It’s a one pot dinner kinda day! This one not only has a minimum prep time, it also comes complete with sun-dried tomato and baby spinach flavored orzo in one pan! It’s totally giving Tuscan Chicken vibes. But it comes together in one pan with a pasta, veggies, and salmon. We’ll start by making the salmon marinade in the same dish that you’ll bake the pasta in. Dip the salmon to coat both sides in the garlic and red pepper marinade. Then add the orzo, sun-dried tomatoes, and broth and let it cook in the oven until the orzo is almost done. We’ll top it with the salmon filets and bake a little longer. What you’re left with is an easy one pan salmon orzo dinner!
Ingredients for baked salmon orzo recipe:
Salmon fillets: You’ll want to use 4-5 ounce fillets. Keep in mind that the cooking time will vary based on ounces of each salmon filet. You’ll want to reduce the cooking time for 4 ounces of salmon.Sun-dried Tomatoes: We’ll add sun-dried tomato oil to the marinade and then use the tomatoes themselves with the orzo and the pesto to give it tons of delicious flavor. If you don’t have the tomato that come packed in oil, you can swap it with a couple tablespoons of olive oil. But know that you’ll need to flavor the marinade with a few extra seasonings. The tomato oil really packs a flavorful punch!Melted Butter: use unsalted butter so you can control the amount of sodium in this recipe.Lemon Juice: Fresh lemon juice helps flavor the marinade and is the acid that this recipe needs.Seasonings: You’ll need kosher salt, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes. We’ll use all of these to flavor the marinade.Sun-dried tomato pesto: this is an ingredient that is readily available in most grocery stores these days. If you prefer to make your own, I have a recipe here.Garlic: we’ll mince a few cloves of garlic and add it to the orzo portion of the dish.Orzo pasta: You’ll need dry orzo pasta for this recipe. This is an ingredient that’s easily available in most grocery stores.Chicken Broth: I prefer to use low sodium chicken broth for this recipe and then adjust the sodium as needed.Parmesan Cheese: Adds umami and saltiness to the recipe. We’ll add the cheese, spinach, and cream once we remove the foil, right before. adding the salmon.Baby Spinach: Adds color and nutrients to the dish.Heavy Cream: Gives it a subtle hint of creaminess without being too much.Garnish: you can garnish this recipe with chopped parsley or chives. Any herbs that add subtle flavor will do!
Instructions for salmon orzo recipe:
Make the marinade. Start by preheating the oven. While the oven heats through, we’ll combine the sun-dried tomato oil, butter, lemon juice, ¾ teaspoon salt, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes in the dish we plan on using for the orzo bake. Dip the salmon filets, flesh side down in the marinade. Then keep the fillets aside.Simmer the orzo. To the remaining marinade, add the pesto, tomatoes, fresh garlic, orzo and the broth. Cover with a tight-fitting lid or foil so that the orzo has a chance to boil and took through in the total time.Finish the dish.Remove the dish from the oven, you’ll notice the orzo looks watery, but don’t worry! Stir in the parmesan, spinach and cream. Place the marinated salmon on. top and let the dish cook until the salmon is tender and the orzo is al dente. Remove from the oven and top with parsley or other fresh herbs.
If you like this recipe, you might also like:
Tomato Basil and Feta Cheese Orzo SaladRoasted Garlic Italian Couscous Salad with OlivesSkillet Chili Crisp Salmon with Cucumber Sweet Pepper SaladGarlic Butter Baked Salmon in FoilPineapple Salsa Salmon with Brown Sugar Glaze
Swaps: feel free to swap the tomato pesto for basil pesto if that’s more your thing.Sun-dried tomatoes: if yours didn’t come packed in oil, you can still use them but you’ll need to amp up seasonings for the salmon a bit and swap the oil for olive oil.
