One Pot Chicken and Mushroom Orzo
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Amazingly creamy orzo with juicy chicken, mushrooms and baby spinach. All made in one skillet, even the uncooked pasta!
Featured Comment
The creamiest orzo with all the fix-ins and the juiciest, golden brown chicken thighs all made in one. single. pot.
It’s quite possibly the easiest dinner one can ask for, and you can easily substitute chicken breasts if dark meat is not your jam. (You know we love our boneless, skinless thighs!) Kale and/or arugula can also be substituted for the spinach. And if you hate mushrooms, you can omit them altogether. IT IS ALL GOOD.
Side note: I throw in extra mushrooms + spinach for myself to make sure I get in ALL my veggies because that creamy orzo goodness is just too good to pass up.
Tools For This Recipe
Dutch oven
One Pot Chicken and Mushroom Orzo: Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, chicken breasts can absolutely be used here but chicken thighs have more dark meat and a higher fat content which will yield juicier, more flavorful chicken.
Absolutely! You can substitute rosemary, oregano, Italian seasoning (dried or fresh!) or any other herb of your choosing. And because dried herbs are often more potent/concentrated than fresh herbs, you need less when using dry. The correct ratio is 1 tablespoon fresh herbs to 1 teaspoon dried herbs.
Kale, cabbage, swiss chard and collard greens are all great subs.
Heavy cream (or heavy whipping cream) has one of the highest fat contents with about 36-40% fat. Half and half or whole milk are suitable substitutes, but will yield a lighter result.
One Pot Chicken and Mushroom Orzo
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, halved
- 2 large shallots, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 1 ½ teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1 cup orzo pasta
- 4 cups baby spinach
- ⅓ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- Season chicken with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
- Melt butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Working in batches, add chicken to the Dutch oven in a single layer and cook until golden brown and cooked through, reaching an internal temperature of 165 degrees F, about 4-5 minutes per side; set aside.
- Add mushrooms and shallots, and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3-5 minutes. Stir in garlic and thyme until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute.
- Stir in chicken stock and Dijon, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the Dutch oven. Stir in orzo; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until pasta is cooked through, about 6 minutes. Stir in spinach, Parmesan and heavy cream until the spinach has wilted, about 3 minutes. Return chicken to the Dutch oven.
- Serve immediately, garnished with parsley.
Did you make this recipe?
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This was so delicious (as are your other recipes that I’ve tried). I added tarragon instead of parsley which was quite tasty. Thanks for all your great recipes!!
WoW. The family loved this recipe and have been requesting this nightly!! Very good flavors
I made this last night exactly as written except I used double mushrooms. My husband raved about it. Told me at least 3 times how delicious it was. Thank you for the recipe, it was soooo good
Yummiest
So rich and creamy. Too rich for seconds. This is a dinner party dish.
Great Recipe, Very Tasty and Easy. YUM.
Wow wow wow! Eating right now, and it was so quick and easy to make and so sumptuous. Subscribing to your page now! And telling anyone who will listen
One of our favorite recipes – definitely use the chicken thighs! We make this over and over and over!
We loved it. Finished it of in two mewls Really quick. Will definitely make again.
I would give this five stars but something was off with the liquid and orzo. Wish I could post a photo. Best word – GLOPPY! The chicken and flavor of this dish are great but was there too much liquid? When I served it, it was almost soupy. Now that the leftovers have cooled down, it looks starchy. I wanted this to be ideal as tonight was a practice dinner. I had planned to double the recipe and cook for my book club next week but now, I don’t think I can. Delicious but not presentable.
My husband and I enjoyed the heck out of this recipe! Don’t over think it; there are lots of ways to tweak and still make it taste perfect. We especially enjoyed the addition of orzo, but I’m sure you can’t go wrong with other ingredients you have on hand. Thanks for sharing!
Can I substitute something else for heavy cream? Lactose intolerant.
Can I leave out the cream or is there a substitute for it in the reciple one pot chicken muchroom orzo
I leave the cream out, as I don’t feel the meal needs it but you can substitute with sour cream or greek yogurt, which will give it a slightly tangy flavor
Really enjoyed this meal. I think we used a bit too much spinach. I think I’ll try a white wine deglaze next time. And the will be a next time!
I just added this to my list of repeat dinners! Great comfort food on a cool mountain evening! I used baby portobello mushrooms and chicken breast breasts. Thanks for all your amazing recipes!
This was just amazing. I am going to make this over and over as part of my menu planning. Thank you for the excellent recipe. Only difference I had was it took a bit over 6 minutes to cook the orzo but that is minor.
Super tasty recipe. I used breasts and thighs both.
So delicious!
Absolutely delicious and so easy to make; definitely a keeper!
This was so easy to prepare and tastes AMAZING!
My family thought it was a little bland so I added some tomatoes and it disappeared. Will definitely make this again.