Chicken, Orzo, and Spinach Skillet with Kalamata Olives, Tomatoes, and Basil
I adapted a chicken, orzo, and spinach skillet with kalamata olives, tomatoes, and basil recipe from MyRecipes to give it a boost of flavor. It was a simple, comforting dish that was easy to make and smelled great while it cooked. My husband and I both loved it, but my kids just thought it was only okay. This Greek chicken and orzo dish paired nicely with a simple parmesan chopped salad and some crusty bread.
Chicken, Orzo, and Spinach Skillet with Kalamata Olives, Tomatoes, and Basil
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of orzo, cooked per instructions
- 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- Garlic powder, to taste
- Dried oregano, to taste
- Dash of crushed red pepper, to taste
- Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
- 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs, trimmed of fat & cut into bite-sized pieces
- 2 cups of tomatoes, chopped
- 2 tsp tomato paste
- Large handful of kalamata olives, sliced
- 2 cups baby spinach leaves
- 5 fresh basil leaves, torn
- Feta cheese, crumbled
How to Make Chicken, Orzo, and Spinach Skillet with Kalamata Olives, Tomatoes, and Basil:
Cook the orzo in a large saucepan of salted water, per instructions. Drain the orzo in a colander, reserving ½ cup of cooking liquid. Side Note: Sprinkle a few chicken bouillon granules into the boiling water for extra flavor.
Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and season with a bit of garlic powder, oregano, crushed red pepper, sea salt, and freshly cracked pepper to taste, and cook, stirring often, for 3-4 minutes. Remove the onion from the skillet and set it aside.
Season the chicken with a sprinkling of garlic powder, oregano, crushed red pepper flakes, sea salt, and freshly cracked pepper to taste.
Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the same cast-iron skillet. Add the chicken and cook for 5-6 minutes, turning to brown all sides. Remove chicken from cast-iron skillet; keep warm.
Turn the heat to low, then add reserved cooking liquid to the skillet, scraping up all the browned bits from the bottom of the pan; add the minced garlic and stir.
Add the chopped tomato, softened onions, kalamata olives, and tomato paste to the skillet; cook over medium-high heat for 2 minutes.
Add chicken, orzo, basil, and spinach leaves, stirring until spinach wilts. Taste and re-season if needed.
Remove from heat. Sprinkle with cheese and serve. Enjoy.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup of orzo cooked per instructions
- 2 tbsp olive oil divided
- 1 yellow onion diced
- Garlic powder to taste
- Dried Oregano to taste
- Dash of crushed red pepper to taste
- Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste
- 1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken thighs, trimmed of fat & cut into bite-sized pieces
- 2 cups chopped tomato
- 2 tsp tomato paste
- Large handful of kalamata olives sliced
- 2 cups baby spinach leaves
- 5 fresh basil leaves torn
- Feta cheese crumbled
Instructions
- Cook the orzo in a large saucepan of salted water, per instructions. Drain the orzo in a colander, reserving ½ cup of cooking liquid. Side Note: Sprinkle a few chicken bouillon granules into the boiling water for extra flavor.
- Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and season with a bit of garlic powder, oregano, crushed red pepper, sea salt, and freshly cracked pepper to taste, and cook, stirring often, for 3-4 minutes. Remove the onion from the skillet and set it aside.
- Season the chicken with a sprinkling of garlic powder, oregano, crushed red pepper flakes, sea salt, and freshly cracked pepper to taste.
- Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the same cast-iron skillet. Add the chicken and cook for 5-6 minutes, turning to brown all sides. Remove chicken from cast-iron skillet; keep warm.
- Turn the heat to low, then add reserved cooking liquid to the skillet, scraping up all the browned bits from the bottom of the pan; add the minced garlic and stir.
- Add the chopped tomato, softened onions, kalamata olives, and tomato paste to the skillet; cook over medium-high heat for 2 minutes.
- Add chicken, orzo, basil, and spinach leaves, stirring until the spinach wilts. Taste and re-season if needed.
- Remove from heat. Sprinkle with cheese and serve. Enjoy.
I love hearing what your kids have to say about meals but it’s so funny – I’m pretty sure I would devour every single thing you made!
Pam, What a great looking dish! love the ingredients.
I really fancy this dish, bookmarked for later in the week, thanks. Have a good week. Diane
I’m with your kids on this one. Somehow spinach and chicken don’t sound real good together. If you left the spinach out and had it as a side dish it would be great.
Shell, have you ever heard of chicken florentine? Search giadas, its heaven
Yum! I love the combination of flavors in this orzo dish, including the spinach! I also love your hint of adding some chicken bouillon to the pasta water, Pam!!
Love all the yummy flavors in this dish, Pam. I hope you and your family had a very Happy Thanksgiving. It’s hard to believe that Christmas is just around the corner.
love how colorful it is. it looks delicious!
I love the additions you made to this… definitely can’t call it bland now 🙂 Looks delicious!!!
yum this looks great! Just bought some kalamata olives, now all I need to get is the feta and basil and I am going to try it.
This looks wonderful!
Looks like a great winter dish! Welcome back, Pam.
Who cares what kids think, lol. I like the salty edge that the feta and olives bring to this.
If anything could turn a “just okay” dish to a GREAT dish, it’s kalamatas and feta! Love this!
I’m kind of obsessed with skillets right now!
Made this tonight! It was great!
Yummy, this dish looks really tasty!
You make the most delicious and healthy meals. Your orzo looks irresistible!
I have that same pan in red 🙂 I think this looks delicious, and I love orzo.
Looks wonderful, love your tasty additions!
This incorporates all of my favorite ingredients into one dish! And orzo is one of my favorite things ever so this here is just perfect!
I made this for dinner last night and it was so yummy! I used gluten free pasta instead of the orzo and everyone in my family really enjoyed it which is great because none of them love cooked spinach! 🙂
Pam, I was really disappointed with this dish, I’m sorry to say. It didn’t have a lot of flavor, although I had left out the kalamata olives due to a concern over sodium levels. Perhaps that omission was the key?? Also, I thought there were too many steps involved for the result. It took me over 45 minutes to prepare, and an hour before it was ready for service. That’s not totally unreasonable, I agree, but the result was underwhelming. Sorry, I’ll keep trying others of your recipes though.
I am sorry you didn’t like the recipe. I must say that the kalamata olives are one of the main ingredients that give this orzo tons of flavor. Hopefully, the next recipe you try will be more satisfying.
Cheers,
Pam
This looks so good! I always have a box of orzo in my pantry because it’s our favorite type of pasta!
I just made this, with a few adjustments, and it was DELICIOUS! I used frozen spinach and onions, dried basil, chicken breasts, and crushed tomatoes since I already had that stuff, and it was soooo good. I’ll definitely be making this again and again!
Excellent recipe. I made two substitutions on your recipe due to what I had available. First, I used a slightly larger pasta; still very small just not orzo. Second, I used plain goat cheese because I didn’t have feta. This recipe was easy and tasted fantastic. My husband kept saying, this is really good; and it was. The goat cheese was a great substitute as it added a little bite and became quite creamy as it melted into the dish. Bravo!
Kristin,
Your substitutions sound tasty. I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe. Thank you for taking the time to let me know.
-Pam