This orzo recipe is full of delicious spring flavor! It’s an easy dinner to make in under 30 minutes, packed with asparagus, and bright and flavorful with lemon and creamy goat cheese.
Quick Lemon Asparagus Orzo Recipe
If you’re looking for a simple, vibrant spring recipe, this lemony creamy orzo with asparagus delivers bright citrus flavor and tender pasta in under 30 minutes. Serve it just like it is for a cozy vegetarian meal, or top it with your favorite protein. (It’s delicious with our simple baked chicken breasts.)
Why you’ll love this Asparagus Orzo
This is a very old recipe on the blog that just needed some new fresh photos. It is a family favorite around here, and I love simple meals like this especially when time is short. It feels so cozy with the creamy goat cheese, yet still bright, springy and vibrant. I honestly can’t get enough of it! Give it a go and see what you think. 🥂
Asparagus Orzo Ingredients
- Orzo pasta - A small, rice-shaped pasta that cooks quickly and provides a tender, satisfying base that soaks up the bright lemony flavors.
- Asparagus and optional snap peas - Bring fresh spring flavor, vibrant color, and a crisp-tender texture that makes the dish feel light and seasonal. Feel free to leave out the snap peas!
- Olive oil - Adds richness and helps sauté the aromatics while bringing the whole dish together.
- Shallot and garlic - Create a savory, aromatic foundation with gentle sweetness and depth.
- Salt and pepper - Enhance and balance the flavors; adjust to taste.
- Lemon zest and juice - Add bright acidity and fresh citrus notes that lift and lighten the orzo.
- Fresh herbs - Provides a fragrant, herbaceous finish; dill, basil, parsley, or tarragon can be used depending on what you have on hand.
- Goat Cheese - adds creamy, richness, to the finished dish. Sub feta if preferred.
How to Make Asparagus Orzo
Cook the Orzo. Set salted water to boil and cook orzo according to package directions, cook to al dente. Drain and save 1 cup of hot salted pasta water.
Saute. While the orzo cooks, heat oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add chopped shallot and garlic, and saute until golden and fragrant. Add chopped asparagus (remove the woody ends) and sliced snap peas and saute until tender-crisp. Season with salt and pepper and lemon zest.
Combine. Add the warm orzo to the skillet with the asparagus and goat cheese and stir in some hot pasta water a little at a time, to loosen it up to your liking.
Season. Fold in the herbs, taste and adjust salt and lemon juice to taste. Season with pepper or chili flakes. Serve immediately while loose and creamy. 😉
Serving suggestions
Serve on it’s own as a vegetarian meal with a fresh salad like our spring greens, or serve it as a side dish along with chicken or fish. It would pair nicely with Baked Chicken Breasts, Seared Scallops or Baked Dijon Salmon. Or toss in this this shrimp.
Storage
Leftovers will keep up to 4 days in an airtight container in the fridge, and can be microwaved or reheated gently on the stove. The vibrant color is at its best right after it is made.
More Favorite Orzo recipeS
- Spring Pasta Salad with Asparagus & Mushrooms
- Antipasto Salad
- Asparagus Salad with olives, lemon and Couscous
Hope you enjoy it! xoxo Sylvia
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Quick Lemon Asparagus Orzo Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20mins
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 3-4 1x
- Category: Main, salad
- Method: tossed
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
This recipe for Asparagus Orzo is perfect for spring! Quick and easy, this vegetarian dinner can be made in 30-minutes! Enjoy it as a side dish or see notes on how to serve it chilled as a salad.
Ingredients
- 6 ounces dry orzo pasta (1 cup)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 shallot- diced
- 3 garlic cloves- rough chopped
- 1 extra large bunch asparagus, tough ends removed, cut into 1 inch pieces.
- 1 cup snap peas, sliced
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 small lemon, zested
- 1/4– 1/2 cup fresh herbs, chopped (parsley, dill, or basil)
- 1 tablespoon fresh tarragon, chopped(optional)
- 1/4–1/2 cup goat cheese, crumbled; more to taste
Instructions
- Cook Pasta. Set salted water to boil and cook orzo according to directions, cook to al dente. Drain and save 1 cup of hot salted pasta water.
- Saute. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add chopped shallot and garlic, and saute until golden and fragrant. Add asparagus and snap peas. Lower to medium low. Saute 5-ish minutes until tender-crisp, stirring often, scooping up the shallot from the bottom of the pan. Season with salt and pepper and add the lemon zest of one lemon.
- Combine. Add the warm orzo to the skillet with the asparagus and goat cheese and some hot pasta water a little at a time, to loosen it up to your liking.
- Season. Fold in the herbs, and stir until creamy, adding more warm pasta water as needed. Taste and adjust salt, pepper, or chili flakes to taste. Serve immediately while loose and creamy. 😉
Notes
Option to serve this chilled as a salad- place the cooked asparagus mixture in a bowl and let it cool. Rinse the cooked orzo with very cold water until cold. Drain, add to bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, generous squeeze of lemon juice. Mix and adjust salt and lemon, adding more if bland. The pasta will soak up the salt when it sits in the fridge so it will probably need more later. Refrigerate – then taste once more before serving, again adjusting, adding more lemon and salt to taste. Fold in the freshherbs right before serving. Add crumbled feta.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 ¼ cup
- Calories: 243
- Sugar: 4.9 g
- Sodium: 379.3 mg
- Fat: 10.8 g
- Saturated Fat: 3.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 29.9 g
- Fiber: 4.8 g
- Protein: 10.2 g
- Cholesterol: 6.5 mg
Delicious and so easy to put together. It has become my go-to when I’m short on time, and it works just as well with spinach.
Perfect Taz! Thanks for the review. 🙂
It’s time to make this recipe again! It was a favorite last year when asparagus was in season. I don’t have snap peas so will substitute peas from the freezer.
Great, glad you are enjoying!
This is fantastic and so utterly simple! Great flavor! I had to substitute broccoli as I was all set to make this and went to the last store on the shopping trip and did not find any asparagus and realized I did not see any at the other two stores either. There must be an asparagus shortage, lol. I usually always see it in the stores this time of year. But the broccoli worked. I could see even adding some white albacore tuna one day. Thank you for the recipe!
Glad you gave it a try with the broccoli Michelle! Appreciate your review.