Why You’ll Love This Creamy Orzo

What started as a last minute dish of leftovers has turned into a favorite easy side, complete with lots of veggies to keep things light and fresh, but plenty of creaminess to make this pasta feel decadent.

Alright ya’ll, we finally made it to April. I hope you’re all staying healthy and strong out there. Here’s an easy (and yummy!) quarantine side dish for ya: Creamy Orzo with Garlic Roasted Tomatoes. What I love about this dish is that 1) it’s easy. And 2) it perfectly straddles the line of rich and decadent while also being light and fresh. My friends can attest to it 🙂

Table of Contents

I originally made this recipe as a full meal in a pot with chicken (see here) but one night found myself needing to throw together a last minute side dish for a dinner with friends. I didn’t have much in my fridge but I did have some fresh basil and cherry tomatoes, which I think are the star of the dish. A quick check of my pantry and freezer led me to canned cream of mushroom soup, plus frozen peas because I didn’t have anything else green to use. I added the frozen spinach here for an extra kick of green, but you could leave out the peas or spinach (don’t skip both) and still have an amazing side dish!

serve it with:

Juicy Air Fryer Chicken

Pair my creamy orzo with this classic chicken breast recipe that can be grilled or air fried. Don’t skip my secret to the getting the juiciest chicken breasts every time!

recipe

Ingredients and Substitutions

Here’s what you’ll need to make this Creamy Orzo with Garlic Roasted Tomatoes recipe:

Pasta – I recommend orzo or something similarly small so that each bite can get good distribution of pasta and veggies.
Tomatoes – Cherry or grape tomatoes are best here for roasting with the garlic. Regular tomatoes have too much water.
Peas – A bag of regular old frozen peas is what we need here! Remember when I said this started out as a dish made of all stuff I could find in my pantry/fridge/freezer? You could use another veggie if you prefer. Broccoli or even corn could be tasty.
Chicken stock – Veggie stock would be fine too.
Cream of mushroom soup – I used the canned stuff, but help yourself if you prefer homemade.
White wine – Something dry and bright like sauvignon blanc is perfect. The alcohol will cook out as the pasta cooks, but if you can’t use wine, try using more chicken stock plus the juice of half a lemon.
Parmesan cheese – You could try something with more funk like parmigiano reggiano if you’d like.
Spinach – I used frozen, but fresh will work too. I didn’t thaw it and squeeze out the excess water before adding it to the pasta, but you totally could if you prefer.
Basil – Basil brings a brightness and freshness to this pasta that you will miss out on if you skip it.
Garlic – Don’t be shy.
Seasoning

tips for

Meal Prepping Pasta

Pasta can be tricky when it comes to meal prep because it continues to absorb liquid as it sits in your fridge, which can make it mushy over time. This particular pasta recipe doesn’t absorb too much extra liquid, so it’s pretty easy to just heat and eat, pretty much good as new. It can dry out a little bit though, so adding a few glugs of chicken stock to it before reheating, then stirring it up before serving will help liven it back up.

For this recipe, I just used a really simple single compartment container – no need to get fancy to store this one!