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When it comes to hearty, cozy weeknight meals, a box of orzo pasta is the ultimate blank canvas. This small, quick-cooking pasta lends itself perfectly to creamy, cheesy recipes, baked casseroles, and potluck-ready pasta salads. We're sharing some of our favorite ways to use it in this recipe collection!
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Orzo is the best of both worlds: You get the al dente finish and general coziness of a box of pasta, along with the delicate texture and bite-sized fun of your favorite whole grains or rice. Its quick cooking time makes orzo a great shortcut if you're in a hurry. Like pasta, it's a perfect vehicle for all kinds of flavors!
Below, we're sharing our top tips for buying and cooking with orzo - plus a few of our best orzo recipes! Make these recipes as a standalone dinner, or serve orzo as a cozy side dish with your favorite seafood or chicken recipes.
Jump to:
- What is Orzo?
- What Type of Orzo to Buy
- How to Cook Orzo
- Storing Cooked Orzo
- Five Ways to Use Orzo (Without a Recipe!)
- Our Favorite Recipe
- Orzo Pasta Recipes
- Creamy Parmesan Spinach Orzo
- Pesto Chicken Orzo Soup
- Za'atar Lemon Chicken Orzo
- Lemon Orzo Pasta Salad
- Greek Inspired Orzo Salad
- One Pot Baked Shrimp Orzo
- Chicken Florentine Soup
- Frequently Asked Questions
- More Recipe Collections for Easy Dinners
What is Orzo?
Orzo is a type of pasta - more specifically, a type of pastina ("little pasta") - that is cut or pressed into a small, fine shape resembling rice or barley. It's popular in many Mediterranean cuisines, and goes by several names – like risoni in Italy or kritharaki in Greece.
Like most pastas, orzo is typically made with flour and water (depending on the brand, it may also include eggs) and sold in dried form. Despite their similar shapes, orzo is not a type of rice.
What Type of Orzo to Buy
Orzo is readily available online and at most grocery stores (look for it in the pasta aisle!) A few of our favorite brands:
- DeLallo Orzo Pasta, made with Durum Wheat Flour
- Wegmans Orzo Pasta (our go-to grocery store brand!)
- Rice Select Orzo Pasta, also available in whole wheat or tri-color varieties
If you're gluten free or prefer a whole wheat pasta, we recommend:
- Whole Wheat Orzo, also from DeLallo
- Gluten-Free Orzo, made with corn & rice flours
How to Cook Orzo
The easiest method is to boil it just like pasta! Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add a generous pinch of kosher salt. Stir in the orzo, cook for 7-10 minutes until it's al dente (most packaging will include specific cook time recommendations), then drain with a colander.
Some recipes - like our chicken pesto soup or this pasta fa*gioli - call for cooking the pasta directly in the soup. This no drain cooking technique saves you extra dishes, but it requires a bit of attention: If you're cooking orzo directly in a soup or stew, add it towards the end of the cooking process, taste often, and turn off the heat just before it's done so it doesn't get gummy or overly soft. (Some recipes recommend cooking pastina separately so you have more control over the texture, like this Italian Wedding Soup.)
You can also make a risotto-style orzo, which involves slowly cooking the pasta with chicken broth and finishing with butter and a bit of parmesan (like we do in our summer risotto).
Pro Tip: Like many pastas, orzo will double in size during the cooking process: Plan to get about 2 cups of cooked orzo for every 1 cup of dried pasta.
Storing Cooked Orzo
If you aren't tossing your cooked orzo into a sauce right away (if you're using it in a cold pasta salad recipe, for example, or if you'd like to keep some cooked orzo in the fridge to use throughout the week), we recommend tossing it with a bit of olive oil while it's still warm. This will keep the pieces from sticking together as it cools.
Let cooked orzo cool on the counter for about an hour, stirring every once in awhile to release extra heat and redistribute any olive oil. Once the orzo is completely cooled, transfer it to an airtight container and store it in the fridge for up to a week. You can also freeze cooked orzo for several months!
Five Ways to Use Orzo (Without a Recipe!)
- Add it to salads. Toss a few scoops of cooked orzo into your favorite salads for extra texture. We love adding orzo to our easy strawberry spinach salad or a hearty cilantro chicken salad.
- Stir it into a soup. Orzo adds heartiness and texture to your favorite soups and stews. We especially love adding orzo to brothy, chunky soups like chicken lemon soup or chicken noodle soup, or using it in place of tortellini in this sausage and kale soup. Add already-cooked orzo to the soup just before serving, or simmer uncooked orzo directly in the soup until it's al dente to keep things easy!
- Use your favorite sauces. Toss cooked orzo with your favorite marinara sauce, a creamy mushroom sauce, or a simple white sauce for an easy dinner.
- Pasta salads. Orzo is perfect for all kinds of pasta salads! Swap it for your favorite noodles in a corn and tomato pasta salad or toss it with a bit of fresh pesto and your favorite veggies.
- Turn a lasagna into an orzo casserole. Skip the giant noodles and the fussy layering: Toss your favorite lasagna sauce (we love this mushroom spinach lasagna sauce!) with orzo, top with cheese, and bake it like a casserole! For best results, cook the orzo only halfway in boiling water before draining and adding it to a sauce (that way, it won't overcook when you bake the casserole in the oven later).
Our Favorite Recipe
Asking us to pick a favorite from this recipe collection is...unfair. But if we had to choose JUST ONE ORZO RECIPE to bring with us to a desert island, it would be our fan-favorite lemon orzo salad. It only needs a few ingredients, and it's PACKED with bright, summer flavor.
This is a vegetarian orzo recipe, but it's easy to add your favorite protein (we love it with grilled salmon, shrimp, or crockpot chicken). It's simple to make ahead of time, easy to customize (add whatever veggies you have on hand!) and keeps well in the fridge, which makes it perfect for those summer potlucks!
Orzo Pasta Recipes
Creamy Parmesan Spinach Orzo
Our orzo alfredo is a fan favorite for a reason! Stir cooked orzo into an easy, creamy garlic parmesan sauce with plenty of fresh spinach. Add extra veggies if you like (like peas, cherry tomatoes, or broccoli). Serve as a side dish or add your favorite protein!
Parmesan Spinach Orzo
Pesto Chicken Orzo Soup
This soup is ready in just 30 minutes with chicken broth, pesto, fresh lemon juice, and a rotisserie chicken! Top with shaved parmesan cheese for an easy but elegant dinner.
Chicken Pesto Orzo Soup
Za'atar Lemon Chicken Orzo
This one pan meal is ready in 30 minutes! Start by searing some chicken thighs with a bit of za'atar, then build the orzo in the same skillet with asparagus, lemon, and chicken broth. Finished with fresh dill for extra brightness.
Photo & Recipe Credit: The Greek Foodie
Lemon Orzo Pasta Salad
Fresh tomatoes, fresh basil, and plenty of lemon juice (plus some bright lemon zest) give this orzo salad a ton of bright summer flavor! Add protein or any extra veggies you have on hand.
Lemon Orzo Pasta Salad
Greek Inspired Orzo Salad
Ready in just 20 minutes! This Mediterranean-inspired pasta salad features artichoke hearts, chickpeas, feta cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, and kalamata olives with a quick balsamic dressing.
Photo & Recipe Credit: Midwest Foodie
Garlic & Herb Rice Pilaf
This easy rice pilaf features jasmine rice, fresh herbs, and a bit of onion and garlic. Cooked in vegetable stock for maximum flavor. A handful of orzo pasta adds texture to this cozy side dish!
Photo & Recipe Credit: Fooduzzi
One Pot Baked Shrimp Orzo
This Mediterranean-inspired dish is one of our favorite baked orzo recipes: It's made entirely in a large skillet (yay for less dishes!) with plenty of color and flavor from mushrooms, tomatoes, feta cheese, and fresh herbs. Ready in 30 minutes.
Photo & Recipe Credit: Ahead of Thyme
Chicken Florentine Soup
This simple, creamy soup is ready in 30 minutes! Featuring sun-dried tomatoes, fresh spinach, and bright lemon juice. The orzo in this recipe is cooked right in the soup to keep things easy!
Photo & Recipe Credit: The Sassy Foodie
Frequently Asked Questions
Is orzo a pasta or a rice?
Despite their similar petite, oval shapes, orzo is not a type of rice. Orzo is a small pasta shape, typically made from flour and water (and sometimes, eggs).
What can I substitute for orzo?
You can use other pastina - small pasta shapes - in place of orzo in most recipes. Pastas like ditalini, stelline, anellini (rings), acini di pepe, or pearl couscous (also called Israeli couscous) are typically good substitutions for orzo. You can also use your favorite grains in place of the orzo in most of these recipes, though you may need to extend the cook time and/or add a bit of extra liquid. Farro or barley will best mimic the size and texture of orzo, but you can also often substitute white rice, brown rice, or quinoa.
Is orzo Greek or Italian?
The short answer: It's both! While orzo likely originated in Italy, it's widely used in many Mediterranean cuisines. Like many ingredients, each country or cuisine has their own spin on orzo. In Greece, for example, orzo appears in many traditional recipes: like Giouvetsi - also called Youvetsi - a one-pot casserole dish featuring orzo (kritharaki) with lamb, beef, or as a chicken giouvetsi. Manestra (Greek orzo in tomato sauce) is a similar dish, made without meat in a style much like Italian risotto. In Italy, orzo and other pastina are frequently featured in brothy soups like pastina in brodo - a traditional Italian peasant dish - or minestrone with orzo (risoni).
Is orzo gluten free?
Typically, no: Orzo, like pasta, is made with semolina, durum, or other gluten-containing flours. That said, you can easily find gluten-free versions of orzo pasta, which are often made with alternatives like rice flour or corn flour. We like this gluten free orzo from DeLallo.
We hope you loved this guide to easy orzo dinner recipes! Thank you to all of the talented photographers and recipe developers who contributed to this collection. If you have any questions, just drop a comment below (and for more easy dinner ideas, check out our full pasta recipe collection!)
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