This Creamy Tomato Orzo is a one-pot wonder that’s ready in 25 minutes flat! Serve it up as a saucy side dish or give it top billing as a tasty vegetarian main course!
One-Pot Creamy Tomato Orzo Pasta
Since I’m so head-over-fork in love with my Garlic Parmesan Orzo and Creamy Mushroom Orzo recipes, I thought it was time for another tasty re-mix!
This time I let some fire-roasted tomatoes and basil in on the fun and I couldn’t be more excited about the results!
The ingredients are simple and always things we have on hand during the week. The method? Helloooo one pot wonder!
You’re going to laugh but this creamy tomato orzo totally has an adult spaghetti-os vibe to it. It’s also kind of like a pastafied risotto!
The creamy fire-roasted tomato sauce is kissed with flavor from the garlic, basil, parmesan, and Italian spices. It’s simple, but simply delicious!
Leftover Orzo?
That’s cause for celebration! Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. The orzo will soak up some of the sauce so, when reheating, a light drizzle of milk or broth can help if needed.
If you get a chance to try this creamy tomato orzo recipe, let me know!
Leave some love in the comment form below or tag your photos with @peasandcrayons on Instagram so I can happy dance over your creation. I can’t wait to see what you whip up!
Creamy Tomato Orzo
Equipment
- 3-Quart Pot
Ingredients
- 1 tsp butter
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup milk
- 14.5 oz crushed fire roasted tomatoes
- ½ tsp Italian seasoning blend (I use salt-free Mrs. Dash)
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 1.5 cups dry orzo pasta
- 2 oz cream cheese
- ¼ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese plus exra for topping
- fresh choped basil to taste
Instructions
- In a large 3-4 quart pot, melt your butter over medium-high heat. Once hot, add garlic and sauté until tender and fragrant.
- Add broth, milk, tomatoes, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Stir with a metal whisk to deglaze the garlic from the pan.
- Bring to a light boil and add your orzo. Reduce heat to medium-low (mine was at a 4) and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally with your whisk to prevent sticking.
- After 10 minutes the pasta should be al dente. If you'd like it more tender, feel free to simmer an additional 2-3 minutes.
- One the pasta is al-dente or your ideal tenderness, remove pot from heat. Sauce will be thin and thicken as it cools. Whisk in cream cheese and parmesan cheese. Allow to sit for 5 minutes to thicken.
- Taste the pasta and season once more to taste. Feel free to add extra salt, pepper, Italian seasoning or even extras like crushe red pepper flakes for a little heat! Garnish with fresh chopped basil and additonal parmesan cheese if desired. Enjoy hot.
Notes
Nutrition
hungry for more?
Keep the orzo obsession alive with a piping hot bowl of healthy Orzo Vegetable Soup or get your salad on with my Greek Orzo Pasta Salad.
Today’s recipe features flavorful fire-roasted tomatoes. My favorite is Muier Glen’s organic crushed fire-roasted tomatoes. They’re so good! I add them to soups, pasta, sauces, casseroles, and more all Fall and Winter long.
Wonderful recipe! So easy and delicious! My fiancé’ doesn’t like anything with cream cheese so I put it only in my half. Was delicious either way. Will be making again for sure!
Thank you Barb! I’m so thrilled you both enjoyed the recipe. 😃
i cooked this for dinner last night and it was DELICIOUS. my only alteration was added fresh chopped spinach in with the cheese at the end, and it was absolutely fantastic. so comforting and filling, and my fiancé loved it. i will definitely be making again! thank you! 🙂
This recipe is so quick, easy, economical but most of all so DELICIOUS!! I used ditalini and small elbows but have not tried orzo yet. My family loved it. Next time I am going to double the recipe so we have leftovers for my daughter to take to work. Thank you so much for sharing.
Hello there, looking to try this tonight, but milk is actually not something we tend to keep in the house. Would I be able to substitute maybe bone broth?
Hi Amanda! The milk adds to the creaminess of the orzo but you could easily tweak the recipe to include a bit more cream cheese and broth and simply adjust to taste! We don’t drink milk so I only buy a tiny bit for recipe testing so I totally understand!
This was delicious, my family loved it and I had it at a restaurant once and it tasted exactly like it. Amazing. I will be making this again!
Yay! So happy to hear it! Thanks!
Absolutely delicious and a new family favourite. Full of flavour and so quick and easy to make. I added some crispy chorizo crumbles to ours. Yum!
This. Was. Delicious! I served it as a main course with homemade meatballs and fresh spinach stirred in after the orzo was done cooking.
This was a perfect side dish, so easy to make any very delicious! A big hit, can’t wait to eat the leftovers 🙂
Yum! I added the tomatoes as suggested, but also asparagus and artichoke hearts to make it more of a meal than a side dish since I’m vegetarian.
LOVE the added veggies!! So glad it was a hit!
This recipe was very easy to make. I used two cups of orzo though and a little more crushed tomatoes. I also used more Italian seasoning. Very food and very delicious.
Love love love this recipe! It isn’t often I use a recipe “as is” but this one is perfect. I wouldn’t change a thing!
Thank you so much Amy!!!
You are a pasta wizard!
Haha thank you! I love me some carbs!
This was fantastic, almost decadent!! It was like eating comfort food, but healthier.
So so glad you enjoyed it Jen! Thanks!
This is my new go-to meal! Perfect for weeknight dinners!
Looks amazing and I’ve never tried making orzo before. Do you think I could use fresh tomatoes instead of canned since it’s tomato season? tysm!
Absolutely! Just make sure they’re blended lightly in a blender or food processor until they resemble crushed tomatoes and you’re good to go! We’ve been looooving tomato season RN!