Pesto Shrimp Orzo – Bites of Wellness

Pesto shrimp orzo is a straightforward, flavorful, creamy meal that’s prepared in simply 20 minutes with 4 important elements. This orzo pasta is coated with pesto and paired with plump shrimp and tomatoes for a easy weeknight dinner. Excellent for weekday meals but additionally good to feed a crowd.

In case you love fast and straightforward recipes like this, it’s best to attempt my Pesto Tuna Pasta recipe or do this Pesto Chicken Skillet with rice or pasta on the aspect for a easy meal.

Recipe highlights

• 4 elements
• 20 minutes
• Straightforward to make
• Eye-catching meal
• Nice for busy weeknights
• Versatile

Substances

• Orzo – this small pasta seems to be like rice nevertheless it’s pasta. Generally discovering a gluten free orzo will be robust, so you could possibly additionally use gluten free pasta.
• Pesto – use your favourite pesto or make your personal.
• Shrimp – I like to make use of massive Argentinian Pink Shrimp from Dealer Joe’s. I like this as a result of it’s peeled and deveined. Remember to enable the shrimp to defrost fully earlier than cooking.
• Tomatoes – I really like including tomatoes to any dish with pesto. It’s an awesome pop of colour and the flavors pair completely.

The way to make pesto orzo with shrimp

Prepare dinner orzo: Convey water to a boil, prepare dinner orzo in line with the bundle instructions.

Prepare dinner the shrimp. Warmth a medium to massive skillet over medium warmth. When sizzling, spray with avocado oil (or olive oil) and add shrimp, salt and garlic powder. Prepare dinner 2-3 minutes, flip and prepare dinner 1-2 extra minutes. Flip off warmth.

Lower tomatoes in half.

Reserve pasta water: When orzo is completed cooking, reserve 1/4 – 1/2 cup of the pasta water earlier than draining.

Assemble the dish: Drain orzo, add shrimp, pesto and tomatoes to the pot. Add 2-3 tablespoons of the pasta water and stir nicely. Add extra pasta water if wanted.

Prime ideas

• Make this with shrimp, rooster, chickpeas or salmon.
• Use retailer purchased pesto to make this tremendous easy. When you have an extra quantity of basil at dwelling, make your personal pesto!
• To avoid wasting time, you’ll want to purchase peeled, deveined shrimp. I all the time purchase frozen and defrost in underneath an hour or in a single day (when you keep in mind to defrost the night time earlier than).
• In case you neglect to defrost your shrimp, you’ll be able to prepare dinner frozen shrimp in the air fryer.

Variations

• Add extra veggies: Add cooked zucchini, broccoli, bell peppers, asparagus, roasted purple peppers, child spinach, kale, artichoke hearts
• Spice: Add crushed purple pepper flakes
• Different protein: You should use cooked rooster (diced rooster or shredded rooster), chickpeas, Italian tofu or salmon bites.

What to serve with pesto orzo

Widespread questions

The place to search out gluten free orzo

Orzo is pasta that’s cooked quick and resembles rice. Till just lately, there weren’t a ton of gluten free choices. Nonetheless, I’ve discovered 2 actually scrumptious gluten free choices:

Can you utilize selfmade pesto

Sure! When you have an abundance of basil and would favor to make use of selfmade, use your favourite recipe or you’ll be able to attempt:

What when you don’t have orzo?

In case you don’t have orzo pasta, you should use rice, pasta, spaghetti squash, or cauliflower rice.