Creamy Sundried Tomato Chicken Orzo Bake
The most delicious weeknight meal there is! Our ‘one pan’ baked dishes are popular from you all. And, they couldn’t get any easier. Our kids love this one and it’s the perfect blend of creamy orzo with high protein in the chicken. Give this one a try tonight!
Serves 6
Ingredients:
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Olive oil
Kosher salt
Black pepper
3 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 shallot
4 cloves garlic
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups orzo
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 black pepper
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 jar Sundried tomatoes, drained and roughly chopped
2/3 cup Parmesan cheese, divided
1 cup baby spinach, stems removed
To Serve:
Fresh basil, chopped
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper.
Heat a large cast iron or oven safe skillet over medium high heat. Add a splash of olive oil. Add chicken, seasoned side down first. Cook 3-4 minutes. Flip chicken and cook 3-4 minutes on other side. Note, if chicken doesn’t easily flip or sticks to pan, it’s not yet ready to flip.
Remove chicken from heat and set aside (note, chicken is not fully cooked at this time). Melt butter in pan. Add shallots and garlic to pan. Reduce heat to medium. Cook 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently. Deglaze pan with a few tablespoons of chicken broth, scraping off brown bits. Add orzo and slightly brown, roughly 2-3 minutes. Add remaining chicken broth, heavy cream, all dried herbs and sundried tomatoes. Gently mix around to incorporate. Add 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese. Mix well. Gently nestle chicken back into pan.
Place pan in oven and cook 20-25 minutes. Internal temperature of chicken should read 165 degrees. Be careful when removing pan from oven as it will be extremely hot. Add spinach to pan and gently mix in. The heat will soften and start to wilt spinach.
Serve by plating orzo mixture and topping with chicken. Garnish with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and basil.