Creamy Pesto Chicken & Orzo with Spinach

*Images have recently been updated, as well as some recipe notes. Please let me know if you have any questions! I’m glad everyone’s loving this recipe as much as our family does. 🙂 

This is one of my all-time favorite dinners and I’m really excited to share it with you!

Orzo has become one of my new favorite ingredients to cook with. For those of you that may not be familiar with it yet, it’s in the pasta family, but it’s very small and resembles rice more than actual noodles. It’s so versatile and super easy to cook up.

So how does this wonderful dish come together? It’s pretty simple!

INGREDIENTS

• Chicken breasts – The hearty and protein-rich foundation for this dish, perfectly complementing the creamy pesto sauce.
• Orzo – A rice-shaped pasta that I love. It’s found right next to the rest of the pasta.
• Fresh spinach – Spinach is such an easy and healthy addition to add to any meal. It has so many nutritional benefits and doesn’t overpower the dish. 
• Garlic – Aromatic garlic infuses the sauce with a savory depth, enhancing the overall flavor.
• Heavy whipping cream – This cream adds a luscious, silky texture to the sauce, creating a perfectly smooth base.
• Pesto – Fresh and herbaceous, pesto brings a burst of basil and garlic, making the sauce full of flavor.
• Parmesan cheese – Nutty and salty, Parmesan cheese melds into the sauce, adding another layer of flavor.

Seasonings for the Chicken:

• Salt 
• Pepper 
• Garlic powder 
• Italian seasoning 
• Smoked paprika 

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

Start by cooking your chicken. In a small bowl, add the seasonings and stir. Evenly sprinkle over the chicken and rub the seasoning in.

Add about a tablespoon of oil to a large skillet and turn heat to medium-high. Carefully add the chicken and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, depending on how thick your chicken is. Cook until it’s browned on the outside and no longer pink on the inside. (The internal temperature should be 165 degrees. I use a meat thermometer, like this one, that helps me so much when I’m making chicken!) Once it’s done, place the chicken on a plate and set aside.

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Cook orzo according to package instructions.

Once orzo is done, drain it really well and then return it to the same pot. Add the chopped spinach and toss it with the orzo. Allow it to sit for a minute, so that the heat from the orzo helps cook down the spinach.

While that sits, you can start making the sauce. In the same skillet you used to cook the chicken, turn the heat to medium and add the garlic. Let it cook for just about a minute or so, stirring frequently.

Then, add the heavy cream, Parmesan, and pesto to the pan. Stir frequently and once the sauce starts to bubble and boil, turn the heat to low and cook for another 1-2 minutes, continuing to stir often. 

Once it’s done, turn off the heat and leave it there. Get your chicken, cut it into small pieces (or leave as larger ones, if you want) and add it to the pot of pasta and spinach. Then, pour the pesto sauce on top and gently mix it all together.

Serve immediately and sprinkle with some additional Parmesan cheese, cracked black pepper or red pepper flakes on top.

**I feel like you can change this up in so many ways. I think next time I might try adding bacon to it instead of chicken. You could also add some of your favorites veggies, like zucchini or toss some diced avocados with the dish right before you serve it.

5 from 3 votes

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Creamy Pesto Chicken & Spinach Orzo Dinner

Easy chicken dinner with TONS of flavor! This dish really comes together because of a super simple creamy pesto sauce that everything gets tossed with. 

Course Chicken Dinner, Dinner, Easy Chicken Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine American, Orzo, Pesto Chicken

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

• 1-1½ lbs chicken breasts
• 1½ cups orzo (uncooked)
• 2 cups spinach chopped
• 1 tbsp cooking oil avocado or extra virgin
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• ¾ cup heavy whipping cream
• ⅓ cup pesto
• ⅓ cup Parmesan cheese

Seasonings

• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp pepper
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• ½ tsp smoked paprika

Instructions

1. In a small bowl, mix all the seasonings together. Evenly sprinkle over chicken and rub them in.

2. In a large skillet, add about a tablespoon of cooking oil to the pan and turn heat to medium-high. Once oil is warm, carefully add the chicken and cook until chicken is browned and no loner pink inside (approx. 2-3 minutes per side). Place cooked chicken on a plate and set aside.

3. In a large pot, boil water and cook orzo according to package. Once it's done, drain well and return it to the same pot. Do not rinse the orzo.

4. Add the chopped spinach to the pot of orzo. Mix it together and let it sit for a minute, so that the heat from the pasta begins to cook down the spinach. While that sits, begin the sauce.

5. In the same skillet used to cook the chicken, add the garlic and cook over medium heat for about a minute.

   Then, add the heavy cream, pesto, and Parmesan cheese to the pan. Mix it all together, turn heat down to medium-low and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently. When done, turn off heat and leave it there.

6. Grab the plate of chicken and chop into smaller pieces. (You could also leave them as is, if you want.)

   Then, add the chicken to the pot with the orzo.

   Pour the creamy pesto sauce on top and gently mix everything together. Serve immediately and top with additional Parmesan cheese, cracked black pepper or red pepper flakes, if desired. 

Recipe Notes

*I use a basil pesto and any brand works! I typically use the Kirkland brand from Costco. It's cheaper than the grocery store brands and it's delicious.