Parmesan and Spinach Orzo
This creamy orzo dish is a wonderful side or light main dish, and it’s sure to be a hit with the entire family!
Orzo is one of my favorite kind of pastas. It may be due to the fact that I grew up on Korean rice my entire childhood, so it’s really no surprise that I would love this pasta in rice-shaped form. And when you couple that with the amazing flavors of the salty Parmesan and fresh spinach in a light cream sauce, what’s not to love?
Now the great thing about this dish is how versatile it is, serving it as either a light main dish or a side dish. We served it alongside the pan roasted lemon chicken, although I may have had this orzo as a main dish instead. After all, when Parmesan and pasta is involved, I have no self control. I just kept telling myself that with the fresh spinach, this was really a salad.
Parmesan and Spinach Orzo
Ingredients
- 1 cup orzo pasta
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 cup milk
- 1 ½ cups spinach, roughly chopped
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well.
- Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and onion, and cook, stirring frequently, until onions have become translucent, about 2-3 minutes.
- Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk, and cook, whisking constantly, until slightly thickened, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add spinach and cook until wilted, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in Parmesan until melted, about 1 minute. Add orzo and gently toss to combine; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately.
Did you make this recipe?
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This was really good! We served with grilled maple soy glazed salmon. I actually made this slightly ahead of time and let it sit on the stove with the lid on the pan. Just before serving, I put the pan over very low heat and added milk, a splash at a time, while stirring until the orzo loosened up and became creamy again. I did have to add quite a bit of salt to taste, which I expected, and of course grated extra parmesan on my individual serving. A keeper for sure!
Made this yesterday for super with friends and everyone loved it. I will definitely make this again.
how long do leftovers last for and how should they be stored?
can the orzo be subbed for brown rice?
I cooked up ground mild Italian sausage and added it at the end – bam! Main dish and delicious!!
Mmm. I have loved every recipe of yours that I’ve made and this is no exception. I added diced smoked ham for a protein and called it a meal. Yummy!
This is wonderful!!
I subbed cheddar cheese bc I as out of Parm and subbed fat free half and half for the heavy cream. Even my veggie hating husband loved it! Superb!
Haven’t made it yet. Planning to for tonight. But how much is a serving? Also are the calories per serving or as a dish as a whole?
Fantastic taste. It’s a little saucier than I expected. Would adding more orzo be ok?
Oh gosh, this was so quick and easy and delicious. I love using orzo pasta and even the little one liked it! Would add a meat to top for some extra protein next time, maybe grilled chicken!
That looks delicious! One question. I love the pink spatula in photo # 4. Where can I buy one of those?
It’s from GIR. 🙂
This was great. I did not have flour or milk, and I only had frozen spinach. Tossed the spinach in as the onions and garlic finished. In place of the flour and milk, I retained some pasta water before draining and used that to help bind and melt the parm. Also tossed in some mushrooms and chicken. Overall really good and easy to make!
This was great and easy to make!
I made this and it was delicious! I even froze individual containers for my daughter who is away at school and it freezes well!. Thanks!
Can you substitute frozen spinach for fresh?
I recommend using fresh.
I just made this for my family, paired with your recipe for Baked Lemon Butter Tilapia. We absolutely LOVED the orzo! Fantastic recipe and comes together quickly. Thanks!
Okay, I just made it…and it was damn delicious. It has occurred to me that the taste of the particular parmesan I use will dramatically change the taste–and that’s okay. I probably included more spinach than you intended (couldn’t see how that would be back except for the liquid, so I put in a smidge more flour), and used a combo of cream and Vitamin D milk; other than that, I made it as you directed, and it’s now a permanent keeper to my rotation. Yummy, fast and easy: what more could you ask?
I would like to take this to a friends house for my part of a trout dinner. Does it reheat well? Thanks
Yes, but you may need to add a little bit of milk (1 TBS at a time) to help “loosen” it a bit. Hope that helps!
Made this tonight it was delicious,creamy,and cheesy. I had it as a side with spicy Italian sausage,umm magnifico. I needed to add about 1/2 cup of extra milk before serving as it thickened up a bit. My wife loved it!
This recipe was just perfect. Love that it was so easy! It paired really well with grilled scallops!!! Soooooo good! Thanks for all your wonderful recipes! Can’t wait until your cookbook comes out!