One Pan Creamy Orzo with Chicken and Spinach

This one pan Creamy Orzo with Chicken and Spinach is simple enough for a busy weeknight and delicious enough for Sunday dinner.

I have been making this Orzo with Chicken and Spinach recipe for months now. It’s such a satisfying recipe to make, simple enough to pull together on a busy weeknight and delicious enough to enjoy for family dinner on Sunday.

I have been working on this recipe for such a stretch of time that I don’t quite remember where the inspiration came from. I do remember that I went to the pantry to dream up a dish to make for dinner and discovered a package of orzo. I made orzo with some sort of accompaniments and wondered to myself why orzo was boiled and then drained before adding to the other ingredients.

Sure, orzo is small like grains of rice, but it is indeed a pasta. Pasta is almost always boiled, drained, and then incorporated into the other ingredients or sauces called for in a recipe. What if it wasn’t? It seemed like the small size and quick cooking qualities of orzo would make it perfectly suited for cooking in the same pot with the other ingredients.

Boiling pasta in water, even if it is seasoned liberally with salt, results in a very bland pasta that when added to the other ingredients, has to be compensated for with regard to flavor. It doesn’t add much to the dish in terms of flavor. It also dirties a large boiling pot and requires a good amount of water which is then poured down the drain.

What if instead, we approached the orzo more like risotto? What if we cooked the orzo with broth and other ingredients, giving it just enough liquid to cook and absorb without wasting unnecessary liquid? What if we used a single pot and everything was cooked together? It stood to reason that the resulting dish would be more flavorful and even more harmonious when cooked together. It also meant there would be fewer dishes to clean and no wasted boiling pot of water.

After months of making orzo in this way, I can easily say that I don’t intend to ever make it any other way again. This version is simpler, faster, and tastes so much better. I’m only sorry that I hadn’t thought to try this way of cooking it sooner.

This is more of a method than a recipe. The method is all about cooking the orzo and matching the amount of orzo with the liquid needed to cook it. The other ingredients are open ended. I’ve made it with cherry tomatoes and basil dressed with Parmesan cheese. I make a BLT version with bacon, tomatoes, and arugula that sings with flavor. I’ve even adapted my classic recipe for chicken marsala to make with orzo with delicious results.

Once you master the cooking of the orzo, you can create a nearly endless array of unique dishes. I have adapted several of our favorite pasta recipes from their traditional versions into this orzo preparation. Much like the chicken marsala, the results will be delicious, just as flavorful as the traditional versions in less time and all made in a single pot.

Why does this method work? Well, it helps that the orzo pasta is small much like the arborio rice used to make risotto. The small size enables it to cook quickly while submerged in liquid without needing so much liquid that it can’t be absorbed completely while cooking. When all of the cooking liquid is absorbed, nothing goes to waste and the orzo absorbs all of the delicious flavor from the ingredients it is cooked with.

Because the orzo absorbs the cooking liquid, it absorbs the broth’s flavor and becomes more delicious as it cooks. Instead of flavoring plain pasta with a sauce or other ingredients, you have flavorful orzo pasta that you can pair with the other ingredients. The result is a dish with a more rounded flavor. Every bite is delicious.

As the orzo cooks, it releases starch into the cooking liquid which isn’t drained away, instead it is incorporated right into the dish. That starch helps to create a velvety texture and gives body to the finished dish. The result, in my opinion, is superior.

If you have ever made risotto, you know that the process is simple, yet demanding of your full attention. A risotto maker stands at the pot during the entire cooking process of the arborio rice.  For a twenty minute stretch of time, you stir the pot constantly, adding a bit of warm broth when the pot nearly runs dry. It’s a balancing act of adding just enough liquid while keeping the grains of rice moving to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pot or clumping together.

This orzo is much less demanding. You add all of the liquid at once and only need to stir the pot occasionally.  Because I don’t have to tend the pot constantly, I can tidy up my prep space, cutting board, and knife so that I have everything clean except my cooking pot by the time dinner is ready to be served.

That may seem like a small change, but when it comes time to clean up after we have finished dinner, it feels like a big difference. Penny Lane almost always gets a post-dinner stroll and less after dinner cleanup means that we can get outside and enjoy our walk and even take a bit more time if we choose to. I’d much rather spend time on a walk with Penny Lane than cleaning more dirty pots and dishes after dinner.

From start to finish, I think that this method of cooking orzo creates a delicious dish in less time and with less effort than most pasta recipes and risotto recipes. It’s full of flavor and so adaptable that you can turn it into any number of meals for your table. I hope that you will because I can’t wait to hear all about them.

One Pot Creamy Orzo with Chicken and Spinach Digital Recipe Booklet

You can view this booklet through a browser on your computer, tablet, or smartphone. You can use the buttons below the booklet to navigate from page to page, zoom in and out, download the file, print some or all of the pages, and view the booklet in full screen mode.

We’ll be adding more recipes in this format, creating a library of recipes to access in this format, and creating a printed cookbook to share with you in the coming months. Stay tuned!

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Creamy Orzo with Chicken and Spinach

The beauty and simplicity of this dish is that other than the orzo and its cooking liquid, everything else is adjustable. Want more chicken? Want less spinach? Prefer not to use any spinach?

It’s all up to you. You don’t even need to measure the ingredients other than the orzo and the cooking liquid. You can increase, omit, or replace the other ingredients as you like and make a dish that is completely yours.

You can make the orzo portion of this recipe without the chicken and spinach if you prefer. Simply substitute another group of flavorful ingredients based on what you have on hand. As long as the ingredients are fully cooked before adding the orzo, the result will be a delicious and flavorful dish.

I scale this recipe based on the number of people I am serving. For each serving, I use 4 ounces (approximately 2/3 cups) of dry orzo pasta and 1 ¼ cups (10 ounces) of liquid. You can easily scale this recipe using the same method and timing simply by adjusting the quantity of ingredients and size of your cooking pot.

You can choose to leave the fully cooked chicken and spinach mixture in the pan and proceed with cooking the orzo with them. Or, if you prefer, you can remove the mixture from the pan while you cook the orzo separately. When the orzo is nearly finished, the fully cooked mixture of chicken and spinach can be added back to the pan to warm up. I have used both methods and find them to be equally delicious. It’s purely a matter of your preference or choice based on the size limitations of your cooking pan.

Servings: 2 people

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 boneless skinless chicken thighs , cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 shallot , minced
• 1 cup fresh spinach leaves , packed
• 1 clove garlic , minced
• ⅛ teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 8 ounces (1 ¼ cups) dry orzo pasta
• ¼ cup white wine
• 2 cups bone broth or stock
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Parmesan cheese

Instructions

• Place a large, wide pan over medium heat to warm. Add the olive oil and heat until it spreads easily over the surface of the pan. Add the chicken and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking until cooked through.
• Add the shallot to the pan and sauté until it is translucent, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the spinach, garlic, and thyme and continue to cook until the spinach softens and wilts.
• Add a tablespoon of olive oil to the warm pan. Add the orzo to the pan, stirring briskly to toast it lightly and fully coat the orzo with the oil. Add the white wine to deglaze the pan, scraping up any delicious brown bits that are on the bottom of the pan from cooking the chicken and spinach. Allow nearly all of the wine to evaporate from the pan.
• Add the broth or stock to the pan in one addition. Stir to ensure that all of the orzo is submerged in the broth. Increase the heat to medium high and bring the liquid to a simmer. Once it has come to a simmer, adjust the heat as needed to maintain a medium simmer. Set a timer for 8 minutes.
• Stir the orzo as it cooks to prevent it from sticking to the pan. You don’t need to stir constantly, just check the pan every so often and give it a stir.
• As you approach the end of the 8 minute cooking time, add the chicken and spinach mixture back to the pan if you have chosen to remove them. Add the heavy cream and butter and stir to incorporate.
• Give the orzo a taste. Decide if the orzo is done to your liking and if you feel that it needs additional seasoning. Add more seasoning if you feel that it is necessary until it is seasoned to your taste.
• If it seems like it needs a splash of broth to loosen it up, add it to the pan. If it has a bit too much liquid, simmer for a few more minutes to allow the excess liquid to evaporate and reach your desired consistency.
• Serve the orzo with a sprinkling of Parmesan or your favorite finishing cheese. I like to pair it with a crisp salad, but it is delicious on its own or with your favorite side dish or bread.

Notes

Leftovers can be kept in an airtight container for up to three days, although they don’t last that long here at the farmhouse. I love to eat the leftovers as a cold salad for lunch the next day. If you prefer to warm them up, a splash of broth will help ensure that they warm up evenly and don’t solidify.

Tried this recipe?Mention @1840Farm or tag #1840FarmFood! We can’t wait to see what you make!