This Creamy Tuscan Orzo cooks in one pot, is super flavorful and a great pasta dish for using up your leftover roast chicken or turkey. It is quick, easy, delicious AND slimming friendly too!
You will also love my Roast Turkey Crown
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One Pot Creamy Tuscan Orzo
Tuscan Chicken is not actually Tuscan, it was popularised by Olive Garden in the US and has graced many a blog, including this one – have you made my Tuscan Shrimp Linguine?
The recipe usually contains pasta, heavy cream, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach and Parmesan. It is DEELICIOUS and I cannot lie.
I have given Tuscan chicken a little twist to make this Tuscan Orzo recipe just a little bit healthier but no less delicious.
In my recipe the heavy cream is replaced by half-fat creme fraiche or reduced fat sour cream. Just as creamy but slightly less calorific.
Wait a minute… what is orzo?
Orzo (Italian for barley which it resembles) is a type of pasta. It looks a little bit like rice but it is NOT a grain. Orzo contains gluten since it is usually made with durum wheat.
You can use it in pasta salad recipes, in soups, in risotto type recipes (also called orzotto), or in pasta recipes.
Orzo is popular throughout the Mediterranean, especially in Italy and Greece where it is called kritharaki – Greek for barley – notice a theme here? I grew up enjoying many orzo recipes like Giouvetsi (orzo and lamb casserole).
How to cook orzo
Orzo can be cooked the same way as any pasta in boiling salted water. It can also be added to soups towards the end of the cooking time so that it doesn’t overcook.
Orzo should still have a little bite to it when cooked – it should be firm and a little chewy. However if you prefer your orzo to be soft when cooked, you simply cook it for a little longer.
When cooked in casseroles, one-pot pasta and risotto style dishes, orzo is first sautéed in oil or butter and then cooked in stock so it becomes lovely and creamy. It generally needs more time to cook that specified on the pack if cooked in this way.
Grocery List
Here’s what you will need to make this delicious Tuscan orzo pasta recipe. A large oven-safe skillet or casserole dish are ideal for this recipe.
- Olive oil or olive oil spray for a slimming friendly version. For extra flavour you can use the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes
- Onions or shallots and garlic
- Sun-dried tomatoes. For a slimming version you need to rinse these as they are usually stored in oil. You can also use sun-dried tomato pesto if you like!
- Garlic granules, a hint of paprika and salt
- Orzo pasta – you can also use other small pasta shapes, gluten-free if preferred
- Leftover roast turkey or chicken. I used turkey breast, diced small
- Chicken stock (from a cube) or canned low sodium chicken broth.
- Crème fraîche (full or reduced fat), reduced fat sour cream or fat-free quark cheese. You can also use double / heavy cream if preferred
- Fresh spinach or baby kale
- Parmesan cheese (optional)
How to make Creamy Tuscan Orzo
Take a look at this step by step tutorial – plas note you will find the full recipe, including ingredients in the recipe card at the end of this post.
Preheat the oven to 200C (400F). Heat a tablespoon of oil (from the sun-dried tomatoes jar for extra flavour!) in a large casserole dish or Dutch oven. Use olive oil spray such as Fry Light for a slimming version.
Add the onion and stir to coat in the oil. Cover the pot and cook the onion over very low heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. You want the onion to soften but not colour.
Stir in the minced garlic, chopped sun-dried tomatoes, salt, garlic granules and paprika. Sauté for a few minutes.
If the pan is getting a bit dry you can deglaze it with a splash of white wine/ vermouth (or chicken stock).
Add the orzo pasta and stir to toast in the oil and seasonings over medium-high heat.
Stir in the diced roast turkey (or chicken) leftovers.
Pour in the chicken broth and bring to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer, stirring occasionally as orzo has a tendency to stick.
Add the creme fraiche (or sour cream) and stir to combine.
Cover the pot and transfer to the oven and cook for 12-15 minutes, stirring halfway.
Uncover the pot and use a wooden spoon to give it a good stir. The orzo should be cooked and the dish creamy and delicious. Add handfuls of fresh spinach, stirring into the creamy sauce until it wilts.
Grate plenty of Parmesan over the dish, check the seasoning and serve. SOOOO YUMMY!
Recipe Tips and FAQs
- You CAN cook this one pot orzo recipe entirely on the hob but you will need to stir it more often. Check the recipe card notes below.
- Do I have to stir the spinach in at the end? You can add the spinach in before you transfer to the oven however it won’t retain its bright green colour. You can also add cubes of frozen spinach in with step 6 if you like.
- Can I use raw chicken (or turkey)? Absolutely you can! I like to use diced chicken tenders or skinless chicken thighs as they cook quickly. Add these in with the onions, after the onion has cooked for 10 minutes so it is nice and soft. Cook for a further 5 minutes until coloured but not cooked all the way through. Continue cooking the recipe as in main method.
- Gluten Free Orzo: There are a few brands that offer GF orzo pasta including DeLallo Gluten-Free Orzo (made with corn and rice).
- Is this recipe REALLY slimming friendly? It really is! If you want it to be really low in calories you can replace the crème fraîche /sour cream with fat-free Quark cheese. Make sure you serve your pasta with extra veggies – I like to add chopped cherry tomatoes and a side of crisp salad leaves. One serving is around 450 calories and 14 WeightWatchers Smart Points. Take a look at all my other slimming eats!
Looking for more orzo pasta recipes?
Cajun Dirty Orzo
Creamy Spinach Orzo
HAVE YOU MADE MY ONE-POT CREAMY TUSCAN ORZO RECIPE? Post a photo on my Facebook page, share it on Instagram, or save it to Pinterest with the tag #supergoldenbakes. I can’t wait to see your take on it!
One-pot Creamy Tuscan Orzo
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil or olive oil spray for a slimming friendly version
- 1 onion , finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 55 g | ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes , rinsed for slimming version
- 1 tsp garlic granules
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp paprika
- 150 g | 1 cup dry orzo pasta
- 300 g | 10½ oz leftover cooked turkey or chicken , diced small
- 2 tbsp white wine or stock to deglaze pan, optional
- 500 ml | 2 cups hot chicken stock (from a cube)
- 240 g | 1 cup half fat creme faiche or reduced fat sour cream or fat-free quark cheese
- 60 g | 2 cups fresh baby spinach
- 2 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese to serve (optional)
- Lemon zest , to garnish (optional)
- Salt and pepper to season to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C (400F). Heat a tablespoon of oil (from the sun-dried tomatoes jar for extra flavour) in a large casserole dish or Dutch oven. Use olive oil spray for a slimming version.
- Add the onion and stir to coat in the oil. Cover the pot and cook the onion over very low heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. You want the onion to soften but not colour.
- Stir in the minced garlic, chopped sun-dried tomatoes, salt, garlic granules and paprika. Sauté for a few minutes.
- If the pan is getting a bit dry you can deglaze it with a splash of white wine (or vermouth / chicken stock) but that is optional.
- Add the orzo pasta and stir to toast in the oil and seasonings.
- Stir in the diced turkey (or chicken).
- Pour in the stock and bring to a simmer, scraping the bottom of the pan (orzo has a tendency to stick).
- Add the creme fraiche (or sour cream) and stir to combine.
- Cover the pot and transfer to the oven (look in recipe notes if you want to cook on the hob) and cook for 12-15 minutes, stirring halfway.
- Uncover the pot and use a wooden spoon to give it a good stir. The orzo should be cooked and the dish creamy and delicious.
- Add handfuls of fresh spinach, stirring into the creamy orzo until it wilts.
- Add the grated Parmesan and check the seasoning, adding salt and pepper if needed. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Follow steps 1-6 then continue to cook on the stove over low heat, stirring often, for 10-15 minutes or until the orzo is cooked. Stir in the spinach and serve as main method.
Jen says
Perfect way to disguise leftover roasted turkey my family won’t eat and make a one pot dish. Served with garlic bread and it was delicious!
Julie says
I had all the ingredients for this recipe already and so thought I’d try it. My husband and I loved it! I will definitely make this again. Easy and delicious.
Nikki says
I thought I had sun dried tomatoes but I actually had roasted red peppers so I used them instead. It was so good. I can’t wait to try it with sun dried tomatoes.
Cheryll Ladnier says
We just finished dinner, I asked the guys to be honest about the meal and boy were they, my twenty year old son wanted to know if the author of this recipe was married and my husband thinks jewelry needs to be bought for the person who brought us this fabulous dish. That’s me right? After all I cooked it, and my spouse, the person I love above all others said, well you did follow directions pretty well. This is a one pot dinner, easy clean up and delicious to boot. We are adding this to our monthly recipe’s. Thank you it was Turkey fabulous.
Lucy Parissi says
Awww you made my day!! So glad you enjoyed it ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Georganna says
I made this last night. It was wonderful, so much flavor. It looked really appealing with all the color of spinach and sun dried tomato. My family of four said to make sure I didn’t loose recipe. Definitely will make again.
Lucy Parissi says
So glad you all enjoyed it! Happy Thanksgiving belatedly xx
Kimi says
Can rice be substituted for the orzo?
Lucy Parissi says
Hi Kimi, I haven’t tried it with rice. It think it would work with long grain, maybe hold the sour cream though.