Are you looking for easy vegan Orzo recipes?
Well you just landed on the right blog post.
Orzo is a rice looking pasta used by many of its consumers as a substitute for rice. Orzo is pretty versatile in regards to the ways in which it can be prepared and the foods along which to eat it.
It is not surprising thus that it is one food that makes delicious vegan recipes.
And that is the subject of our discussion today. I have looked up fifteen of these recipes. You can expect to read about the ingredients to each of them, the things that picking on one promises and lastly, the steps of cooking.
Also included from time to time are tips that might yet prove significant in how your final meal tastes.
15 Easy Vegan Orzo Recipes
1. Vegan Lemon Orzo
This orzo is a classic as it is creamy and has a citric flavor too. The ingredients needed include are; orzo, frozen peas, olive oil, shallots, lemon juice etc. Fresh peas, asparagus, and mushrooms can work just fine too in the place of frozen peas.
If you want to feel even more lemon, it is okay to add lemon zest in your ingredients on top of the juice.
The first step in preparing this orzo dish is heating olive oil for say two minutes. You can then add garlic, the orzo. Begin to toast.
Now add vegetable stocks and simmer. Frozen peas and baby spinach come next. At the very end, add lemon juice and season.
Vegan lemon orzo is better served immediately. Alternatively, you may reheat before eating if you intend to do so a little later.
In the latter case however, you should add a little more water and vegetable stock since orzo will have absorbed the most of what was used at first.
2. Creamy Vegan Spinach Orzo
Creamy Vegan Spinach Orzo carries flavor thanks to the spinach. It can also be eaten in accompaniment of a main course dish or on its own.
The necessary ingredients include; vegetable broth, nutritional yeast, orzo, and oat milk. If your vegetable broth is not well seasoned, you will need to have a bit of salt and pepper on you.
Also about broth, it is okay to use the kind that you prefer most.
To make the recipe, boil the milk and broth together. Add orzo and continue cooking for ten minutes. Reduce the heat to medium low and add spinach, salt, pepper, and yeast. Wait for no more than five minutes then serve.
Orzo can tend to stick at the bottom of the cooking container. Use the non-stick pot to avoid this. Further, if you need something delicious, then you should use fresh vegetables.
Of course you can proceed even with ones that are not if you have no option.
3. Spice Curry Meatballs + Orzo
As with meatballs wherever they are, this recipe gives vegans the closest chance at knowing how meat tastes.
The simplicity of this process however, makes it relatively easier for one to make something healthy for themselves at home rather than buying frozen food.
Also special is that the dish adopts Jamaican curry to with its unique flavors.
The ingredients to look for among others include; yellow or red onion, cooked quinoa, orzo, parsley, bread crumbs etc.
The list here is quite long since the process entails cooking three different things i.e. the meatballs, Jamaican curry, and orzo. It is because of this reason too that we will not go through the entire preparation process.
The ingredients to use in the meatballs include among other things, garlic, ginger, salt, and the black pepper too. Preparing them entails boiling, stirring etc.
As for the orzo, things remain the same. The thing to know about the Jamaican curry is that it has to be burnt in olive oil first.
4. Lemon Chickpea Orzo Soup
If you already know Greek avgolemono, the best way to think about this particular soup is that it is its version of vegan food.
The ingredients necessary to pull this off entail among others, olive oil, vegetable broth, baby spinach, carrots, and pepper.
To cook the cuisine, sauté onions carrot for five minutes, add garlic then simmer with orzo and chickpeas. Add water of vegetable broth then heat for seven minutes at medium-low.
Turn off the heat, add tahini, lemon juice and spinach. Thoroughly stir the mixture. Season with pepper and salt.
The soup can be frozen up to surprising levels, over two month! To do this, make sure your food cools first then pour in a freezing container.
Do not fill it to the bream though as it is crucial that you allow the food room for expansion. Whenever the time comes again and you need to eat the stored food, then you should reheat it prior to serving.
5. Instant pot Orzo
Instant pot meals are already quite easy to make. Add to that the fact that orzo itself is simple and you will have gotten yourself one of the simplest recipes to make without having to worry about compromising on the taste.
The ingredients are in fact rather few too. Just orzo, olive oil, and garlic.
You are ready to begin once you get the instant pot. Pour olive oil in it and press “sauté”. Now add the orzo and minced garlic. Stir with a wooden spoon then sauté till the orzo color turn towards a faint golden. Place the lid on the pot and set the valve to “sealing”.
Pressure cook at high pressure for a minute. Press “cancel” and wait for a little while. Release the remaining pressure by switching the valve to “venting”. Use the aid of a wooden spatula in this instance.
6. Vegan Lentil Orzo Bake
It takes about twenty minutes to get together the ingredients of this course and then an hour to cook them. Not so much time for the promise of delicacy you can be sure to take apart once everything is ready.
The ingredients for the meal are pasta, tomatoes, garam masala, extra virgin oil, red pepper flakes, and breadcrumbs to say the least. Garam masala together with cumin amp up the orzo.
You should leave them out if you do not want this touch.
The process begins with heating olive oil. Add onions, garlic, salt and black pepper. Sauté while stirring frequently. Add lentils, red pepper flakes and after a little while, tomatoes along with orzo.
Pour into a baking dish, add water to its contents then cover it with aluminum foil.
As the above bake, mix breadcrumbs, coriander, salt, and oil separately. After twenty minutes, remove the foil and sprinkle the topping. Return to the oven. Remove once the crumbs are golden.
7. Orzo pasta with Chickpeas
This meal is rich in Vitamin B12 and proteins. It is also budget friendly so do not hesitate to jump on it. The ingredients in it among other things include; orzo, chickpeas, parsley, nutrition yeast, and greens.
The meal is arrived at by first tossing the chickpeas in olive oil, garlic, powder, and salt. Transfer these to a baking sheet and then roast them.
Separately, cook garlic and pepper in olive oil whilst stirring constantly. Mix in the orzo (cooked) and lemon zest. Add nutritional yeast, then mix with the chickpeas. Season with salt and pepper then add more lemon juice.
If you are going to love this meal, the orzo should not be overcooked. Yes it should be tender yet it should retain an aspect that can be bitten.
It is also important to know that you do not have to throw away any leftovers from your meal or cook for one dish as the recipe can be frozen for at least five days.
8. One Pot Tomato Sauce Orzo
This course will only take just about thirty minutes in preparation and cooking. The ingredients are; Garlic, Diced tomatoes, Red pepper, White wine, Parsley, and Vegetable broth.
If you do not have wine on you, it is okay to work with just the other things. Children will like this orzo better if cooked without pepper unless of course your child has a thing for it.
At medium heat, heat oil in the pot. Add oregano and the red pepper flakes then sauté. Add orzo and after a few minutes, toast. Pour in the wine and heat until when the wine mostly cools.
Add diced tomatoes, then simmer. The last steps will include adding salt, broth, simmering etc. Also, you will find yourself having to stir at many points to prevent the orzo from sticking to the pot.
There is this particular combination of three things that goes well with this recipe; Artisan bread, Caesar Salad, and White wine.
9. Creamy Vegan Tuscan Orzo
Creamy vegan tuscan orzo should not be difficult if you already know how to go about it with risotto. Ingredients here include among others, shallot, coconut milk, and then vegetable broth. You can substitute the milk with oat milk.
Each food component on this list has a specific function so you should not ignore them. The milk for instance makes the dish creamy.
The very initial step to making a creamy vegan tuscan orzo is sautéing garlic and shallots. Add tomato paste, pepper, and Italian seasoning next. Take a minute and toast these.
Add vegetable broth, sundried tomatoes, and cannellini beans. There are many more things to do in between though the very last thing to do is top the dish.
It is optional by the way, nonetheless, some of my picks for you here would be fresh basil and vegan parmesan.
If you are going to top, it should be right before eating. This means that you would have to skip the stage at first if you wish to store the orzo instead.
10. Mushroom Orzo
This is a recipe you want to jump on should you want to explore with vegetables. It also has sauce that is promising. The ingredients include, vegetable broth, olive oil, pepper, white wine, and garlic. It is best that the wine is fresh.
You will need a medium pot and in it, sauté onions until they turn brown which is not that long a time. Add garlic and mushrooms next, cook for ten more minutes.
Add wine next and watch for when it evaporates. The last ingredients to add are added at once; salt, pepper, oat milk, and vegetable broth.
We cook the mushrooms first because should they come out half cooked then everything will be ruined. To help with this, make sure that they are cut into small pieces prior to cooking.
The meal will also still taste great should you choose to add other vegetables e.g. broccoli and spinach. In terms of substitutes, you can use more broth in the place of wine.
11. Vegan Lemony Sausage and Kale Orzo
This recipe is a good replacement for high fat/proteins meal without losing much in terms of taste yet benefiting in terms of the vegetables that it carries.
The crucial ingredients here are, garlic, olive oil, black pepper, fennel seeds, and parsley.
To cook, heat olive oil. Add garlic and all the seasonings for tempeh. Add kale, stir then sprinkle some salt and pepper. Sauté. After a little while, squeeze the lemon over the kale.
Remove from heat. Add the product to orzo which is already cooked separately. Toss to properly combine.
This recipe will take in kale to surprising levels. If you are fun of the vegetable thus, feel free to add as much of it as you like. Do not fear that it appears to be disproportionately more than the rest ingredients. The dish will take it in and will still not lose its taste.
This is not for everyone to do of course.
12. Creamy Lemon Zucchini Orzo
This orzo is a good way to use your zucchini should you find that you have already cooked most of its associated dishes yet still have more to spare.
The ingredients here are; orzo, pepper, lemon juice, diary milk, and zucchini.
Melt vegan butter in a pat, add garlic, zucchini, and shallot and let them cook for about five minutes. Add orzo (already cooked), vegan bouillon, lemon juice, and non-diary milk. Stir with thoroughness.
The dish is best served right away so please endeavor too. It is at this time that it will be the creamiest, (that is why). Also you should be sure to shred the zucchini used in the recipe.
It should be the first thing that you do with the zucchini. There are many ways to realize this i.e. using a grater, an attachment on a food processor, or by hands. The food processor option is the quickest though as it takes about thirty seconds on average.
Other Easy Vegan Orzo Recipes
13. Pot Creamy Garlic Orzo
The ingredients are; Orzo, garlic, vegan butter, Broccoli mac, parsley, and lime juice among other things.
14. Vegan Orzo with Spinach and Lemon
To mention the least, ingredients of this recipe are; orzo, olive oil, lemon juice, pepper, vegetable broth, spinach, salt, and sliced mushrooms. You can add capers too and basil though these are optional.
15. Baked Vegan Orzo
Ingredients are; orzo, asparagus, broccoli, tomatoes, cheese, red bell pepper, frozen peas, cauliflower, and sweet potato etc.