I LOVE orzo, and this vegan orzo pasta recipe is my favorite. I still remember the first time I discovered orzo; I was browsing Pinterest and saw a creator making an orzo recipe. At first, I was confused, and I kept asking myself, “why would someone cook rice like that?”. It didn’t occur to me that it wasn’t rice. But thankfully, I eventually learned about orzo, which completely changed my pasta game.
I have been making this vegan orzo pasta recipe for the past two weeks now, and let me tell you–I’m obsessed! The flavor. The texture. The simplicity. Everything about this recipe screams terrific. I’m so glad I stretched my cooking skills by coming up with this recipe because now, I don’t think I will make orzo any other way.
If you are in the mood for pasta, I suggest you try this recipe.
Check Out: Green Veggie Pasta Recipe
INGREDIENTS
- Mixed Vegetables: For this recipe, I decided to use onions, green & red bell peppers, and sweet corn. However, feel free to use as many vegetables as you like. There are no rules to the number of veggies you can add. The more, the merrier.
- Orzo: We can’t forget orzo because this recipe won’t be what it is without it.
- Spices: I used a variety of spices for this recipe, such as cilantro leaves, dill, cayenne pepper, black pepper, red pepper flakes, curry, salt, and thyme. The combination of these spices gives this dish a wonderful flavor
- Vegetable stock: The secret to this great-tasting orzo is cooking the orzo in vegetable broth and not water. You got to trust me on this one because the vegetable broth enhances the taste of the orzo
- Oil: This is used to toast the orzo and sauté the veggies. You can use any oil of your choice. I prepared this dish with olive oil, vegetable oil, and canola oil. So far, the flavor has stayed the same. Thus, no need to worry about using a specific kind of oil
- Cherry tomatoes: No need to go too crazy with the quantity. You only need a handful for this dish. I have prepared this meal in the past without cherry tomatoes. Thus, I must warn you, do not eliminate it from this dish (even if you don’t like tomatoes). It takes this dish from 20% to 100%, so do not skip it.
- Garlic: At this point, I’m sure we all know that garlic takes dishes to another level of deliciousness. And so, for this recipe, I made sure to incorporate it.
- Brown sugar (optional): I often use about a teaspoon to eliminate the slappy sour taste of tomatoes. This is entirely optional, but it does some wonders for this dish
PREPARATION
To make this recipe, you first need to toast the orzo in a bit of oil, then boil it in vegetable stock. The oil prevents the orzo from sticking together and getting mushy after cooking. Once the orzo is al dente, set it aside. To a pan on medium heat, sauté your mixed veggies, garlic, cherry tomatoes, and spices. Add in your cooked orzo and combine.
Now, all you need to do is serve and enjoy. This dish takes less than 20 minutes to prepare, and I recommend having it in your recipe book as a quick to-go meal.
Let me know in the comments if you give this recipe a try.
Simple vegan orzo pasta
Ingredients
- 1 cup Orzo
- 1½ cups vegetable stock
- 1 handful cherry tomatoes - sliced in half
- ½ onion - diced
- ¼ cup red bell pepper - diced
- ¼ cup green bell pepper - diced
- ¼ cup sweet corn
- 2 tbsps oil
Spices
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp dill
- ½ tsp cilantro leaves
- ½ tsp curry
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes
- ½ tsp thyme
- 1 tbsp garlic - minced
- 1 tsp brown sugar - optional (to remove the slappy taste of the tomatoes)
Instructions
Prepping the Orzo
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in a small pot on medium heat
- Add in orzo and toast until lightly golden
- Pour in vegetable stock and cook till al dente
- Set aside.
Making the pasta
- To a large pan on medium heat, sauté onions, garlic, green and red bell peppers, sweet corn, cherry tomatoes, and spices.
- Add cooked orzo pasta and combine thoroughly. Top with fresh cilantro.
- Serve as a side dish with chicken, tofu or your meat of choice and Enjoy!
