This wealthy and savory hen orzo recipe is loaded with juicy hen items, recent asparagus, and ripe tomatoes tossed along with tender orzo pasta in a creamy sauce.
This household favourite hen orzo dish, that includes crisp asparagus and juicy, ripe tomatoes, shouldn’t be solely easy to arrange but in addition bursting with taste. It’s the proper answer for an easy weeknight dinner that’s positive to please your entire household, and it even leaves you with scrumptious leftovers for the times to return.
Why We Love This Creamy Rooster Orzo Recipe
- Fast and comfy. Have an enormous bowl of comforting hen orzo prepared in below an hour. This recipe is likely one of the finest throw-it-together dinners for weeknights.
- Wealthy, creamy sauce. Get pleasure from a wealthy and creamy sauce that completely coats all of the substances on this dish. It’s simple to make and filled with a strong Parmesan taste.
- Customizable. You possibly can customise this dish along with your most popular pasta, greens, proteins, and many others. If in case you have additional substances hanging out within the fridge, this recipe is the proper manner to make use of them.
What Is Orzo?
Orzo is a sort of pasta made out of durum wheat or semolina flour, the identical flour used to make couscous and most Italian pasta. Orzo is just a little chewy, with a delicate, nutty style. You’ll discover orzo in numerous Mediterranean and Center Japanese cooking, and it’s a well-liked pairing with hen, as in hen in a pot with lemon orzo and hen orzo soup.
Elements For Rooster Orzo
- Orzo Pasta: You should utilize entire wheat orzo or white flour orzo, cooked in response to the package deal instructions.
- Rooster: Skinless, boneless hen breasts or thighs, minimize into even-sized cubes.
- Veggies: Recent chopped asparagus and ripe cherry tomatoes or any veggies of your selecting.
- Olive Oil, Butter, and Flour: You’ll whisk them collectively to type a roux, which is the bottom in your cream sauce.
- Rooster Broth: I like to recommend low-sodium hen broth, or you can too use vegetable broth.
- Milk: You should utilize entire milk, 2%, or skim milk.
- Parmesan: Freshly shredded is finest.
Make Rooster Orzo
- Boil the orzo. In a big pot of salted water, boil the orzo to al dente.
- Prepare dinner the hen and veggies. In the meantime, sauté the hen items and asparagus in a big skillet with oil. When the hen is browned, stir within the cherry tomatoes. Set the skillet apart.
- Make the sauce. In a separate pan, whisk collectively flour with melted butter and oil to create a roux. Add hen broth and milk. Lastly, take the pan off the warmth and stir in your grated parmesan cheese.
- Mix. Drain the cooked orzo, and add it to the sauce along with your hen, asparagus, and tomatoes. Stir the whole lot collectively, season to style, and serve!
Recipe Ideas And Variations
- Use leftover hen. If you have already got cooked leftover rotisserie hen or poached hen readily available, it makes this recipe even faster!
- To cook dinner orzo, you’ll boil it in a pot and drain it the identical as you’d every other sort of pasta. Most orzo cooks al dente (with a chew) in about 8 minutes.
- Salt the pasta water. Add 2 tablespoons of salt to the water you’ll use to cook dinner your orzo. The important thing to flavorful pasta is well-seasoned pasta water.
- Add lemon. Stir in some recent lemon zest and a squeeze of lemon juice to spice up the flavors.
- Totally different veggies. Rather than asparagus, attempt broccoli florets, celery, carrots, kale, peas, or every other vegetable you have got readily available. You may additionally like this tacky hen orzo recipe with recent spinach.
- Totally different protein. Rather than hen, attempt steak bites or air fryer meatballs. Crumble in some cooked, smoky bacon for additional taste. Or, do this one pot shrimp with orzo.
- Herbs. Sprinkle in Italian seasoning, or recent herbs like parsley, basil, oregano, or cilantro. Add crushed crimson pepper flakes for a bit of warmth.
What Can I Substitute for Orzo?
- Pasta: Make this recipe with penne, fusilli, rigatoni, or lengthy pasta varieties like spaghetti, linguine, or fettuccine.
- Gluten-free: The perfect gluten-free substitutes for orzo are arborio rice, quinoa, or millet.
- Grain-free: Substitute orzo with ready cauliflower rice or lentils.
- Different: Strive one other grain, like farro and pearl barley.
Serving Ideas
Rooster Orzo ticks all of the bins for a meal in a single, however you possibly can all the time spherical out your dinner with selfmade focaccia bread or garlic breadsticks. This mild and simple Caesar salad, or this Mediterranean white bean salad are additionally nice! I additionally like to serve it with my simple oven roasted greens, these savory roasted mushrooms, or crispy air fryer roasted broccoli.
Retailer and Reheat Leftovers
- To retailer, switch the hen orzo to an hermetic container and refrigerate it inside 2 hours of cooking. It’s going to hold within the fridge for as much as 3-4 days or within the freezer for two months. Defrost within the fridge in a single day earlier than reheating.
- Reheat on the stovetop or within the microwave till the hen is scorching all through.
Extra Rooster Pasta Recipes to Strive
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Put together orzo per instructions on the field. Drain and put aside.
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Within the meantime, warmth 3 tablespoons olive oil in a big skillet set over medium-high warmth.
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Add hen items and asparagus; season with salt and pepper and cook dinner for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring continuously, till hen is cooked and browned on all sides.
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Add tomatoes and proceed to cook dinner for two to three minutes or till tomatoes are tender; put aside.
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Warmth olive oil and soften butter in a separate massive pan over medium-high warmth. Sprinkle with flour and whisk to mix, whisking and cooking for 1 to 2 minutes.
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Whisk within the hen broth till totally mixed. Whisk within the milk, and convey the combination to a simmer; enable to cook dinner for 1 minute or till thickened.
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Take away from warmth, add parmesan cheese, and season with salt and pepper; stir till the cheese is melted.
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Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce with the hen, asparagus, and tomato combination. Toss nicely to mix. Style for salt and pepper and modify if wanted.
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Serve.
- Greens: Swap the asparagus for different choices like broccoli, celery, carrots, kale, peas, or any veggies you have got out there.
- Proteins: As a substitute of hen, think about using shrimp, steak bites, or crumbled cooked bacon.
- Herbs: Add taste with Italian seasoning or recent herbs akin to parsley, basil, oregano, or cilantro. For a spicy kick, sprinkle in some crushed crimson pepper flakes.
- Orzo: In case you don’t have orzo, make this recipe with penne, fusilli, rigatoni, or lengthy pasta varieties.
Energy: 383 kcal | Carbohydrates: 27 g | Protein: 26 g | Fats: 19 g | Saturated Fats: 5 g | Polyunsaturated Fats: 2 g | Monounsaturated Fats: 11 g | Trans Fats: 0.1 g | Ldl cholesterol: 62 mg | Sodium: 268 mg | Potassium: 734 mg | Fiber: 3 g | Sugar: 5 g | Vitamin A: 1136 IU | Vitamin C: 23 mg | Calcium: 162 mg | Iron: 3 mg
Dietary data is an estimate and offered as courtesy. Values could differ in response to the substances and instruments used. Please use your most popular dietary calculator for extra detailed data.
