Here you go! I’ve made dinner easy for you – a Mushroom and Spinach Orzo all made in one pot, packed full of nutrition (A grade nutrition rating) with plenty of creamy sauce but without a single drop of cream!
What’s your position on fresh vs frozen spinach?
I love using fresh spinach in salads. But for dishes like this, when the spinach is cooked down and stirred into things, it just doesn’t make sense to me to use fresh spinach. You’d need at least 5 bunches (probably more!) of fresh spinach to make this. OR 1 box of frozen spinach.
So for cost and efficiency reasons, I use frozen spinach in this. 🙂
Besides, don’t you totally buy into the whole “snap frozen” thing? I know I do!!
So with a box of frozen spinach, mushrooms and a handful of pantry staples, you can get dinner on the table in just over 20 minutes. Seriously! It’s that easy.
Did I mention this Mushroom and Spinach Orzo is all made in one pan? Here it is, straight off the stove.
Oh wait, all those mushrooms are in the way so you can’t see how CREAMY it is! Here, I’ve shoved them out of the way for you so you can see how lovely and saucy it is!
Psst reminder: no cream! No cream!
As with all pastas, the sauce does get sucked into the orzo/risoni pretty quickly. So when it’s ready, holler for your family to get to the table asap so they can eat it while it’s nice and fresh and saucy. (That’s how the Italian mama’s operate. Follow their lead!)
You will be surprised at the nutrition in this. With an entire box of spinach and 600g/20 oz of mushrooms, this has an A- nutrition grade rating (see below for more information). I’ve also provided some tips below for how to pack even more vegetables into this!
Dinner’s up! – Nagi
More risoni / orzo recipes
-
One Pot Italian Chicken Orzo / Risoni Pasta – cosy, saucy one pot chicken and risoni dinner
-
Orzo / Risoni Bolognaise – one pot bolognese pasta dish!
-
Greek Lemon Orzo Salad – a bright fresh pasta salad loaded with Greek flavours
-
Creamy Salmon Risoni / Orzo (15 Minute Meal) – tastes like risotto, except MUCH faster to make!
-
Baked Greek Chicken Orzo (Risoni) – Greek chicken AND orzo made in one pot!
-
One Pot Creamy Chicken, Vegetable & Parmesan Orzo (Risoni) – creamy chicken and vegetable orzo, a quick 20 minute meal
-
Pea, Zucchini and Pesto Orzo / Risoni – a wonderful quick side dish
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Creamy Mushroom and Spinach Orzo (Risoni) (One Pot)
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1.2 lb / 600g mushrooms , sliced (I used button mushrooms)
Orzo / Risoni
- 3 tbsp butter, unsalted
- 3 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 small onion , finely diced
- 3 tbsp flour
- 1 1/2 cups / 375 ml milk (I used low fat)
- 3 cups / 750 ml chicken broth
- 1 1/2 cups orzo / risoni, uncooked (Note 1)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Black pepper
- 3/4 cup parmesan cheese , grated
- 8 oz / 250g frozen spinach (1 box), thawed, excess water squeezed out
Garnish (optional)
- Extra parmesan cheese
- Finely chopped parsley
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large non stick pan over high heat (if you aren't using non stick, use more oil).
- Add the mushrooms and cook until softened (around 3 minutes). Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Lower the heat to medium and melt the butter in the pan. Add garlic and onion, and sauté until the onion becomes translucent - around 3 minutes.
- Add the flour, stir it in and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the milk and chicken broth and use a whisk to mix the butter flour mixture into the liquid.
- Increase heat to medium high. Add the orzo/risoni, salt and pepper, stir once, then put a lid on (Note 2). Bring it to a simmer, then leave it to cook for around 8 to 10 minutes or until the orzo/risoni is cooked but still slightly firm, and it is still quite saucy. Note: If you have a strong stove, turn it down slightly so it just simmers).
- While the orzo is cooking, break up the spinach into little pieces with your fingers.
- Remove the pan from the stove. Stir through the parmesan, spinach and cooked mushrooms. Check if more salt or pepper is required.
- Serve immediately, garnished with more parmesan and fresh finely chopped parsley, if desired.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Nagi says
Thanks so much Heather! N x
Stu says
This tasted wonderful, and we enjoyed it, but the cooking time was way too short, and it was still a little soupy instead of creamy. There may be a couple of reasons for this:
1. I doubled the recipe (I had exactly twice as many mushrooms as this called for).
2. I added a little bit extra milk (just to empty the container). Less than 1/4 cup more. I didn’t think it would make it that soupy.
3. I used fresh spinach, not frozen. That actually seemed to help.
I had to simmer it for about 25 minutes instead of 8-10. But, I will probably be making this again
Bad Kitty says
The cooking time is not “way too short” if you’ve altered the recipe, i.e., doubling it.
caytlin says
Does this freeze and reheat okay?
Nagi says
Hi Caytlin, I find this tends to go a bit dry and gluggy if frozen unfortunately – N x
Dunia says
Nagi, you are the Queen of recipes!
Whatever recipe I make of yours comes out so delicious and gets raves from family and friends. Thank you so much for all your wonderful recipes!
Dunia
Nagi says
Thank you so much Dunia, that’s lovely to hear!
Cidalia says
Absolutely delicious
Nagi says
Thanks so much Cidalia!
Kris Walker says
This was so good! Made it exactly as directed and everyone loved it. Saved to make again!
Fe says
This recipe says “NO cream”, what do you call milk? Isn’t that cream? I was so excited to see the No cream but when I read the recipe it calls for milk! So sad…..
Karen Davison says
Use a milk substitute, look almond milk
Lily says
You’re rude. I never understand why people feel the need to be disrespectful on someone’s blog.
Bad Kitty says
I agree, Lily. I don’t understand it either.
If @Fe can’t be grateful for a recipe, then move along. Absolutely no need to leave a rude comment.
Nagi says
Cream is derived from milk – it’s the fat that rises to the top of milk before it’s processed and bottled into what we buy (It’s skimmed off the surface). So no, cream isn’t the same thing as milk, it’s a different product. Cream also has a much higher fat content than milk 🙂
Cathy says
Absolutely delicious! Each and full of flavour. Huge hit with my teenage kids. Definitely a keeper!
brenda meyer says
is very good and easy to make I cut the recipe in half as only feeding three people and one that dosent eat much and it was more than plenty yummy
Nagi says
That’s great Brenda, I’m so happy you love it!
Hilary says
Really enjoyed this recipe! Used fresh spinach but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. Great flavour.
Nagi says
Sounds fabulous Hilary!
Anne Ringrose says
Hi! My daughter got me onto this lovely recipe. It is just great. I was tempted to tweak it or serve with snags but daughter said no! So went with it with no tweaks and I will be making it regularly from now on. Just beautiful. Ta!
Nagi says
I’m so glad you love it Anne, thanks for taking the time to let me know what you think!
Sara says
Hi! Can this be frozen?
Nagi says
Hi Sara, I haven’t tried to be honest but I don’t see why not. I find that frozen. meals tend to dry out a little so maybe add a splash of milk once it thaws.
Melanie says
So I attempted this dish tonight . Instead of spinach I used asparagus . No cheese
Danielle says
I love this dish and was wanting to make it for a thanksgiving pot luck. But I will need to keep it warm from 7am-noon at the office. Will it be safe in a crock pot? Wondering if it would be too mushy or possibly burn to the pot itself. I was thinking about making it the night before and just keeping it on ‘warm’ the next day, but it would be on the warm setting for 4 hours.
Nagi says
Hi Danielle! Sorry to say this one isn’t ideal for keeping it wam that long. Because it’s a pasta, they tend to suck up liquid when kept for that length of time. If you love mushroom, try the Mushroom Rice! That one will be perfect for keeping warm for that long@! 🙂 N x
Danielle says
Thanks for the suggestion!
Carol says
I really love this recipe and it’s simplicity. So often I seem to get in that “what’s for dinner ” dilemma and I love a great meal that I can whip up and everyone loves it. This one fits that description perfectly.
Nagi says
That’s wonderful to hear Carol! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂 N x
Lindsay says
This recipe was delicious, easy, and filling! It was definitely a bit soupy the first night (I used raw spinach and don’t think I put quite enough in?) but actually that made it reheat wonderfully the next day. Loved having the creamy taste without the cream (which tends to be hard on my stomach!) Will be keeping this recipe for sure 🙂
Brittany says
Had this tonight, it was great! Used a little less stock and added fresh spinach. Thank you so much for the recipe ☺️
Nagi says
Glad you enjoyed it Brittany! Thanks for letting me know – N x
Bren says
This was VERY tasty!
I added cooked mixture of browned ground beef/pork.
I will def make this again.
Thanks
Elena says
Did you pre-cook the orzo before adding it to the liquid? The recipe states that the orzo should be cooked in the broth/milk mixture. I only realized this after I pre-cooked the orzo, and then it dawned on my why the recipe called for
3 cups of broth, so I’m thinking you did the same thing.
Sooo I’m currently trying to boil off some of the broth before I toss most of down the drain. My bad, but it looks like it’ll be delicious. I knew I should have pre-read the directions!
Nagi says
Hi Elena! Nope, raw orzo 🙂 it cooks in the pot!
Merrill says
Hi Nagi, as I always do, the name of your dish sounded yummy, so I went through the list of ingredients, then read the directions, and scrolled down to the Nutrition information. The daily percentage of sodium says 49%. This dish shouldn’t be that high. You are only using 1/2 tsp. of salt, 3 tbsp. of butter and 3 cups of chicken stock. Where does all the sodium come from? Most people these days use unsalted butter and low sodium chicken broth. Sodium is something most people are watching for so many health reasons. Perhaps that was an error? Please check… Thank you
Nagi says
Hi Merrill! I agree, the sodium seems very high but I checked again and that is what it is. It’s not salty but this recipe can take a lot of salt. A lot of the sodium comes from the parmesan. To reduce the sodium, please use low sodium broth and reduce the parmesan cheese 🙂 N x