One-Pan Monterey Chicken Orzo
Your oven does all the work.
you're making mealtime meaningful.
When I see a recipe over and over again on the internet, sometimes I just have to try it. That’s exactly what happened with this Monterey Chicken Orzo. I kept seeing it on social media and thinking… A creamy, complete pasta meal that comes together in a single dish? And in the oven no less. Is that too good to be true? (Spoiler alert: it’s not.)
What Ingredients Do You Need for One-Pan Monterey Chicken Orzo?
It’s not a lot! You’ll need:
- A can of cream of chicken soup. (It has it’s place!)
- Sour cream.
- Chicken stock.
- Garlic. (Optional!)
- Onion powder.
- Baby spinach.
- Orzo pasta.
- Monterey Jack cheese and Parmesan.
- Chicken! (Already cooked — great place for rotisserie leftovers.)
And the best part, French fried onions!
How Do You Make One-Pan Monterey Chicken Orzo?
This, my friends, is almost too easy.
Even though it’s a pasta dish, you don’t need to boil a thing. See, this all bakes in the oven. And in just one dish.
So get a 9×13 baking dish ready. Then go ahead and stir together the sour cream, chicken soup, and chicken broth. Mix in everything else, reserving some of the cheese and the fried onions for the top, and then cover it with foil.
The foil helps keep the liquid from evaporating while it bakes so that the pasta has a chance to cook through. After 25 minutes, you’ll take that foil off so that the top can brown a bit.
Which means that you get a deliciously creamy and cheesy pasta interior with a crisp and crunchy French-fried-onion-topping. And it only took you one dish and a few minutes of time. What could be better?
One-Pan Monterey Chicken Orzo
Yield(s): Serves 6
5m prep time
35m cook time
you're making mealtime meaningful.
Ingredients
- 1 (10 oz) can low-sodium cream of chicken soup
- 2 cups sour cream
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 3 cups baby spinach
- 1 lb uncooked orzo pasta
- 2 1/2 cups Monterey Jack cheese, grated and divided
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated and divided
- 3 cups cooked and chopped chicken
- 1 (6 oz) can crispy fried onions, divided
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 9x13-inch baking dish with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl or directly in the prepared baking dish, stir together the chicken soup, sour cream and chicken broth. Add garlic, onion powder, spinach, orzo, chicken, and 1 1/2 cups of the Monterey Jack, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan, and half of the French fried onions.
- Taste and season with salt and pepper.
- Spread mixture out evenly in baking dish, then top with remaining cheese and French fried onions. Cover pan with foil.
- Bake for 25 minutes, then remove foil and continue baking until cheese is melted and mixture is bubbly, 10-15 minutes more.
- Let rest 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Plain Chicken.