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
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 Leek
- 500 g Cooked Chicken (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
Instructions
- 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!
Notes
- 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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