Lemon Orzo

This lemon orzo makes such a great weeknight dinner! The recipe is incredibly easy, packed with flavor, super comforting, and it comes together in less than 15 minutes!

Course Main Dish

Cuisine American

Diet Vegan

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 7

Servings servings

Calories 761kcal

Author Sina

Ingredients

1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or minced
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup canned full-fat coconut milk
9 oz orzo
1 lemon, juiced
salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon lemon zest
3 cups fresh spinach
red pepper flakes, optional

Instructions

Use a grater to zest the lemon.
Juice the lemon. Finely chop the onion and the garlic.
In a large pot, heat some oil and sauté the onion and the garlic.
Add the vegetable broth, the canned coconut milk, the lemon juice, and the orzo. Season with salt and pepper. Stir well.
Cook on medium heat without a lid for 6-7 minutes or until the orzo is tender. Stir often so the pasta doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot. Once it's tender stir in the lemon zest.
Then add the baby spinach.
Stir well and cook for one more minute or until the spinach has wilted.
Serve immediately and sprinkle with red pepper flakes if you like.

Notes

In the original recipe, I used spaghetti. The cooking time when using orzo is much shorter. You could also use other shapes of pasta like rotini or ditalini. However, you have to adjust the cooking time a bit and cook them longer than orzo.
For a lighter version, you could replace the full-fat coconut milk with a light version. Don't worry about the coconut flavor. It will taste super delicious and creamy and it will go very well with the lemon flavor.
Make sure to stir the pasta very often while it's cooking to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
For extra protein, you could sprinkle the lemon orzo with roasted chickpeas before serving.

Nutrition