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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I made this tonight, but used chicken broth instead of milk and made it with rice. Absolutely delicious! My husband, who usually doesn’t eat rice and my SIL came back for seconds. Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
This dish is amazing. I substituted spinach for kale because I couldn’t find any in the impromptu making of the dish. The kale tasted swell you just need to make sure you don’t get roots in it. It’s so delicious and creamy, fairly easy to make. Comes out thicker than picture in my opinion. Very nice
One cup dried or cooked orzo
Megan, the uncooked orzo is cooked in the very first step:
In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well.
This was super easy and delicious. I made it as a side with your wonderful shrimp scampi recipe. This was great as a side for four people – we ate all of it! 🙂
So…about 6 months ago my 3 year old daughter managed to sneak a box of orzo into my cart at the store. I broke down and made orzo for the first time tonight. Pretty tasty!
Made this tonight, substituted boiling salted water for 50/50 water and stock…
My wife thinks this is the best meal I have ever made, better than her favourite Vindaloo…
Make sure to taste and season (salt, pepper, more parmasan) correctly at the end, as of tonight, this is now a regular dish for us…
Thanks CHUNGAH
Hi, this sounds delicious. Having a barbecue next weekend and wondering if this would be good served cold if I made it ahead of time? I have never made orzo before.
Just made the recipe. It’s really creamy…maybe too creamy. I think if you’re not a huge cheese fan you might want to consider cutting the parmesean to 1/4 cup as opposed to 1/2 cup. Otherwise, great recipe!
This was awesome!!! Loved it! Served with kielbasa, it was fantastic!
Great recipe.
Thanks!
YUM! I just served this for dinner with ham. It was easy to make & just delicious! Thanks for the inspiration.
Happy 4th of July!
I made this twice already, once at home and the other to bring to a friend’s BBQ! Best tasting recipe ever!!
First of all- thank you for your great recipes! I’m always pleased with entrees I find on DamnDelicious, this one was no exception. That being said- possibly helpful comments for others…use a small onion. Even though we love onion, I used a large one and it took away from the yummy texture of the orzo. Also, next time I make this- and I will make it again- I will add a bit more liquid to make really creamy. I used 3 oz (half a bag of baby) spinach if that helps.
Thanks again!
This is so yummy. I made it with whole wheat gemelli, so yummy and cheesy! Greta blog by the way, coming here for yummy recipes
I recently discovered your page and have become addicted. I’ve tried 2 recipes so far and am hooked! Everything is so delicious and your blogs are enticing and quirky. Thanks a lot for sharing your talent and hobby with the public!
Hi. I just pinned this on Pinterest and it came up under low calorie recipes. I can’t find the nutritional info on this. Do you happen to have it? Making it tonight. Thanks.
Nutritional information is provided only for select and new recipes at this time. However, if it is not available for a specific recipe, it is best that you use free online resources at your discretion (you can Google “nutritional calculator”) to obtain such information.
Should this be made with whole, 2%, or skim milk (If it even matters)?
Whole is always best but you can really use any kind of milk you have on hand.
I made a huge pot of this and it came out so good! Can’t wait to eat this for lunch during the week.
Heather
My oh my, this looks so tasty and comforting. Love your photography, too! And pasta + creamy + spinach? What’s not to love? Great recipe!
My favorite flavors! Thanks for sharing!
This was delicious! It tasted so rich and creamy. If I hadn’t made it myself I would have thought it was made with heavy cream, not milk. Thank you for sharing your recipe!