One Pot Lemon Orzo Shrimp
A super easy one pot meal that the whole family will love – even the orzo gets cooked right in the pot!
Can we talk about how amazing one pot meals are? Years ago, I would never go near a one pot meal with a ten foot pole – I just had this suspicion that a one pot meal had major taste deficiencies. It was just too easy and too good to be true. But now – well, let’s just say that I’m only living off of one pot meals for the rest of my life.
After all, why would you ever want to live in a world where you have dirty up all these dishes when you only need one pot? And this orzo shrimp. Yes, it really comes together in a single pot. Even the uncooked orzo gets cooked right in there!
Plus, you have everything you could possibly need in a hearty meal right in this dish – carbs, veggies, shrimp and tons of flavor. Best of all, it’s completely customizable to add in your favorite veggies. It’s the perfect clean-out-the-fridge meal!
I’m just dying to make this again with andouille sausage, corn, zucchini and a little bit of red pepper flakes for some added spice. The possibilities are endless.
One Pot Lemon Orzo Shrimp
Ingredients
- 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 onion, diced
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 8 ounces orzo pasta
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
- ½ cup frozen peas
- Juice of 1 lemon
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Season shrimp with salt and pepper, to taste; set aside.
- Heat olive oil in a large oven-proof skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic, onion and oregano, and cook, stirring often, until onions have become translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in orzo until lightly browned, about 1-2 minutes.
- Stir in chicken broth and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat and simmer until pasta is cooked through, about 10-12 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, peas, lemon juice and shrimp. Sprinkle with Parmesan.
- Place into oven and bake until shrimp are cooked through, about 12-14 minutes.
- Serve immediately.
Did you make this recipe?
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Is there a gluten free option instead of orzo? Thank you,
Yes, DeLallo has a great gluten-free option.
8oz as in 1cup of orzo?
Yes, 8 ounces uncooked orzo should roughly equal about 1 cup.
This recipe sounds amazing; however, my boyfriend would prefer it with chicken instead of shrimp. How would I go about substituting that?? Thanks!
Gayle, you will have to adjust cooking time as needed to ensure that the chicken is completely cooked through. Cooking time will vary depending on the size and thickness of the chicken.
I made this for dinner last night and it tasted just as wonderful as your pictures make it look! My boyfriend isn’t a fan of peas so I substituted chopped asparagus and it turned out great! Thanks so much for yet another fabulous recipe – keep them coming! Happy New Year! 🙂
Is it possible to substitute the orzo pasta with white grain rice instead? 🙂
Yes, but cooking time may have to be adjusted as needed.
i made this tonight, but i replaced the peas with spinach and added some italian sausage. it was delicious!
I made this tonight and it was DELICIOUS! I accidentally put in the tomatoes without draining them and it was totally fine! I would just add the peas a little later so they don’t lose their green!
As for the sausage, I wanted to add this…did you cook it first and then add? Sounds like it would be a good addition!
can i slow cook this in a crockpot? and if so what suggestions as far as cooking time?
Please understand that it is very difficult to give exact conversion information to translate a traditional stovetop recipe to the slow cooker method without further recipe testing. I recommend using your best judgement to convert this recipe to utilize a slow cooker.
Would using already cooked frozen shrimp work? Would you still need to pop it in the oven?
If you are using cooked shrimp, you can certainly finish it off on the stovetop.
It says serves 4. How big are the portions? Trying to figure out if I should double.
This creates about 4-5 standard servings.
Since i am working to keep my diabetes under control, we substituted whole wheat orzo, and it came out great. Thanks for the recipe.
No need to “pop it in the oven”-add the shrimp and leave it on top of the stove to cook. No need to heat up the oven.
Barbara, you can certainly throw it right in the oven to let the shrimp and pasta really come together, melding all those amazing flavors. It’s also easier than to continually toss the mixture to cook the shrimp!
This is really good and super easy! However I couldn’t figure out the last step which is add the shrimp and bake in the oven. I added the shrimp to everything else and cooked it on top of the stove!
That’s exactly right! You’ll add in the rest of the ingredients and pop it right in the oven until the shrimp is cooked through. Easy peasy!
This recipe was so easy to make and so damn delicious..this is actually the second recipe from your website I’m trying out..Im glad I found you on pinterest. There’s so many other recipes I want to try. Thanks for these easy simple recipes..i love it
Is this supposed to be somewhat watery? I made this last week and it wasn’t soupy at all – it was perfect. However, I made it again today and it is a little bit watery? I’m not sure why. I’m thinking I missed the step with the 1/2 cup water last time.
Delicious, have made this three times and there’s never any leftovers…
Just made this tonight and have to say it is a keeper….first one pot dish from this site marks an AAA…keep em coming!!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was so good and so easy. It’s a keeper.
This was delicious. I made it just as written. I have not found a recipe site as tasty as yours. Keep up the great work.
I love the nutrition info on this recipe! I’ll be making this tonight but with chicken instead. Any tips on how to tweak it?
Just be sure to adjust cooking time as needed to ensure that the chicken is completely cooked through.
I made this and it turned out soupy. Suggestions on what might have gone wrong?
Diana, it is best to make sure that the heat is reduced to a low setting so that the orzo can simmer and soak up all of the liquid. If your heat source is too high, it can result in “soupy-ness”. Additionally, you can reduce the amount of liquid in this recipe to fit your preferences.
did you drain your tomatoes? I forgot to do that and it was a little more liquidy…
Yes, Sandra, it is best to drain your tomatoes as indicated in the recipe: 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained.
You could just up your orzo (or rice which I used because I had it on hand) and that will suck up the extra flavor!
The same thing happened to me because I thought 8 oz of orzo = 1 cup, but it needs to be measured by weight! I cooked some more orzo in a separate pot and then drained and added it into the main dish to thicken it up. Hope this helps! 🙂
How much more is it then? I used 1
cup and it seemed fine
I poured my 16 ounce box into a measuring cup and 16 ounces is about 2 and a half cups so 8 ounces is approximately a cup and a fourth
I made this for supper tonight. I added a little crushed red pepper flakes and sprinkled my shrimp with lemon pepper seasoning instead of just pepper. OMG, delish! Even my picky father said “This is really good”. I will definitely be making this again. Fast, easy and wonderful. Thanks for sharing.