One Pot Garlic Butter Shrimp and Orzo.
This one pot shrimp orzo is so ridiculously delish!
If you can’t tell, I’m having a little moment with shrimp and butter and lemon. I mean, at least it’s a delicious moment?
This is weeknight dinner gold. I love a meal that can be thrown together in a few minutes and tastes like absolute heaven. When I make this, we cannot stop eating it. Every bite is more incredible than the last.
Why is orzo just oh-so good?! Sure, it’s like rice, but even better.
I love how it sticks to whatever you toss it with, in a good way. It makes a dish more satisfying too. Plus, it soaks up all the wonderful flavors in the pot.
Let’s make it tonight!
I toss the shrimp with some olive oil, lemon, salt, pepper and garlic. Crushed red pepper flakes too! Just give it a bit of flavor.
Then, the best part? Toasting the orzo in butter. Almost as if it’s arborio rice and you’re making risotto. Let it get a little toasty and golden. At the same time, the butter will brown too. THIS IS WHERE THE FLAVOR IS AT!
All the garlic butter feels start here. I’m all about layering flavor from the bottom up. The garlic butter is fragrant and wonderful and then the toasty orzo gives it even more of a nutty flavor. It’s perfect!
The only thing left to do is add the stock, cover the pot and let it go. About 20 minutes later, dinner is ready!
The beauty in this dish is that both the orzo and shrimp cook quickly. It tastes more flavorful than it looks, which is wild since there are only about ten ingredients in the entire dish.
This isn’t an overly complicated dish and it’s certainly not anything groundbreaking. But it’s just one of those recipes that is darn good. Easy but shockingly good. Everyone loves it and you may be tempted to make a double batch. Leftovers are fantastic. It’s simple enough that you can throw a roasted vegetable in the oven if you wish. The best kind of recipe!
Easy enough to throw on the menu tonight!
One Pot Shrimp and Orzo
One Pot Garlic Butter Shrimp and Orzo
Ingredients
- 1 pound raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 lemon, juiced and freshly zested
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- kosher salt and pepper
- 1 cup orzo
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 ¼ cups chicken stock
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- lemon wedges, for spritzing
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the shrimp with the olive oil, lemon juice, zest, garlic, red pepper flakes and a big pinch of salt and pepper. Stir and let sit for 10 minutes.
- Heat the butter in a large skillet (I like a 12 inch) over medium heat. Once melted, stir in the orzo. Cook, stirring often, until the orzo is slightly golden and toasty. Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
- Pour in the chicken stock and bring it to a boil. Reduce it to a simmer and cover the pot. Cook until the orzo absorbs the water and is fluffed up, about 12 to 15 minutes.
- Add in the shrimp to the orzo and stir. Cover the pot again and cook for another 5 to 8 minutes, or until the shrimp is pink, opaque and cooked through.
- Sprinkle with fresh parsley and a spritz of lemon. I like to stir in another 1 to 2 tablespoons of melted butter for optimal flavor, but this is up to you. Serve immediately!
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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Golden, toasty, buttery, garlicky wonderfulness.
74 Comments on “One Pot Garlic Butter Shrimp and Orzo.”
So delicious and so easy!
Really good recipe but mine came out a bit too soupy – next time I’ll use less chicken stock – otherwise great flavor and done perfectly!
Made this tonight. Very good! I threw in a bunch of broccoli when I added the shrimp to the orzo, and it was good!! Will definitely make again. Thank you!
Does this recipe double well? Also, could I use scallops instead of shrimp?
I made it and loved it, my son loved it and it is a simple ingredients, easy to make recipe. I followed the instruction and made no changes and it turned out delicious. Will definitely make again, it was so simple and quick to make. 😋
So easy and delicious and just one pan to clean! My new favorite summer recipe!
Simple, easy to follow, and delicious! I’ll be making this dish again! I served some asparagus on the side, but any vegetable (or salad) would go well with it.
After reading all the comments, I decided to use two frying pans. Started the orzo in one and added two tablespoons of butter in the other to fry the shrimps. Did not add the marinade to the pan. (I read a couple of comments on what to do with it. Tossed it.)
Defrosted shrimps and let them marinate longer. Frying them up – could have done in two batches as the shrimps were small. Added the cooked orzo to the shrimp to absorb the flavours from that pan.
Delicious!!! No leftovers!
Do not know if use of gluten free orzo made a difference in this recipe. Just so so for my husband and I with a little too much lemon.
This is very easy to put together. Packs a lot of flavor. I will cut back on the chicken broth next time. It was a little soupy.
This was easy, quick and delicious! My husband whole heartedly approved!
Loved it and it was easy. Took advice from some of the reviews. I only added 2 cups of chicken stock, instead of 2 1/4 cup. I also added broccoli when I added the chicken stock. I did follow the advice at the end of the recipe and added 2 tablespoon of butter. I will make this again the same way it was so good.
This was delicious! Thank you! I think I could substitute chicken for my people who don’t like shrimp.
Wow! This recipe is incredibly good! And easy! I followed the directions exactly. Thank you so much.
I made this tonight, I have short time to prepare dinner, it was sooooo yummy, fast and easy. I didn’t ready the recipe all the way through because I was rushing 🤦🏻♀️so I blackened the shrimps first take them out then brown the orzo. I also had a tomato and some baby spinach need to be use so I added both at the end with the shrimps and it was delicious. Thank you for quick dinner recipe 🥰
Can you freeze this meal after it is cooked?
I made this in a pinch when I didn’t know what I wanted to make with the shrimp I defrosted. It was amazing!!!! Definitely going to make again :)
Made it for the first time last night for dinner and have given a definite five. However, if you look back at the NY Times version, Step 1 should state one half of the garlic goes into the marinade, and Step 2, the other half. I put it all in the marinade and it worked ok but I think having the garlic in the pan with the orzo and chicken stock would be a better choice. As note by others, I reduced the liquids by a half cup.
How much garlic? 4 or 2 cloves. Recipe has both