One pot, 25 minutes, one seriously tasty, seriously easy meal. This ‘Marry Me’ orzo is packed with bold flavors and built with cupboard staples. Just add everything to your pot, stir, and wait for the magic to happen.
‘Marry Me’ Orzo, at a Glance
⏰ Time: 25 minutes
🍽️ Makes: 4 servings
🛒 Key Ingredients: Orzo, chicken stock, sundried tomatoes, Parmesan, spinach
🧠 Skill Level: Beginner-friendly
👩🍳 Cooking Method: One pot
💃 Perfect For: Busy weeknights, cozy comford food cravings, stress-free dinner parties.
Why ‘Marry Me’ Orzo Is Worth Trying
While I despise the name, I am a big fan of the ‘Marry Me’ flavor combination. Savory sundried tomatoes, sharp Parmesan, fresh basil, spinach, plus a creamy sauce? Not much is better.
- While serving this orzo with grilled chicken gives it an extra protein boost (I love pairing it with miso grilled chicken or honey harissa chicken), it’s filling enough on its own and becomes more of a celebration of lovely tomatoes.
- Adding crispy chorizo brings a gorgeous smoky, deep base of savory flavor AND means you’ve got a lovely little crispy element to add back in at the end. A win-win.
The best part of cooking in one pot like this is that you’re layering the flavors, so everything melds together and intensifies over time.
It’s also SO easy, and you’ll only need to wash up one pot, one knife, and one chopping board. That’s a serious win for me.
Love the ‘Marry Me’ flavors too? Try these super easy one pot ‘Marry Me’ white beans, ‘Marry Me’ chicken fettuccine, one pot ‘Marry Me’ chicken gnocchi, or the original, 20-minute ‘Marry Me’ chicken itself.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Orzo. Also known as risoni, this small, rice-shaped pasta is an underrated hero and something I always have in my cupboard. It cooks quickly and is perfect for one pot recipes like this one.
- Stock. I’m using chicken stock (broth), but you could use vegetable stock or just water. Be mindful of the saltiness of your stock – some can be a LOT saltier than others, so I’d recommend tasting yours first, and then adjusting the added salt as needed. If you use water, you’ll need to add more salt than stated in the recipe (start with 1 teaspoon rather than 1/2 a teaspoon and go from there).
- Chorizo. This lovely cured sausage is a flavor powerhouse and is another ingredient I always try to have on hand. A little goes a long way, and here we’re using it to help build the flavor base at the start of the recipe, and it adds a lovely crispy element to the finished orzo.
- Coconut cream. Swap this for regular heavy (double) cream or sour cream if you like, or another plant-based cream. I like using coconut cream because it isn’t quite as rich as regular cream (and it doesn’t make the orzo taste like coconut).
- Cherry tomatoes. You could leave out the fresh tomatoes if you like, but I love the freshness and juiciness they bring. I love vine tomatoes for the best flavor.
How to Make Creamy ‘Marry Me’ Orzo
This is a step-by-step photo overview of how to make the orzo – the full recipe with ingredient quantities is at the bottom of the page for you.
- Start by cooking your chorizo until super crispy, then remove from the pan (but keep the oil in the pan!)
- Add the tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, garlic, thyme, and red pepper flakes.
- Cook, stirring, until the tomatoes soften and go jammy.
- Add the orzo, stock, and coconut cream.
- Stir, bring to a simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, until your orzo is al dente (cooked, with a little bite to it). Your sauce will still be very liquidy at this point, but trust the process! It’s going to thicken up.
- Add the spinach and parmesan.
- Stir the spinach and Parmesan through the orzo. As you do, you’ll notice the sauce will be thickening nicely. Scatter the crispy chorizo and basil on top.
- Divide between plates, then top with extra Parmesan and black pepper to serve.
‘Marry Me’ Orzo FAQs
This is great served with grilled chicken (in true, original ‘Marry Me’ chicken style!) – you can either pan-fry diced chicken thighs or breasts with the chorizo, or try pairing it with miso grilled chicken or honey harissa chicken.
You could also add more vegetables – add sliced red bell peppers, broccoli, zucchini, mushrooms, green beans, or whatever you have in your veg drawer that needs to be used up. Add anything that needs longer cooking with the tomatoes, and anything leafy with the spinach at the end. Or, throw in some shrimp or canned tuna.
Yes! This is a great recipe for meal prep.
It will last at least 4 days in the fridge and is lovely hot or cold.
Watch How to Make ‘Marry Me’ Orzo
Like this recipe? Try these ideas with orzo next
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One Pot Creamy Sundried Tomato ‘Marry Me’ Orzo
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Diet: Low Lactose
Description
One pot, 25 minutes, one seriously tasty, seriously easy meal. This ‘Marry Me’ orzo is packed with bold flavors and built with cupboard staples. Just add everything to your pot, stir, and wait for the magic to happen.
Great for busy weeknights, dinner parties, or meal prep!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (or oil from your sundried tomato jar)
- 2.5oz (75g) chorizo, de-skinned and diced
- 8oz (220g) cherry tomatoes, quartered
- 1/2 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups (250g) orzo
- 2 1/2 cups hot chicken stock (or use vegetable stock or water)
- 1 cup coconut cream
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
- A big handful of spinach leaves
- A handful of fresh basil, chopped
- Black pepper
Instructions
- Cook the chorizo. Set a large, high-sided pan over medium-high heat, then add 1 tablespoon of oil and your diced chorizo. Cook, stirring for a couple of minutes, until the chorizo gets nice and crispy. Remove the chorizo from the pan and set it aside for now.
- Add the tomatoes. Keep any residual oil and chorizo fat in the pan (this is where the lovely flavor is!) Add the chopped cherry tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, crushed garlic, red pepper flakes, dried thyme, and salt. Cook, stirring for another few minutes, until the tomatoes start to soften.
- Add the orzo and liquid. Pour in all your orzo, stock, and coconut cream. Stir them through the tomatoes, then bring to a simmer.
- Simmer the orzo. Once your sauce is simmering, lower the heat and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 12 minutes until the sauce has started to thicken. The orzo loves to stick to the bottom of the pan, so make sure you stir it now and then – and if it does stick, you should be able to scrape it off the bottom with your spatula or wooden spoon.
- Add the spinach and parmesan. Once your orzo is al dente (cooked, still with a little bite to it), add the spinach and the grated parmesan. The sauce will still be quite liquidy at this point, and that’s ok – trust the process here. Stir the spinach and parmesan through the sauce. As you do this, you’ll notice that the sauce will thicken more as the spinach wilts into it. PRO TIP: If it’s still quite liquidy, just simmer the sauce for another few minutes to let it reduce. And if it thickens up too quickly, add a splash of water to loosen things up.
- Garnish and serve. Scatter over the basil leaves and the crispy chorizo, then divide between plates. Serve with more grated parmesan and a good grind of black pepper on top.
Notes
STORAGE INSTRUCTIONS: This is a fab recipe for meal prep – it will keep well for at least 4 days in the fridge and I think even improves over time! It’s lovely hot or cold too.
INGREDIENT NOTES: You can play around with the ingredients, based on what you have. Skip the fresh tomatoes if you don’t have any, and use bacon instead of chorizo (or leave it out for a vegetarian version). Swap coconut cream for regular heavy (double) cream or sour cream. Use vegetable stock or water instead of chicken stock if you like and make sure you taste your stock first and adjust your added salt accordingly – you’ll need to add more salt if you’re using water, and if your stock is particularly salty, you might not need any at all. Just taste it and see how you go.
OPTIONAL ADDITIONS: Add more vegetables when you cook the tomatoes if you like – chopped red bell peppers, broccoli, zucchini, leeks or red onion are great here.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS: If you want to add more protein to the orzo, pair it with grilled miso chicken or honey harissa chicken.
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 15
- Category: one pot
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: american
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 300g
- Calories: 589
- Sugar: 6.5g
- Sodium: 886.1mg
- Fat: 16.6g
- Saturated Fat: 4.9g
- Unsaturated Fat: 10.5g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 60g
- Fiber: 4.2g
- Protein: 20.9g
- Cholesterol: 23.7mg
Really delicious and plenty for lunchboxes the next day too
Fantastic recipe! I doubled the recipe to use a 1lb box of sea shell Pasta. I used 4c of water with Better than Bouillon, and all the other items I doubled as normal, but didnt need to add salt. I used Abbott’s plant based chorizo to make it vegetarian. Everyone loved it and I will make it again!