Kio’s Recipes

Creamy Cajun Chicken Orzo

Name: Creamy Cajun Chicken Orzo
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Comfort Food
Ingredients: 1 ½ lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs; 1 tbsp cajun seasoning; salt & pepper (to taste); 1 tbsp olive oil (or avocado oil); ½ jumbo yellow onion (diced (about 1 cup); 1 green bell pepper (diced); 3 cloves garlic (minced); 1 tbsp tomato paste (optional); 1 tsp cajun seasoning; salt & pepper (to taste); 1 cup dry orzo; 2 cups chicken broth (or chicken bone broth for extra protein); ½ cup heavy cream (*); 2 oz fresh spinach; juice from ½ lemon

Entrée or Main Course

4 servings

porcije

10 minutes

aktivno vrijeme

45 minutes

ukupno vrijeme

Započni kuhanje

Sastojci

1 ½ lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs

1 tbsp cajun seasoning

salt & pepper (to taste)

1 tbsp olive oil (or avocado oil)

½ jumbo yellow onion (diced (about 1 cup)

1 green bell pepper (diced)

3 cloves garlic (minced)

1 tbsp tomato paste (optional)

1 tsp cajun seasoning

salt & pepper (to taste)

1 cup dry orzo

2 cups chicken broth (or chicken bone broth for extra protein)

½ cup heavy cream (*)

2 oz fresh spinach

juice from ½ lemon

Upute

Pat chicken thighs dry and then season both sides with cajun seasoning, salt & pepper. Bring a large pan to medium high heat. Once hot, add olive oil. Then, add seasoned chicken. Sear for 4-5 minutes on each side. Remove chicken from the pan and set aside.

Reduce heat to medium. If there is plenty of excess oil remaining in the pan, just use that. If not, add a bit more olive oil. Then, add onion, bell pepper, salt & pepper. Sauté, stirring occasionally, for about 3 minutes.

Add tomato paste and garlic, stir, and let cook for 2 more minutes. Then add cajun seasoning and stir to combine.

Next, add orzo. Let it toast, stirring occasionally, for about 3 minutes. Then, deglaze the pan with chicken broth, scraping up any browned bits at the bottom of the pan.

Nestle the chicken in the orzo, making sure it's mostly submerged. If not, add a bit more broth. Then, reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the chicken is done through and the orzo is tender. I like to flip my chicken halfway through.

Turn off the heat. Temporarily remove the chicken from the pan. Stir in the heavy cream, spinach and lemon juice. Taste and adjust salt, pepper & cajun seasoning as needed.

Once the spinach has wilted slightly, add back in the chicken, top with parsley if desired, and enjoy!

Prehrana

Veličina porcije

Kalorije

519 kcal

Ukupno masti

23 g

Zasićene masti

9 g

Nezasićene masti

11 g

Trans masti

0.03 g

Kolesterol

198 mg

Natrij

645 mg

Ukupni ugljikohidrati

38 g

Dijetalna vlakna

4 g

Ukupni šećeri

6 g

Proteini

41 g