This Greek Orzo with Lemon and Herbs makes the best side dish for fish, chicken, steak, lamb or shellfish. You can even serve this with roasted veg and keep it vegetarian.
It is quick to cook and packed with flavor. In under 15 minutes, you can have this fresh and delicious pasta side dish ready for the table.
You can serve it hot or cold and it tastes wonderful the next day, making it great for lunchboxes.
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Orzo Pasta
Orzo is a small shaped pasta. Its small size makes it perfect for serving as a side dish.
You can read more about Ozro over in my Meatball Orzo post.
How to make Greek Orzo
To give this the wonderful flavors of Greece, we start by frying onion and garlic in plenty of extra virgin olive oil. The orzo is added along with oregano, dill and lemon zest. This is cooked for a minute and then broth/stock is added. (I use chicken stock but you can easily use vegetable broth)
Once everything is cooked the finished orzo is dressed with a little more lemon zest, a spritz of lemon juice and a final drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Delicious, simple perfection!
What to serve with Greek Orzo
The beauty of this side dish is you can literally serve it with almost anything. Whilst it is Greek Inspired, the flavors work just as well with a steak as they do greek chicken breasts.
Some of our favorites to serve with it are:
- Greek Salmon
- Greek Chicken with Oregano
- Lemon Dill Chicken
- Greek Chicken Thighs
- Steak with Blue Cheese Butter
- Scallops with Lemon and Paprika
How to store leftovers
This Orzo pasta makes a great lunch the following day. To ensure the pasta is still perfect, you want to drizzle over about 1 tablespoon extra olive oil (I like extra virgin olive oil here). This stops the pasta from clumping together.
Place it in an airtight container and it will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
You can take it for lunch as it is, or add some poached chicken, smoked salmon, or leftover steak.
Enjoy x
For other great pasta side dishes why not try:
- Easy Creamy Four Cheese Pasta
- Easy Creamy Herb Pasta
- No Cream Italian Herb Pasta
- Tomato Orzo Salad
- Risoni with Spinach, Parmesan and Basil
- Creamy Lemon Basil Pasta
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Greek Orzo with Lemon and Herbs Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 onion
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil – plus more to serve
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried dill
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 cup orzo
- 1 lemon
- 2 1/2 cups vegetable/chicken broth – see note 1
- Fresh dill – optional garnish
Instructions
- Finely chop the onion and garlic.
- Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat.
- Add the onion, garlic, and salt, then cook gently until softened (about 2-3 minutes)
- Add in the oregano, dill and black pepper. Then stir in the orzo until well coated in the oil and herbs.
- Add the zest of the lemon and then pour over the broth and bring to a simmer. Simmer the orzo for 10 minutes or until cooked through. (There should be very little liquid left once cooked – see note 1)
Notes
- The orzo is cooked in simmering stock. It should absorb all of the stock with maybe a little left at the end of cooking time. This can just be drained away. If you find your broth has evaporated your heat may be too high, but don’t worry, just add extra broth or salted boiling water until the orzo is cooked.
Nutrition
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sam says
I MADE THIS AND WE LOVED IT!! ITS HARD TO FIND GOOD RECIPES ANYMORE WHEN YOU’VE CHANGED TO A HEALTHIER WAY OF EATING.
WE DONT DO PASTA ANYMORE, UT IS A GOOD TREAT! THANK YOU!!
Claire McEwen says
Oh I am so pleased you enjoyed dit Sam 😊
Thank you for taking the time to come back and comment
Cx
Amanda says
Do I need to cover the orzo during the simmering time?
Claire McEwen says
Hi Amanda, I don’t cover the dish when I make it, but the broth/stock should be at a gentle simmer, so it doesn’t evaporate too quickly.
Hope that helps 🙂
Cx
Liz says
Recipe says lemons but only asks for zest in directions? There is no lemon juice in the recipe?
Claire McEwen says
I just use the zest in the recipe as it gives so much flavour without adding any sourness!
Hope that helps 🙂
Cx
P.s I save them for a sneaky G&T 😉
Suzie Houghton says
I loved the flavor but after it sat for a while it became very starchy. Should I rinse the orzo beforehand like you do rice?
Claire McEwen says
Hi Suzie,
I have never rinsed the orzo before, but I guess each brand might be a little different. Rinsing it sounds like a good idea to try and remove some starch before you cook it.
Hope you try the recipe again 🙂
Cx
Mary says
Do you ever put the juice from the lemon in?
Claire McEwen says
You can squeeze the lemon juice over the pasta at the end, but I tend to cut the lemon into wedges and then let people add it to their portions at the table.
Hope that helps 🙂
Cx
Bethany Watkins says
This is my go-to side dish with pork souvlaki and Greek salad. Thank you for the simple, yet very tasty, recipe!
Claire McEwen says
Thank you so much Bethany, I love the simplicity of Orzo too 🙂
Pork Souvlaki sounds perfect!
Cx
Sarah says
I’m making this wonderful dish tonight to go with my Cilantro Lemon chicken. This is about the fourth time I’m using this Orzo recipe and my husband and myself love it. Thank you so much.
Claire McEwen says
Thank you Sarah! I am so pleased you enjoyed it!! I haven’t tried it with cilantro lemon chicken, but I am going to as that sounds a great combo!!!
Honoured that you have cooked my recipe so many times 🙂
Cx
Chris says
I love that you can change the servings and it calculated it out! 😮 thank you! Can’t wait To try
Claire McEwen says
So pleased you like the feature, it is something I love too 🙂