Creamy Carmelized Onion Orzo
With flavors reminiscent of French onion soup, this easy orzo dish combines golden orzo, caramelized onions, all cooked in a cream and beef broth mixture for a rich, delicious combination. Serve it on its own, or top with chicken or meatballs for a full dinner.
Our other blog is pretty famous for our orzo recipes, and I plan to carry on that tradition here! I love orzo. Probably more than I love any other pasta. Orzo feels superior- it’s comforting, easy to manipulate with loads of different flavors, and it reheats super well because of its shape.
The flavor of this dish reminds me of a warm, bacon spinach salad at a retro steakhouse. It’s delish!
The first step to making caramelized onion orzo is to well, caramelize the onions. : ) For this dish, I minced a yellow onion into small pieces. I like dicing it for this recipe for a couple reasons, I think the flavor infuses better with diced onions and also stringy onions are hard to chew, diced are much more palatable. Carmelize the onions in a butter/olive oil mixture until they’re just starting to turn golden brown.
When the onions are just about a golden hue, add in the orzo, and toast them with the onions for another few minutes. This helps infuse even more flavor! Once the orzo and onion are both golden brown, add in a mixture of cream and beef broth, and reduce heat to a low simmer. Stir every few minutes to prevent sticking.
CALORIE SAVING TIP: If you want that creamy delicious finish but want to save some calories, you have a few options. As long as you have 2 cups of liquid to 1 cup orzo, that’s what we’re after for tender orzo. You could easily use 1/4 cup cream (or try a substitute listed below) and 1 3/4 cup broth if desired to save on the cream content.
- Half and Half
- Evaporated Milk: That’s right! It works pretty well in dishes that call for a creamy finish. Works great in soups too, because it doesn’t curdle.
- Broth Only: Simple works good, too. Bone broth would add extra protein!
Once the liquid is absorbed and the orzo is cooked, add in about 1 1/2 cups of chopped spinach. I like to chop the spinach before I add it in to avoid those long stringy pieces.
Give it a good stir, and remove from heat. Wasn’t that easy? Now all we have to do is top it with some cheese, and I like to top it with a little bit of bacon bits, and we’re ready to serve!
If you want a true French onion flavor, top with shredded gruyere (you can find it at Trader Joes). Otherwise, any white cheese will do in a pinch. I also added some bacon crumbles, because…why not? They paired really well with the smokiness of the carmlized onion!
Hope you love this recipe as much as we did! – Kathi and Rachel
If you love orzo as much as we do, here’s some more of our favorite recipes!
- Orzo Salad
- Honey Mustard Chicken Thighs (delish served on the side!)
- Ground Turkey Orzo Skillet
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Caramelized Onion Orzo
Equipment
- 1 stovetop shallow pan with lid
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup diced white onion
- 1 cup orzo
- 1/2 tsp thyme (fresh or dried)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/4 tsp garlic (fresh chopped)
- 1 cup half and half
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1.5 cups chopped spinach
- 1/4 cup gruyere cheese (shredded)
- 3 tbsp chopped bacon (or bacon crumbles)
Instructions
- In a large pan on the stove top, melt butter and olive oil on medium heat. Add onions, and cook until golden brown (about 4-5 minutes).
- Add orzo to onions, along with garlic, salt, pepper, and thyme. Stir until orzo is golden brown.
- Reduce heat to low, and add in half and half, and beef broth. Cover pan with lid, and allow to simmer until liquid is fully absorbed by orzo, stirring often to prevent sticking to pan. Stir in chopped spinach once liquid is almost fully absorbed.
- Remove from heat, top with cheese and bacon crumbles. Serve & enjoy!
Nutrition
Have questions? Comment below and we’ll answer promptly.
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What about the lid for the pan? Is it used? It is listed under equipment but not in the instructions.
Fixed. Thanks, Mike! Hope you enjoy!
Chopped spinach is not listed in ingredients but in how to prepare, how much, fresh or frozen?
1.5 cups chopped, just updated. Thank you!!
How much spinach? It’s not listed in the ingredient list.
Whoops! Just updated, thank you for the heads up! 1.5 cups.