One-pan lemon shrimp orzo
Creamy without any cream and bright with lemon, it all cooks in one pan, so there’s almost nothing to wash.
- 35 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $4.31 a serving
- 460 calories
Dolly says: Read the steps once before you start. Everything goes smoother after that.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 shallot, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1½ cups orzo
- 3½ cups vegetable broth
- 1 lb raw shrimp, peeled and deveined, thawed if frozen
- 2 cups baby spinach
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
- ⅓ cup grated parmesan
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ¾ tsp salt, divided
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 460 calories, 35 g protein, 55 g carbs and 11 g fat, and costs about $4.31 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No vegetable broth? Chicken broth works.
- No raw shrimp? Frozen raw shrimp works.
- No baby spinach? Kale or arugula works.
- No lemons? Limes work.
- No grated parmesan? Parmesan wedge works.
- No fresh parsley? Cilantro works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Heat the oil in a large, deep over medium heat. Add the shallot and cook, , for 2 to 3 minutes until .
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Softened. For vegetables it means cooked until they bend and lose their crunch; for butter, left out until it dents easily. Soft onions taste sweet, and soft butter mixes in smoothly.
How you’ll know: Onions squash easily against the pan with your spoon, and butter dents under a finger without looking greasy.
Medium heatTimer: 2 min 30 sec
Add the garlic and orzo and for 2 minutes, until the orzo smells toasty and a few pieces turn .
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium heatTimer: 2 min
Pour in the broth, add half the salt and . Cook uncovered for 8 minutes, every minute or two so the orzo doesn’t stick.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Medium heatTimer: 8 min
Dolly’s tip: It looks soupy at first. The orzo drinks up the broth as it cooks.the shrimp with the rest of the salt and the pepper, then nestle them into the orzo in one layer.
Season. Seasoning means adding salt, pepper or spices to bring out a food’s flavor. A little at a few stages tastes better than a lot all at the end.
How you’ll know: When you taste it, it tastes bright and like itself, not flat and not salty.
Cover the pan and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, until the shrimp are pink and opaque and the orzo is tender.
Medium heatTimer: 4 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: No lid that fits? Lay a sheet pan on top.Food safety: Shrimp are done when they turn pink and opaque all the way through and curl into a loose C. A tight O means overcooked, not unsafe.
Turn off the heat and in the spinach, lemon and juice, and parmesan until the spinach and everything turns creamy.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Zest. Zest is the thin, colored outer layer of citrus peel, rubbed off on the smallest holes of a grater. It holds the fruit’s fragrant oils, so it adds bright flavor without the sourness of juice.
How you’ll know: You see bright flecks and smell citrus right away; stop when you reach the white layer, which is bitter.
Wilt. Wilting means cooking leafy greens just until they go soft and collapse. Greens shrink a lot, so a big pile of spinach becomes a small handful, and that’s normal.
How you’ll know: The leaves turn soft and deep green and slump into the pan, usually within a minute or two.
Taste, add more salt if it needs it, and serve with parsley on top.
Pinch. A pinch is what you can hold between your thumb and two fingers, less than an eighth of a teaspoon. It’s a small, forgiving amount, so there’s no need to measure.
How you’ll know: It’s a light sprinkle you can barely see on the food, not a little pile.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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