Creamy Lemon Orzo | One Pot, One Portion
This is SUCH a simple dinner, perfect for a weeknight when you only want to spend 10 minutes cooking. It’s a very forgiving recipe so you can adjust the portion size or the amounts as per your preference.
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One-Pot Orzo
This one-pot orzo recipe is so quick and easy. A 15 minute meal with minimal washing up, the perfect single serving of pasta for cooking for one.
If you like this recipe you might want to take a look at some of my other single-serve one pot pasta recipes like my Creamy Chicken and Chorizo Orzo, my Herby Chicken Meatball Brothy Pasta, my Toasted Corn & Coconut Mac and Cheese, my Tomato Tamarind Pasta with Chickpeas & Crispy Garlic and my Broccoli, Cheddar Mac and Cheese.
You're Going to Love This:
15 Minute Meal
This meal only takes 15 minutes to cook, and you don't need to turn the oven on so it's a great weeknight meal for one.
One Pot Recipe
As with all of my recipes, this is a one pot dish or one pan dish, which makes every meal time easier and more enjoyable, especially when cooking for one. Lucky for you, all my recipes are made in one pot and you can find them all here.
Single-Serve Recipe
Again, these are single serve recipes so you can make this just for yourself! Though it would be very easy to scale up to serve multiple people if needed. Again, if you like one portion recipes then you'll love every single other recipe on my site!
Ingredients and Tools
Orzo
- One of my favourite pasta shapes of all time, here orzo is perfect because its size mixed with the creaminess of the sauce means you get an almost risotto-like result from this one-pot pasta.
Frozen Peas
- I don't know anyone that doesn't have a bag of frozen peas in their freezer. They're so handy to have in and here they add a little pop of juicy freshness.
Cream Cheese
- A great ingredient to always have on hand. Stir cream cheese through pasta to create a ready-made sauce then you can lift the flavour with the ingredients below.
Lemon, Basil & Chilli
- Lemon, basil and chilli are 3 ingredients that work so well together. They add brightness and freshness and a little bit of heat, which cuts through the creaminess of the pasta perfectly.
Step by step instructions
Fry the onions and garlic: Add a drizzle of olive oil to a small saucepan. Add the onion and fry for 3-4 minutes over a medium heat until lightly golden and soft. Once soft add in the garlic and cook for a couple more minutes.
Add the orzo: Add in your orzo, water and vegetable stock and stir. Let that simmer away for 8-10 minutes until al dente (depending on how high your heat is you can add more water if needed). Once the orzo is a couple of minutes away from being done, add in the peas, cream cheese, basil, and lemon zest and juice. Give it a good stir and let it finish cooking. You can loosen the sauce with more water if needed.
Season and serve: Season with salt and lots of black pepper.Serve up and top with some chilli flakes and enjoy!
Variations, substitutions or modifications
Gluten-Free: To make this recipe gluten free simply use gluten free orzo or another short pasta shape.
Vegetarian: This is already a one-pot vegetarian pasta recipe!
Vegan: Simply swap cream cheese for a vegan or dairy-free alternative.
FAQs
Can I make a double portion?
- You can easily double up this single-serve recipe just by doubling the ingredients.
If you like this recipe you might want to take a look at some of my other one-tray dishes like my Harissa Chicken Traybake with Roasted Vegetable Traybake, my Roasted Chicken & Vegetable Traybake with Lemony Herb Salsa or my Chorizo, Corn & Courgette Gnocchi.
Ingredients
- 1/2 Onion, finely diced
- Olive oil
- 2 Cloves Garlic, minced
- 85g Orzo
- 300ml water
- 1 Vegetable Stock Cube
- 75g Frozen Peas
- 65g Cream Cheese
- Juice and Zest of 1/2 Lemon
- Handful of Fresh Basil leaves, chopped or torn
- Chilli flakes (optional)
- Salt
- Black Pepper
Instructions
- Add a drizzle of olive oil to a small saucepan.
- Add the onion and fry for 3-4 minutes over a medium heat until lightly golden and soft.
- Once soft add in the garlic and cook for a couple more minutes.
- Add in your orzo, water and vegetable stock and stir. Let that simmer away for 8-10 minutes until al dente (depending on how high your heat is you can add more water if needed).
- Once the orzo is a couple of minutes away from being done, add in the peas, cream cheese, basil, and lemon zest and juice. Give it a good stir and let it finish cooking. You can loosen the sauce with more water if needed.
- Season with salt and lots of black pepper.
- Serve up and top with some chilli flakes and enjoy!
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If you like this recipe, you'll love my cookbook! Full of delicious meals for all types of occasions, there's something for everyone
Meal Plans & More...
Subscribe to my newsletter for weekly meal plans, for one! I select 5 one pot one portion recipes that use similar ingredients and include your shopping list plus recipe notes, ingredient swaps and tips and tricks for using up leftovers. Take a look at the first one here...
Ginger Chicken Rice Bowl
Usually I would consider a brothy meal that you eat with a bowl and a spoon a form of comfort food, however, the flavours in this dish are so fresh and vibrant that it has to go in this chapter. I love the fiery freshness of ginger and it’s the predominant flavour in this rich chicken broth. The finished dish isn’t a soup as such, but there is just enough broth to make every mouthful deliciously juicy. It also takes minimal time to make so it’s a useful recipe to have on hand for days when you’re short of time.
Curried Chicken Skewers with Satay Slaw
I have an affinity for crunchy slaws, as I think they provide more interest, more texture and are more filling than many other salads. However, I’m not partial to excessive quantities of mayonnaise. Here I opt for coconut milk instead, which delivers the same creaminess in a less monotonous way. The fresh coriander and bite of roasted peanuts keep this slaw lively and interesting and are perfect with the lightly charred curried chicken skewers. This would also be great sandwiched between a burger bun, or on a soft flatbread.
Creamy Green Linguine
In a way, this linguine changed my life. It was the first recipe in the series to take off on social media, bringing new people and new opportunities into my life. It’s an exceptionally simple recipe that uses the same water to cook both the pasta and the vegetables, which you then use to create a velvety, carbonara-esque sauce with the cheese and egg. I’ve retested this and tweaked it since its original conception and, though I can’t promise it will change your life, I can promise it will be delicious.
Vegetable Pancake with a Chilli Crisp Egg
This vegetable pancake has its origin in Korea (where they’re known as yachaejeon) and is the perfect dish to use up odds and ends of any vegetables you have lying around. Cabbage, spring onions, carrots and courgettes work really well and provide a nice balance of moisture and crunch, but peppers, potatoes, mushrooms or leafy greens are good alternatives. Depending on the vegetables you use, you may need more or less water to make the light batter so adjust as necessary.
Prawn & Mango Salad
The perfect fresh, but still flavourful, summer salad! This is a beautiful fragrant salad with a creamy, zingy coconut milk dressing. With just a little bit of chopping and a minute of whisking, you’ve got a gorgeous summer lunch, perfect for working from home, taking lunch to the office or a sunny meal in the garden this weekend.
Some big praise!
Take a look at what some of my happy customers have to say about "One Pot, One Portion"!
"One Pot One Portion is, to borrow from The Parent Trap “a brilliant beyond brilliant idea”…I know many feel that it’s too much bother to cook ‘just’ for themselves — a sad admission, I feel — and to those people, and many others besides, I say: get this book and prove yourself liberatingly wrong!…Thank goodness for books! And thank goodness for Eleanor Wilkinson, a young talent to lift the spirits…There are so many people who could benefit from this book…this book is a boon and a blessing"
"A genius approach to bringing joy to every meal, Eleanor gets that good food is the best form of self-love."
I buy a lot of cook books and this is genuinely one of the best l've ever bought. I've tried 6 or 7 recipes so far and they're all winners. I'm well used to scaling recipes down to one portion, but not having to calculate measurements as l go along feels like a little luxury. One of the best things about the book is that all the recipes are actually cooked in one pot - in a lot of other so-called books you still have to make your side dish in a separate pot. With these recipes, even if they include rice or pasta, it's all cooked together. No mountains of washing up! Highly recommended.
I have been following Eleanor on IG for a while and have made several of her dishes before the cookbook came out. I was thrilled to see so many new things to try and have already made about 6 of them. Her recipes are approachable, the dishes are delicious, and they make me feel like I can cook! Highly recommend.
If you love eating good home cooked food but can't be bothered to cook just for yourself, then this is the book for you. Using ingredients that are easy to find, then mixing, cooking and eating from the same pan or dish means a minimum of washing up. Every recipe I have tried so far has been delicious and have all turned out well which isn't always the case with many cookery books. Definitely recommend!
Following Eleanor on Instagram and seeing her recipes come to life is one thing but then having them in my own kitchen is quite another. Not only are the recipes easy to follow and delicious she also help you not to waste food. This book is like having all your favourite foods in one place with the added bonus of an old friend showing you the ropes. Congratulations Eleanor when can I pre-order the next one?
Bought this for my sister who cooks for one. She absolutely loved it finding it inspiring! So many great recipes to motivate and keep you cooking when it's just you eating!
Follow Eleanor on socials and knew I NEEDED this book immediately! SO glad I paid extra and had it shipped from the UK (to US). Eleanor's voice is loud and clear in every recipe. The pictures are beautiful, the instructions are perfectly clear, and I want to make EVERYTHING. I cannot recommend this book enough!
This is perfect, as far as influencer chefs go, I find this book refreshing in what has become a cohort of lauded influencers who really aren't doing much more than the bog standard meals most people make anyway, or making googled recipes and adding their own "flair". This book is different as it's your normal fare you'd likely make yourself, given a little bit of a twist to speed up the process / use less utensils / ingredients / food waste, in really creative and tasty ways, all perfectly portioned for one.
Great present! Bought this for my sister who cooks for one. She absolutely loved it finding it inspiring! So many great recipes to motivate and keep you cooking when it's just you eating!
Great present! Bought this for my sister who cooks for one. She absolutely loved it finding it inspiring! So many great recipes to motivate and keep you cooking when it's just you
Follow Eleanor on socials and knew I NEEDED this book immediately! SO glad I paid extra and had it shipped from the UK (to US). Eleanor's voice is loud and clear in every recipe. The pictures are beautiful, the instructions are perfectly clear, and I want to make EVERYTHING. I cannot recommend this book enough!
This recipe book is stunning and fulfils its role brilliantly in catering for individuals who want to eat delicious meals, but don't want to prepare family sized portions or devote their entire evening to cooking. Who'd believe you could make an entire roast for one person and only use one pan in the process! She is a genius and I couldn't recommend this book any more highly.
One of the best things about the book is that all the recipes are actually cooked in one pot - in a lot of other so-called books you still have to make your side dish in a separate pot. With these recipes, even if they include rice or pasta, it's all cooked together. No mountains of washing up!
This is the book I've been waiting for! I (very happily!) live alone, love to cook and read cookery books, but every recipe is for two people or more. This gorgeous book contains recipes perfectly proportioned for one person (and I'm always a very hungry one person!) which ensures more variety, less food waste, and pure, gluttonous joy.
It's so nice to finally have a recipe book that I can go to if I want a quick easy meal with minimal cleaning up required! Everything l've tried so far is delicious. And I salivate at the thought of everything in there!
Totally reignited my cooking mojo which had been MIA for a while. I'm going to buy my daughter a copy to take back to Uni too as everything is simple and delicious - perfect for a student!
Best cookbook for somebody single!
The fact I know I won't have loads to wash up really feels motivating and l've earmarked so many of the recipes already.
This book is like having all your favourite foods in one place with the added bonus of an old friend showing you the ropes. Congratulations Eleanor when can I pre-order the next one?