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The coziest dinner recipe! This Ground Beef Orzo dish is one that I find myself making over and over again. It’s warming, flavorful, and so easy to make!
Easy Dinner Alert!
We’re talking about a one pot wonder that you’ll want to add to the dinner rotation STAT.
It starts with a single dutch oven or heavy bottom pot. We’re not cooking the orzo pasta separately or anything. So cleanup is going to be a breeze.
Then we’ll chop up some aromatics like onions and garlic and toss them into the pot to brown after we cook up the ground beef, or ground turkey, or ground chicken – basically any kind of ground protein you’d like to use.
Smother everything in a few seasonings and a little Calabrian chili paste or red pepper flakes to wake up the senses. Then come the tomatoes and broth. Let it all cook down before you hit it with some parm and a splash of cream. Also, we’ll add in a few handfuls of baby spinach because, health.
And what you’re left with is a comforting dish that the whole family will love.
It’s perfect for busy weeknights. And ideal to make around the holidays when you’re looking for easy prep, easy clean up, and easy to please the fam with this hearty meal.
This is a solid weeknight recipe. I will definitely put this recipe on repeat, really really good.
Ingredients for Ground Beef Orzo
- Olive Oil: a splash is all you need to cook the onions and garlic.
- Ground Beef: I like to use lean beef for this recipe. My grocery store sells a 95% lean ground beef that I often use for my recipes, but 93% will work perfectly too. If you use something with more fat, just be sure to drip off the grease before adding the aromatics.
- Onions: You’ll need a medium to large yellow onion, chopped up. Feel free to use your box chopper to make life easier here.
- Garlic: I like this recipe with a handful of garlic cloves, feel free to use as much or as little as you like.
- Seasonings: we’ll use some Italian seasoning, mushroom powder, and garlic powder. Mushroom powder is an ingredient that’s readily available in most grocery stores these days. It’s often labeled ‘umami seasoning‘. If you can’t find it, feel free to use a splash of low sodium soy sauce in it’s place.
- Calabrian Chili Paste: this is an optional ingredient but I find that it gives the ground beef orzo an amazing flavor. You can swap calabrian chili paste for red pepper flakes if that’s what you have on hand.
- Fire Roasted Tomatoes: You’ll need one can of fire roasted tomatoes. Regular diced tomatoes work too but the fire-roasted variety gives it even more flavor.
- Beef Broth: You can use prepared chicken broth or beef broth. In a pinch, swap it for better than bouillon or bouillon powder and water.
- Orzo: small pasta shapes tend to work best. Orzo closely mimics rice, so that it’s more like a hash dish and you get a little bit of everything in each bite.
- Parmesan Cheese: freshly grated parmesan cheese gives this the nutty flavor that it needs. It pairs beautifully with the fire roasted tomatoes, chili paste and more.
Heavy Cream: Just a splash to bring the whole thing together. - Baby Spinach: fresh spinach brightens the dish, and gives it a bit of color. Feel free to omit this and simply garnish with fresh basil or parsley if you’d like.
Making Ground Beef with Orzo
- Cook the beef. Like with any ground beef recipe, you’ll want to start by crumbling the beef in a dutch oven of medium-high heat until it’s almost cooked.
- Cook the aromatics. Add the onions and cook them down for a few minutes before adding the minced garlic. Once the garlic is aromatic, season the mixture with the spices. This will allow the flavors to bloom in the oil.
- Stir in the rest. Then add the fire roasted tomatoes, pour in the beef broth, add orzo, and bring it to a simmer.
- Let it cook. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and lower the heat to medium-low so nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot, and let it cook until you have tender orzo. Remove the lid then stir in the parmesan cheese, heavy cream and the fresh spinach.
- Finish and serve. Taste and adjust with kosher salt and black pepper needed. Serve with more parmesan cheese on top. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Side Serving Suggestions
Other Ground Beef Recipes
- Skillet Ground Beef Stroganoff
- Gochujang Beef Bowls
- Egyptian Macarona Bechamel
- Adana Kebab (Turkish)
- High Protein Taco Meat Sweet Potato Bowls
Other Orzo Recipes to Make
- Mediterranean Tuna Orzo Summer Salad
- Mediterranean Shrimp Orzo Salad
- Sun-Dried Tomato Baked Salmon Orzo
- Garlic Parmesan Orzo Risotto
- Creamy Chicken Mushroom Soup with Orzo
Cozy Ground Beef Orzo
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 ¼ cup yellow onion chopped
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon umami seasoning for umami, or use soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Calabrian chili paste or ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 14.5 ounce can fire roasted tomatoes
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 cup dry orzo
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream
- 2 handfuls baby spinach
Instructions
- CRUMBLE: Add the olive oil to a 3 quart dutch oven or larger over medium high heat. When hot, add the ground beef, cook and crumble with a spoon. Stir frequently until the beef is done, about 5-6 minutes.
- ADD AROMATICS: Add the chopped onions and cook for another 5-6 minutes or until the onions soften and turn translucent. Add the minced garlic and let cook for 1 minute.
- SEASON: season with Italian seasoning, mushroom powder, garlic powder, and Calabrian chili paste.
- SIMMER: Add the fire roasted tomatoes, beef broth, orzo, kick the heat up high, and bring to a simmer. Then, cover with a lid and drop the temperature to medium-low and let it cook for 8 minutes.
- FINISH: Remove the lid, add the parmesan cheese, heavy cream and baby spinach. Stir to combine. Taste and adjust with kosher salt and black pepper as needed. Serve warm in bowls topped with more parmesan.
Notes
- Storage: Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This is a solid weeknight recipe. I will definitely put this recipe on repeat, really really good.
I made this today for my 1 year and it was a hit!!! Sooo good & quick to make too.