Healthy Orzo Recipes

This dish is bursting with flavor thanks to the long, low-temperature cooking. Simply combine all ingredients in a slow cooker and all your dinner work is done for you!

This recipe is an irresistible bowl-scraper. It's fragrant and flavorful from the shallots, garlic, lemon and tarragon, and creamy from cream cheese. Plus, with the addition of low-sodium broth, the orzo cooks in the same pan as the rest of the ingredients—no extra pot or strainer necessary. You can have this easy, comforting spring dish on your table in about 30 minutes.

"Cacio e pepe" is Italian for "cheese and pepper." So, you know what you're getting plenty of here. Creamy buttermilk provides a zing, and if you've never had a cacio e pepe-style dish before, this orzo rendition is a great introduction. (Warning: It may remind you of macaroni and cheese!)

This creamy mushroom soup is filled with hearty orzo and plenty of veggies. The sherry, thyme and lemon boost and brighten the flavor, while sour cream thickens the broth and gives it extra tanginess.

This creamy artichoke pasta uses lemon zest and parsley to balance the richness of the Parmesan cheese sauce. You can use frozen or canned artichoke hearts in this healthy pasta recipe.

In Poland, foraged mushrooms, notably boletus, are prized for their flavor. Many families in Poland serve this vegetarian mushroom soup on Christmas Eve, but in Natalie Jesionka's family, it's served all winter long. There are many different recipes for this soup, depending on the ingredients that are accessible where the cook lives. The addition of white wine is a nod to Jesionka's great-grandmother, who made her own wine from grapes and added it to her soup. In Poland, this soup is served with square handmade noodles called lazanki, but you can serve it with small pasta like orzo, or with barley.