This mushroom orzo with spiced chicken is a healthy, easy, and delicious 30 minute meal that comes together with just a handful of ingredients. The spiced chicken in this recipe is always a crowd favorite, and paired with this mushroom and spinach orzo is a simple yet flavorful way to serve a quick weeknight dinner.
Serves 3-4
VIDEO TUTORIAL HERE: Mushroom and Spinach Orzo with Spiced Chicken VIDEO
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Mushroom Orzo with Spiced Chicken
- Total Time: 40
- Yield: 2-3 1x
Description
This mushroom orzo with spiced chicken is a healthy, easy, and delicious 30 minute meal that comes together with just a handful of ingredients.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
For the Spiced Chicken
- 1 lb (pound) boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- black pepper
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
For the Mushroom Orzo
- 1 cup dried orzo
- 2.25 cups chicken broth – water also works
- kosher salt
- black pepper
- 3 ounces mushrooms, sliced
- 2 handfuls spinach
- parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- pinch red pepper flake
Instructions
- First, marinate the chicken. Combine all ingredients together, mix, and let sit for at least 10 minutes.
- Prep the vegetables – slice the mushrooms, wash the spinach if needed, and mince the garlic.
- Heat a medium sized pot on medium high heat and add the neutral oil. Once hot, add in the sliced mushrooms. Let cook until browned, about 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Once the mushrooms are caramelized, add the minced garlic and red pepper flake and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Then, add the orzo and toast for about a minute. Add the chicken broth or water, another big pinch of salt, and bring up to a boil. Cover and cook on medium heat for 10 minutes.
- Heat a separate large pan (that has a cover) on medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of neutral oil and place the marinated chicken into the pan. Sear for about 4 minutes then flip. Cook for another 4 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 160F. Once finished, slice the chicken the half on a diagonal.
- After cooking the orzo for 10 minutes, add the spinach and stir in to wilt. Add a few more tablespoons of water or broth if it looks dry. Add another big pinch of salt, black pepper, and taste to adjust seasoning as desired.
- Plate the orzo, add the halved chicken on top, and top with parmesan cheese. Enjoy!
Notes
You can keep the leftovers stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 20
- Category: Quick and Easy
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Other Easy Weeknight Dinner Ideas
- Easy Weeknight Turkey Meatballs with Greens and Spaghetti
- Easy Lemongrass Thai Chicken with Blistered Cabbage and Cucumber Avocado Salad
- Italian Sausage Orzo
My husband and I made this a while back for a date night. We used more mushrooms, because yum, and it still turned out perfect. My husband and I both cook a lot, and thought this was so easy to make, delicious, and tasted like something you’d order at a restaurant and pay $30 for.
Hi Ashley! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment. I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe – it’s one of my go-to’s on a weeknight 🙂
I love how delicious this recipe is yet with simple ingredients. This one will definitely go into our regular rotations.
awesome, thanks for sharing Kathy and so glad you enjoyed it!
Hi Jackie – I’ve been following you for a while on Instagram and I finally got myself organized to try your recipes. This is the first one I tried making and it was perfection. So delicious and I loved how it turned out so much I was inspired to take a picture of it! The only thing I want to point out is, in the insta post for this recipe, the marinade has sugar, but the one on your website doesn’t. I didn’t use sugar and it was delicious but just wanted to share that. Look forward to attempting more of your recipes!