I’ve been making so many “one pot” recipes lately that I feel like it’s been ages since I’ve made a good ol’ side dish. Well, I had a bag of orzo sitting in my pantry and baby portobellos were on sale this week, so I whipped up this incredibly easy Parmesan Portobello Orzo.
The flavors this Parmesan Portobello Orzo are simple. Mushrooms, garlic, chicken broth, and parmesan. Oh, and a little salt and pepper, of course. The beauty of keeping flavors simple is that this side dish can be paired with a great number of things. I planned to eat this with some chicken, but it could just as easily go with a beef roast or pork chops. Or, as I’ve mostly been eating it, just by itself!
This is definitely going to be one of my no-brainer go-to side dishes from now on! I can’t wait to see how many variations I can make of this one simple dish.
Parmesan Portobello Orzo
Servings 6 1 cup eachIngredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 8 oz baby portobello mushrooms ($2.19)
- Pinch of salt and pepper ($0.05)
- 2 cups uncooked orzo ($1.50)
- 3 cups chicken broth* ($0.45)
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan ($0.55)
Instructions
- Rinse the mushrooms and cut them into thick slices. Mince the garlic. Heat the garlic and olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat for one to two minutes, or until the garlic is soft and fragrant. Add the mushrooms, a pinch of salt and freshly cracked pepper, and continue to sauté until the mushrooms have softened and released all of their moisture (5-7 minutes).
- Add the uncooked orzo and chicken broth to the skillet. Give it a quick stir, place a lid on top, and let the mixture come up to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, give it quick stir again to loosen any pasta from the bottom of the skillet. Replace the lid, turn the heat down to low, and let the pasta simmer on low heat for 10 minutes. Stir once half way through to prevent the pasta from sticking.
- After ten minutes, test the orzo to make sure it’s tender (if not, replace the lid and let simmer a few minutes more). Stir the contents of the skillet to redistribute any leftover broth (it will continue to absorb into the pasta). Once the broth has absorbed, turn off the heat.
- Sprinkle the Parmesan over the pasta, stir, and then serve.
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Notes
Nutrition
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Scroll down for the step by step photos!
I added parsley to add color to the photo, but it’s not necessary for the flavor in this dish.
How to Make Parmesan Portobello Orzo – Step by Step Photos
I was lucky enough to get these portobellos on sale, but you can sub regular white button mushrooms if portobellos are out of your price range. You’ll need one 8oz. carton.
Rinse the mushrooms and then cut them into thick slices. Now, you may have heard the “rule” that you’re never supposed to rinse mushroom, but in a dish like this where they will literally be simmering in liquid, it doesn’t really make a difference. Something like a fresh salad, on the other hand, you’ll want to just wipe them off.
Mince two cloves of garlic and sauté them in a large skillet with 2 Tbsp olive oil over medium heat for one to two minutes, or until the garlic is soft and fragrant.
Add the mushrooms, a pinch of salt and pepper, and sauté for another five minutes or so, or until the mushrooms have wilted and released all of their moisture. The mushrooms will absorb the oil at first, but once they start heating, they will start giving off moisture, which will collect in the bottom of the skillet. Once that liquid starts evaporating (becoming LESS), you’ll know the mushrooms have given off everything they’re going to give. Ha.
Add two cups of uncooked orzo (about 1 lb.)…
And 3 cups of chicken broth. Stir the skillet, then place a lid on top. Let the skillet come up to a boil over medium heat. Give it a quick stir to loosen the pasta from the bottom of the skillet, replace the lid, and turn the heat down to low. Let it simmer on low for about ten minutes, stirring once half way through.
After ten minutes, test the orzo to see if it’s tender. There may be a little broth still pooling in a couple areas, but if you stir the pasta, it will continue to absorb the leftover broth. Once the broth is absorbed, turn off the heat.
Sprinkle 1/3 cup grated Parmesan over the orzo, give it a stir, then serve! Super easy.
Yummmmmm. Makes about 6 loosely packed cups of Parmesan Portobello Orzo.
I actually found this a tiny bit bland. I love orzo, I love mushrooms, and now that I’ve found Better than Bouillon, I use it instead of boxed broth, and normally it’s great, but it was lacking seasoning. I won’t give up on it, though! I read some good ideas here (Beth, your idea of adding peas sounds great) so I’ll tinker with it.
By the way, does anyone else find BtB a little inconsistent? I’ve gotten jars that were ridiculously salty and jars that seemed to have barely any. And since I can only find the organic one, that’s what I buy. Sometimes the texture seems different too. Or maybe it’s just me.
Thank you so much! I vegetarianised this recipe by cooking in water and adding Biryani Masala to flavour orzo! But, probably, one could cook orzo in vegetable broth.
I made this tonight, but instead of the orzo, I used rice pilaf (minus the seasoning packet). It came out fantastic!!!! For someone else wanting to try, I used the whole 3 cups of broth and had to cook it longer to get it to be not so soupy-like. I’ll be using only 2 cups next time, but this is definitely a keeper!!!! Thanks for the recipe!!!
This was delicious! We stirred in some spinach at the end for some greenery. I will definitely make this again.
4 stars because it looks delicious and I will definitely make it. I love orzo. The texture is luxurious. But I’m sure you know and your readers should too, that button (white) mushrooms, crimini, baby Portobello, and Portobello, are all the exact same species at different levels of maturity. So you can often buy the buttons and save even more.
Made this tonight- so good! I served it with peas and a cross rib roast that I had cooked in the crock pot until spoon tender…. I’m fantasizing about how this would be with blue cheese instead of parmesan as a side for steak….. :)
Or gorgonzola!
This looks wonderful! I have used your recipes for almost a year now, I am so thankful for your website. My family has struggled, since I am a full time student and my husband had to take a much lower paying job last year. Since his job change, we have relied on SNAP benefits to put food on the table, and even with those it has been a challenge to keep enough food in the house for our children. I am just so thrilled to be able to use your recipes to make wholesome meals, that don’t taste like budget food at all!
This looks great! I do something similar but I add fresh dill at the end. I also add sausage if I’m making it as a meal rather than a side dish. Mmmm love orzo.
FYI, Baby Portobellos are often sold as Cremini Mushrooms (among other names).
Looks delicious! I love using orzo in side dishes or as a main course.
Could you sub rice for the orzo and what type of rice would you recommend?
You could, but the broth ratio and cooking time may be different, depending on what type of rice you use (check the package instructions on the rice and use broth in place of the suggested water). Wild rice is always good with mushrooms, but tends to be pricier. Regular long grain white rice would still be great!
Looks delicious and so easy. You could easy add some cooked chicken to make it a full meal too.
Looks really good ! I’m thinking of adding a bag of shredded chicken in there so that I could make a full dish, what do you think ?
Yes, that would be delicious!
That looks fantastic! Can’t wait to make it!
This looks nice – what would you suggest if I wanted to add some more veggies to this dish? I was thinking maybe zucchini…
Maybe peas? Or if you can get asparagus for a good price, those would be awesome. You could dice up an onion and sauté that with the garlic in the beginning. A little spinach stirred in at the end would be good, too.