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This quick and easy Italian flavored creamy chicken and orzo skillet is a family friendly dinner that’s great for weeknights! Herbed goat cheese and parmesan create a luxurious and creamy sauce and the best part, it’s all made in one pan!
If you love one pan dinners, try out this creamy sun dried tomato chicken pasta or pesto baked chicken with tomatoes.
Why You’ll Love Creamy Chicken Orzo
One pan dinner – This is a one pot pasta recipe, meaning you don’t have to boil water and cook the orzo in a separate pot. There’s just enough liquid added in so that it’s all absorbed by the pasta and helps create a creamy sauce.
Family-friendly – This Italian flavored dinner is one that both kids and adults will enjoy. Kids will love the creamy, cheesy pasta, and adults will appreciate the spinach and chicken added in.
Quick and easy – There’s minimal prep required to make this chicken and orzo and it can be ready to eat in about 30 minutes.
Ingredient Notes
Chicken breasts – Chicken thighs can also be used if you prefer dark meat.
Italian seasoning and garlic powder – Used to flavor the chicken.
Orzo – Orzo is a small rice shaped pasta and it’s perfect for the creamy parmesan goat cheese sauce.
Shallots and garlic – Fresh garlic is best. If you don’t want to mince it, try using a microplane zester to grate it.
Chicken broth – I always recommend low sodium broth and stock so that the recipe doesn’t turn out too salty. You can always add more salt on your own.
Baby spinach – A bag of pre-washed keeps prep simple.
Herbed goat cheese – Herbed goat cheese usually contains herbs such as basil, oregano, thyme, and rosemary. Some contain garlic as well.
Parmesan cheese – Buy a wedge of parmesan cheese. The flavor is better and it doesn’t contain anti-caking agents, which will prevent it from melting nicely into the sauce.
Fresh thyme – I like to add a fresh herb to brighten up the flavors. Flat leaf parsley would be a good alternative to thyme.
How to Make Creamy Chicken and Orzo
In a deep skillet or pot, sauté the chicken in olive oil and season with Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Once it’s cooked through remove it onto a plate.
Add the garlic and shallots to the skillet and sauté for a minute or two. Pour in the broth and scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Bring the broth to a boil, then pour in the orzo.
Stir and lower the heat to low. Simmer until the orzo is al dente. Be sure to stir frequently so the orzo doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
Add the spinach, goat cheese, thyme, and parmesan cheese to the orzo. Stir until the spinach wilts and the orzo is creamy.
Stir the chicken in with the orzo. Top with extra parmesan cheese and thyme leaves before serving.
Cooking Tips
- Cut the chicken into similar bite sized pieces so that it cooks quickly and evenly.
- Have an extra 1/2 cup of broth on hand in case it all gets absorbed before the orzo is tender.
- The goat cheese should be room temperature so that it melts and incorporates easily into the orzo.
Substitutions and Variations
- Make it vegetarian and skip the chicken. You could also stir in a can of drained and rinsed cannellini beans after the cheeses and spinach have been incorporated.
- Swap goat cheese with an equal amount of boursin cheese.
- For more Italian flavor, swap the chicken with 2-3 links of crumbled Italian chicken sausage.
- Parmesan cheese can be substituted with mozzarella or fontina cheese.
- Use chopped kale instead of baby spinach.
- Replace orzo with a different type of short pasta such as macaroni, shells, or ditalini.
What to Serve with Creamy Chicken and Orzo
This is a filling meal on it’s own, but I like to include a salad with it. A fresh simple salad is the perfect way to balance out the creamy richness of the orzo.
A simple mixed greens salad topped with this creamy balsamic dressing is perfection.
If you love Caesar salad with pasta, skip the store bought dressing and try making my lighter and insanely delicious homemade Caesar dressing.
Storage and Reheating
Storage – Refrigerate the leftover orzo in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
Reheating – You can reheat the leftovers in a saucepan on the stove or in the microwave. The pasta will continue to absorb the sauce the longer it sits,/ so I recommend adding a splash of chicken broth to loosen the sauce when you reheat it.
Can Chicken Orzo Be Frozen?
I don’t recommend freezing this dish. The orzo will be mushy once it’s defrosted.
More Orzo Recipes
If you love orzo, you’re in luck! Orzo is my favorite pasta shape and I’ve got plenty of recipes using it.
Need an orzo salad for a party or potluck? Make my Greek orzo salad or butternut squash orzo salad.
Not sure what to make for dinner? Make this popular Greek meatballs and orzo skillet, parmesan chicken and orzo, or lemon chicken orzo soup.
Did you make this creamy chicken orzo skillet? I’d love if you’d leave a recipe rating and review below.
Creamy Chicken and Orzo
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1/3 cup finely chopped shallots
- 2 cloves garlic, grated or minced
- 1 1/4 cups uncooked orzo
- 2 1/4 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 5 ounces baby spinach
- 4 ounces herbed goat cheese, room temperature
- 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
Instructions
- Season the pieces of chicken with salt, pepper, Italian seasoning and garlic powder. Add the olive oil to a 12 inch deep skillet or a pot and heat it over medium-high heat. Swirl to coat the bottom of the pan then dump the chicken in.
- Brown the chicken for 3-4 minutes before flipping it over and continuing to cook it all the way through. Remove the cooked chicken onto a plate.
- Add the shallots and garlic to the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes, just until the shallots have started to soften.
- Pour in the chicken broth and scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Bring the broth to a boil and then pour in the orzo. Stir and turn the heat down to medium-low.
- Simmer the orzo for 12 minutes or until it’s tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed. Stir often to prevent the orzo from sticking to the bottom of the pan. You may need to add additional broth if it’s absorbed before the orzo is tender. Add it in a couple tablespoons at a time.
- Add the spinach, goat cheese, parmesan cheese, and thyme in with the orzo. Stir until the spinach is wilted and the cheeses are fully incorporated and creamy. Taste for seasoning.
- Stir the chicken back in with the orzo. Top with extra parmesan cheese and thyme leaves, then serve.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This is a simple and delicious meal. My family appreciated it. I substituted boursin because I do not care for goat cheese. Otherwise kept the recipe the same (other than for red pepper flakes for me after the dish was done). This will become a regular for weekday meals.
Happy to hear the boursin substitution worked well for you! Thanks for trying the recipe and leaving a review!
Looks delicious. What can I use instead of goat cheese, not a fan of it.
Boursin cheese would be a good replacement. There’s a list of substitutions and variations along with other tips in the blog post above the recipe card.