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.
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
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Made this tonight.l for the first time- delicious!
This is delicious but it came out way too soupy. I think 2 cups of broth would probably be just enough. I also squeezed in some lemon juice at the end and it was just the finishing touch it needed. Will make again!
Loved it but husband prefers white meat so will try using both next time. Also will add another 1/2 cup of broth. Found the sauce very thick.
Super yummy! Changed the recipe a bit to work for my family – less mushrooms and spinach and added frozen peas and carrots too. Flavours were great. Nice to have for leftovers too!
I made this last night. I used arugula, 2% milk, Penzeys seasoned salt and Penzeys ground black pepper. With so much liquid, I had to add an additional 1/2 cup (by weight, 3 oz.) orzo. As with most one-pot dishes with orzo, the orzo gets lost…thus, the 4 stars. I would make this again (very tasty) but use a larger pasta.
Delicious! Came together really easily. I would definitely make it again.
Just a question. I am wondering if I could use coconut milk as a sub for heavy cream?
Good question. I want to know too!
I left out the heavy cream and parm entirely (and used plant based butter) because I’m allergic to dairy and did not feel like it was missing anything!
Very good. Family loved it.
I was really excited to make this for the family today. Maybe I didn’t season the chicken with enough S&P but the chicken did not come out very good and too cold by the time I had the orzo ready. The orzo and veggies did come out really well though, and I kicked back the chicken stock and did add more orzo (1 1/4 cups) so that it wouldn’t be so liquify. Overall a good dish but would probably grill the chicken like Chungah did in here IG video for better flavor.
just made it tonight. was a little more liberal with the heavy cream and parmesan cheese 😉 came out delish!!
Delicious! It has become a family favorite and my son’s special request dinner. Thank you for sharing this incredible recipe!
Absolutely delicious! My husband and I both loved it I will definitely make this again!
I never post reviews but OH MY WORD. This is incredibly delicious. My whole family loved it! Thanks for sharing!
I made this for dinner last night and my husband and I loved it! He said it tasted like something from a restaurant and said it was delicious quite a few times. I added a bit more orzo (I used 1.25 cups) and it still turned out fine. Thank you for the recipe!
Whole family loved it- even my little kids who typically refuse mushrooms. My husband was wowed, although he usually dislikes “one pot” dishes. This is a keeper!
Overall I liked this. I did find it too salty. I left out the salt on the chicken knowing that I’m salt sensitive. Maybe low sodium stock would help.
I loved this recipe! It’s really simple to put together. I’ve tried a few recipes where the “one pot” pasta dish came out way too starchy but following this recipe, it rendered a great dish that wasn’t too starchy. I also put some cherry tomatoes in the dish, which added great colour. I ended up also using cooking cream (which is 20% fat) but using about 250mL, which still made this a great dish.
My whole family loved it! Chicken took a little longer to cook than recipe states. No shallots, used sweet onion. Used 1.5 cups orzo. Definitely make again.
Is there a substitute that can be used for the mayonnaise?
Made this tonight and it turned out so good. I used 2 cups of chicken stock, as I thought it was going to be to liqudy, and it was a perfect amount for me. I m not a big fan of thyme so I left it out and used more parsley. I also shook a bit of paprika on top of the chicken pieces.
WHAT mayonnaise???
This was delicious! It took a little longer than I expected for the chicken to cook. Once you factor in both sides and cooking in batches, it ends up being over 20 minutes for all the chicken, but it was worth the longer than expected cooking time. The orzo and mushrooms are so creamy and delicious; I could eat that alone as a meal!