One Pot Chicken and Mushroom Orzo
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our privacy policy for details.
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.
tips and tricks for success
- Use a heavy pot. A heavy bottom pot, such as a Dutch oven, is ideal here for even heat distribution and a better sear.
- Use good-quality stock. The better quality your stock, the better your dish. Many brands love to pack in the salt so always opt for unsalted or a lower-sodium variety. Homemade stock is even better.
- Add in leafy greens. This is a great recipe to sneak in leafy greens for those picky eaters. Spinach, kale, collard greens, swiss chard, or arugula are all great options.
- Add the cream slowly. Always add the heavy cream at the very end, pouring very slowly to prevent curdling.
what to serve with chicken and mushroom orzo
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.
Mushrooms can be omitted completely if it’s not your thing. Eggplant, zucchini, or tofu can be substituted, if desired, as it can absorb all the good flavors and mimic the texture of mushrooms.
Absolutely! But 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.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
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
Equipment
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.
Video
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
The flavors of this dish were very good. However, it took much longer to come together than expected. Possibly our chicken thighs were thicker, which took longer.
The orzo took longer to cook than 6 minutes and more liquid was needed to get the pasta cooked. The orzo was lost in the thick sauce.
Next time, I would try it with thin chicken breasts, which I will cook through and slice before adding at the end. I would try reducing the amount of flour to get a less thick sauce or add more cream. Finally, I would try a thin spaghetti, which may make more of a prescence.
Thank you.
This recipe far exceeded my expectations! I made some substitutions as I was trying to use up extra ingredients I already had — sliced chicken breast instead of thighs, red onions instead of shallots, avocado oil instead of butter, dried thyme not fresh, whole wheat flour, brown jasmine rice instead of orzo, arugula instead of spinach, whole milk instead of heavy cream, and I added a squeeze of lemon. Also accidentally used a big dollop of the Dijon, but I think it worked! Very good and very malleable.
Love your content! Would be interested in your thoughts on custom keto diet plans or if there was a way to make this recipe keto friendly
Another fantastic, easy-to-make one pot dish, yay! Added extra spinach and mushrooms per author recommendation, also added some Italian seasoning to the chicken in addition to S&P which I saw in a review, and my own personal preference modifications were to add a sprinkling of red pepper flakes, and of course extra parm cheese on top when serving! I’m sure the recipe is perfect as written too, this one’s a keeper.
I’ve had this recipe on my to-do list since it was posted and it was worth the wait! A new delicious staple in our house. It was a little soupy but it thickened as it cooled. I’d love to see serving size recommendations as well in the future if that’s possible!
Like so many others I’ve found here, this recipe is a keeper! My entire family, including 2 teens) loved it! Other than adding Italian seasoning to the S&P on the chicken, I made as is (along with rec to add extra mushrooms and spinach) and it was damn delicious! Thank you for another wonderful recipe!
We make this every other week now, it is so delicious and everyone loves it. We use chicken breasts instead of thighs but other than that we follow this recipe to the letter!
The family loved this dish! Its very tasty!
Fantastic made it tonight and loved it – easy to follow instructions and tasted great!
Loved this dish. Great recipe! I took it to a new mom. Everyone raved. I did season chicken with garlic powder and oregano. Added extra mustard at end. Watch closely as it does tend to stick and burn. Next time I may add asparagus and sound dried tomatoes.
Just made this today and it was delicious. I had never made orzo pasta before and it was so creamy and delicious. I did add extra mushrooms and spinach because I like a lot of veggies.
I made this with risotto rice instead of orzo pasta…by mistake. It was very good!!
I also used chicken breasts instead of thighs. I filleted the chicken breast and it cooked perfectly.
Next time I’ll try orzo pasta! LOL
Mary – did you need to adjust the amount of liquid or cooking time? I’ve made this twice with orzo and LOVED IT, but was thinking of trying arborio rice next time. Thanks!
What size pot is used for this recipe?
I used a 5.5 quart Dutch oven and it was pretty perfect 🙂
The entire family loves this recipe and that’s saying a lot when I have very picky eaters. How can you not love this recipe? It’s creamy and it’s all in one pot!
This was delicious! I made a couple of small additions after reading the reviews. I used boneless, skinless breasts instead of thighs and they needed additonal cooking time. I seasoned the chicken with salt, pepper and italian seasonings before browning. After adding the broth and dijon, I put the chicken back into the pan, covered the pan and cooked on medium low for 10 minutes before adding the 0rzo. I added a tsp of hot sauce into the broth and squeezed 1/2 lemon over the top before serving. I used both shitake and baby bellas..I will defintely make this again!
I made this and the flavor was very good. I did however have a hard time getting the orzo to cook in the same pan and it ended up sticking and burning. If I made it again I would definitely cook the orzo separate and pour the sauce/chicken over it. Overall,
though it was a great recipe.
This was delicious. A great comfort dish on a cool fall day. You’ll want seconds.
I’ve made this twice now. The second time I followed the instructions for seasoning the chicken (I didn’t use enough the first time). I also finished the chicken in the oven (425, about 20 minutes) while I cooked everything else, which was much easier/quicker, since my stove is *the worst*. Delicious! I love all of the ingredients and there’s nothing better than being able to put the pasta in uncooked. Next time I might try it with broccoli, and I’ll make it for my son’s vegetarian girlfriend minus the chicken. Yummy.
Made this tonight and agree with the below commenter who said “restaurant quality” – it is! And this recipe is stunning even before the Parmesan and cream, so I used a bit less of both. Only note, I let my orzo simmer for closer to 8 minutes – came out perfect and made me understand the 3 cups of stock. Overall delicious and very filling.
This was delicious, as usual! My one year old has eaten the past two nights and loved it too!