the note below to make this a vegan recipe.

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The weather in Charlotte has been rainy and cooler than normal over the last couple days, which not only has me starting to think about fall, but has me also craving soup.

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Since I’ve been having so much fun with farro over the last couple months, I decided to try it out in a soup. As it turns out, farro in soup is quite nice. It reminds me a bit of barley – tender with a chewy edge. So far, so good.

I actually considered adding beef to this, but I ultimately decided (mostly because I knew I was going to get home late-ish from work, and I didn’t want to wait forever for stew-beef to cook) to make it vegetarian. Feel free to add roasted chicken if you want to see some meat in this recipe.

Instead, I worked one of my favorite vegetarian combos – a whole grain with beans. Plus, I added my most-recent, favorite soup ingredient – kale.

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Note: I learned recently that some parmesan contains animal products that could make it non-vegetarian. Be sure to check the label to be sure. And you can omit the parmesan completely to make this a vegan recipe.

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Vegetarian Italian Farro Soup {Recipe}

  • Author: Diana of thechiclife.com
  • Prep Time: 5 mins
  • Cook Time: 50 mins
  • Total Time: 55 mins
  • Yield: 6 1x
  • Category: Entree
  • Cuisine: Italian

Description

This easy soup is a piece of cake to put together. The combination of a hearty whole grain (farro) and cannellini beans helps keep you full sans meat, but feel free to add some if you’d like. I’d suggest tossing in some rotisserie chicken near the end of cooking, just to warm it through.
*Vegetarian, Vegan*


Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2 carrots, cut into 1/4” thick rounds
  • 2 parsnips, cut into 1/4″ thick rounds/chunks (or sub extra carrots)
  • 1 cup dry farro, rinsed
  • 4 cups broth/stock of choice
  • 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 2 dry bay leaves
  • 1 bunch kale, torn into bite-sized pieces
  • 24 cups water, optional, as needed
  • 1 large can cannellini beans, drained & rinsed
  • parmesan cheese, optional (omit for vegan)
  • fresh parsley, chopped, optional / garnish

Instructions

  1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and cook until onions are translucent, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. While the onions and garlic saute, I did the “chop and drop” method to peel & cut my carrots and parsnip and add to the cooking veggies. Otherwise, you can add the carrots and parsnips with the onion.
  2. Add farro, and stir till farro is coated in oil, about 1 minute.
  3. Add broth/stock, tomatoes, salt, basil, red pepper flakes, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce to simmer. Cook for 20 minutes.
  4. Add kale and water if needed (I added 1 cup here). Recover and cook 10 minutes.
  5. Add beans and water if needed (I added another cup here). Recover and cook 10 minutes.
  6. Check farro texture and soup flavor. Continue cooking, if needed, to get farro to your preferred texture. For soup flavor, taste-test and add salt and pepper, if needed, BUT head’s up – go low on the salt. We’re going to top the soup with fresh-grated parmesan, so you may not need as much salt if you’re going to add cheese (especially since parmesan is so salty).
  7. Serve and top with fresh-grated parmesan cheese and parsley.
  8. Enjoy carefully – it’s hot!

Notes

The leftovers freeze great, and they’re so much better than canned soup. Portion out individual serving size containers for an easy meal later with whole grain toast.

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More Clean Eating Recipes

Easy Tortellini Soup Recipe

Whole Health Noodle Soup

Lazy Low Carb Fried Rice

Chocolate Chip Muffins (made with almond milk)

Easy Sparkling Lemonade

Happy cooking!

Hope you enjoy this Vegetarian Italian Farro Soup Recipe!

***

And I randomly ran into a blog reader and her family today at the grocery store when I was picking up ingredients for this very soup. Hello Rain (I hope I’m spelling your name correctly) and family! It was so nice meeting you guys! 🙂

***

I have a new cake mini flavor and a new outfit post ready for blogging. Which one do you want to see next? We just played this game on my Facebook page, and the recipe one (thanks to Megan’s alter ego…hehe).

Here’s a graphic you can share on Pinterest:

Get cozy with this comforting bowl of Vegetarian Italian Farro Soup recipe. This clean eating recipe makes a delicious lunch or dinner that will keep you full while you feel light. Try this easy soup recipe. #recipe #healthy #healthyrecipes #cleaneating #recipe #realfood #vegan #vegetarian

23 thoughts on “Vegetarian Italian Farro Soup Recipe”

  1. It was wonderful to meet you as well!!! Thank you for taking the time to talk with us. It is so fun to meet people from a blog, it is like meeting a celebrity (cheesy I know). But I appreciate you being so open and friendly. My daughter was anxiously awaiting the post, so I know what we are having tonight!!! Looks yummy!

    Reply
  2. This looks way yummy…will have to try it this weekend. Where do you find the Farro? I don’t believe I’ve ever cooked with it before. And PS: you’re photos of food are amazing!
    LB in GA

    Reply
  3. The soup looks fantastic. I will give it a go tomorrow.I can’t wait for your next fashion blog.I don’t know what’s in style for fall/winter.Great photos as always! Thank you!

    Reply
    • Hi Bonni! Hope you like the soup! I’ve actually posted 2 new fashion posts since this comment, though they’re both geared more towards summer still. Thanks for reading and commenting! 🙂

      Reply
  4. Just found your blog. I don’t know HOW I missed it. I’m a new follower and a healthy, veggie fanatic! Thank you for this recipe! I plan on trying it next week for my family. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!

    Reply
    • Well, hello there! I’m so glad you found my blog! Thank *you* so much for your sweet comment. Let me know how you like the recipe after you’ve had the chance to try it out. 🙂

      Reply
      • Hey there. Just wanted to say that I made this for a vegan lunch guest the other day. He loved it. Then, a veggie friend of mine dropped by and I gave her some to take home. She is in love, too. Soooo…yea…it’s fantastic. Oh! And my family loved it, too. Delicious, easy to make, and very healthy (with all those proteins and nutrients). Thank you!

        When I blog about it in a day or two, I’ll link you so you can get mad credit.

        Reply
    • Hi Eileen! Thanks for stopping by. Unfortunately, I do not have nutritional information on the soup. I’ve considered calculating it for my recipes, but from what I understand about the nutrition calculators currently available, they’re a bit finicky and can sometimes yield incorrect information. I don’t want to mislead anyone or offer information I don’t feel confident is correct, so I’ve opted to not add this information to my recipes. Maybe one day my blog will be popular enough that I can hire a nutritionist to do calculations for me? 🙂

      If you’re interested in online nutrition calculators, there are many options out there. One I’ve used in the past is on Spark People: http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp But, you can also find a few others by googling “nutrition calculator”.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Reply
  5. Greetings! When you say a “large can of cannellini beans” is that different than a standard 14.5oz can???

    Getting ready to make this for my parents 🙂

    Thanks!!

    Reply
    • I can’t believe I put that in the recipe! Oops! 😛 I usually use better (and more precise) descriptions. Anywho, I think a 14.5 ounce can would work great. You could always add more if you want? By the time you add the beans to the soup, the farro should be mostly cooked, so it shouldn’t grow too much more. You can try putting the 14.5 ounce can worth of beans and check the distribution. If you want more beans, you can always crack open another and add that too. Hope you like the recipe, Natalie! 🙂

      Reply
    • Hi Joan, Unfortunately not. I actually have never used an Instant Pot! The farro is what takes the longest time to cook in this recipe, so if you can find a recipe for farro in the IP, you may be able to adapt it? Sorry about that! Thank you for stopping by, though. 🙂

      Reply
  6. Oh my word this soup is delicious!!! The flavors are so yummy & I didn’t miss the meat at all. Great to make & take to work for lunches. Only thing I did different was add a spoonful of vegetable base. I’m completely in love with this soup!!!

    Reply

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