This Creamy Chicken Orzo Bake is the perfect weeknight dinner and cooks all in one pot. It's filled with flavor from the sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, and parmesan cheese that come together in a rich, creamy sauce. Ready in 45 minutes!
This Baked Chicken and Orzo dinner is comfort food at its finest! It's super easy to make and absolutely packed full of the most amazing flavors. Plus, minimal prep work with a bit of stovetop cooking, then it finishes off in the oven.
For more of my favorite Dutch Oven Dinner Recipes, try this Lazy Lasagna, Chicken Chorizo Paella, Beef Macaroni, and French Onion Pasta.
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Why You'll Love This One Pot Meal:
- Easy. Super simple instructions that even beginner cooks can follow.
- One Pot. Everything goes into the dutch oven for this recipe for low effort cooking and little clean up.
- Quick. This pasta and chicken recipe is ready in just 45 minutes.
- Filling. It's a full meal in one dish with protein, pasta and veggies.
Love a One Skillet Dinner? Try this Gnocchi with Marinara, Chicken Couscous, and Ground Chicken Stir Fry.
Ingredients:
Chicken Breast: Trimmed and each sliced into 2 thinner cutlets, making 4 total. I love the Smart Chicken brand and pretty much exclusively buy their chicken for the taste and texture. Plus, it's always really clean out of the package.
Chicken Stock: I highly recommend Chicken Stock over Chicken Broth for its richer taste. Chicken broth is generally watered down tasting, while Chicken Stock is cooked with the bones for deeper flavors.
Parmesan Cheese: If you can get your hands on Parmigiano Reggiano, I highly recommend it. If not, just make sure to grate the cheese from a block on the fine setting for a quick melt. Bagged, pre-shredded cheese doesn't melt because of the anti-caking agents.
Sun-dried Tomatoes: These are usually found near the olive section in the grocery store and jarred with oil. The oil is totally fine to stay on the tomatoes, without drying or rinsing, and will only bring in more flavor.
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Substitutions and Variations:
Dairy free? Substitute the heavy cream with coconut milk and leave out the cheese or use a plant based version.
Vegetarian? Leave out the chicken and substitute the chicken stock with vegetable stock.
The sun-dried tomatoes can be swapped out with roasted red peppers or peppadew peppers, for a sweet and spicy option.
For more dinner recipes under an hour, try these Baja Shrimp Tacos, Four Cheese Pasta and Chicken Romano.
How to Make Chicken Orzo Bake:
Step 1: Prepare the chicken cutlets by slicing each chicken breast in half through the width, to create 2 skinnier chicken breasts, 4 total. Pat them dry with a paper towel and season well with salt and pepper on both sides.
Step 2: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large dutch oven (5-6 qt if possible), over medium heat on the stovetop, pour in the olive oil and allow to heat up. Cook the chicken breasts for 2 minutes on each side, then transfer to a plate. Note: They will not be cooked internally and will finish cooking in the oven.
Step 3: Reduce the heat in the dutch oven to medium low. Toss in the onions and cook for 2-3 minutes, until softened but not browned, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon. Scrape up the brown bits from the chicken for extra flavor.
Step 4: Stir in garlic, oregano, sun-dried tomatoes and cook for 60 seconds. Add in orzo and cook for another 60 seconds.
Step 5: Stir in the chicken stock and heavy cream, then add in the baby spinach. Cover and cook for 2 minutes to wilt the spinach just a bit.
Step 6: Nestle the chicken into the pot and cover with lid. Carefully move from the stovetop into the oven (you may need to lower oven racks) and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
Step 7: Uncover dutch oven and stir in parmesan cheese. It should melt immediately. Note: If the orzo looks at all dry, stir in an extra ¼ cup of chicken stock before the cheese. Return to the oven covered for 5 minutes. The internal temperature of the chicken should read well over 165 degrees at this point.
Step 8: Allow the dish to cool for 5 minutes before serving. Top with fresh parsley and additional parmesan cheese, if desired. Serve and enjoy!
Expert Tips:
- Shred the parmesan from a block or it won't melt correctly.
- Don't cook the chicken for longer than 2 minutes on each side. It won't be cooked through internally, but will finish cooking in the oven. If you cook it all the way, then bake it, the chicken will dry out.
- If the orzo looks dry when pulling from the oven, stir in about ¼ cup more of chicken stock, then add in the parmesan cheese and bake for another 5 minutes.
- Wear oven mitts when handling the dutch oven after baking and remember the lid is hot.
For more easy pasta recipes, try my Broccoli Orzo, Spaghetti Alfredo, and Pancetta and Pea Pasta.
Recipe FAQs:
I don't like adding raw chicken into the oven for baking with pasta dishes, because as it cooks it leaves white specks in the dish. It's normal juice from the muscle fibers, but I don't care for it. Cooking the outside of the chicken for a few minutes on the stovetop prevents this, and still keeps it juicy inside.
Orzo is simply a small version of pasta in a tiny oval like shape. It holds onto the sauce really well in this recipe, and expands a bit when cooking.
Store the leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days. To reheat, add back into the dutch oven over medium low heat and add in a splash of chicken stock and heavy cream. This will make it nice and creamy again. Cover and heat until hot.
More Easy Dinner Recipes to Try:
If you tried this Chicken Romano Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you!
PrintRecipe
Chicken Orzo Bake
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
This Creamy Chicken Orzo Bake is the perfect weeknight dinner and cooks all in one pot. It's filled with flavor from the sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, parmesan cheese, all in a rich, creamy sauce. Ready in 45 minutes!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 large chicken breasts, trimmed (about 1 lb total)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ cup yellow onion, diced small
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ⅛ cup sundried tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 1 cup dry orzo pasta, uncooked
- 2 and ¼ cup chicken stock (plus ¼ cup if needed)
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 large handful of baby spinach (about 2-3 ounces)
- 1 cup parmesan cheese, shredded fine from block
- Optional: 2 teaspoons fresh parsley, minced for garnish
Instructions
- Prepare the chicken cutlets by slicing each chicken breast in half through the width, to create 2 skinnier chicken breasts, 4 total. Pat them dry and season well with salt and pepper on both sides.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large dutch oven (5-6 qt if possible), over medium heat on the stovetop, pour in the olive oil and allow to heat up. Cook the chicken breasts for 2 minutes on each side, then transfer to a plate. Note: They will not be cooked internally and will finish cooking in the oven.
- Reduce the heat in the dutch oven to medium low. Toss in the onions and cook for 2-3 minutes, until softened but not browned, stirring with a wooden spoon frequently. Scrape up the browned bits from the chicken to add in flavor.
- Stir in garlic, oregano, sun-dried tomatoes and cook for 60 seconds. Add in orzo and cook for another 60 seconds.
- Stir in the chicken stock and heavy cream, then add in the baby spinach. Cover and cook for 2 minutes to wilt the spinach just a bit.
- Nestle the chicken into the pot and cover the dutch oven. Carefully move from the stovetop into the oven (you may have to lower baking racks) and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
- Uncover dutch oven and stir in parmesan cheese. It should melt immediately. Note: If the orzo looks at all dry, stir in an extra ¼ cup of chicken stock before the cheese. Return to the oven covered for 5 minutes. The chicken should have an internal temperature of well over 165 degrees at this point.
- Allow the dish to cool for 5 minutes before serving. Top with fresh parsley and additional parmesan cheese, if desired. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Shred the parmesan from a block or it won't melt correctly.
- Don't cook the chicken for longer than 2 minutes on each side. It won't be cooked through internally, but will finish cooking in the oven. If you cook it all the way, then bake it, the chicken will dry out.
- If the orzo looks dry when pulling from the oven, stir in about ¼ cup more of chicken stock, then add in the parmesan cheese and bake for another 5 minutes.
- Wear oven mitts when handling the dutch oven after baking and remember the lid is hot.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Category: dinner
- Method: bake
- Cuisine: Italian
Holly
Love this recipe for weeknights and all in one pot!