Creamy Chicken Orzo
This creamy chicken one-pot wonder is a perfect recipe for a quick and comforting lunch or supper. Orzo is small rice-shaped pasta which cooks super-fast and absorbs all the delicious and nutritious chicken stock. Tender chicken, leek and spinach are then all folded into a simple cheesy sauce.
Ideally use fresh or frozen chicken stock or bone broth left over from your Sunday roast, rather than a stock cube. Stock or broth made from bones contains a key amino acid called glycine, which aids digestion and also helps our body make a master antioxidant which protects us from inflammation.
Chicken Orzo makes a delicious family meal in a bowl for all ages from weaning upwards. And it saves you time as there’s very little washing up afterwards!
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Creamy Chicken Orzo
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 Leek
- 500 g Chicken ((cooked & chopped))
- 250 g Orzo Pasta
- 750 ml Chicken Stock ((or chicken bone broth))
- 100 g Frozen Chopped Spinach
- 60 g Parmesan Cheese ((grated))
- 50 ml Double Cream
- Salt & Pepper
Finely chop the leek.
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, add the leek and sauté for a couple of minutes. Add the cooked chicken, orzo and chicken stock. Bring to a simmer, and bubble for 10 minutes, until the orzo is cooked to your liking. Stir frequently to stop the orzo sticking to the pan.
Once the orzo is cooked, add the spinach, grated parmesan and double cream, and stir to warm through.
Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve straight away – sprinkle with extra grated parmesan if wished!
- If you don’t have left over cooked chicken, cook some chicken thighs and add to the recipe as above.
- If your child prefers no “bits” then you can blitz the leek, chicken and spinach in a blender before adding it at the end along with the parmesan and double cream.
- If you’d prefer this gluten-free, use cooked rice or red lentil rice.
- To make this dairy-free, switch the parmesan to 2 heaped tablespoons of yeast flakes and the cream to 50ml tahini (sesame paste) or plain dairy-free yoghurt.
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