Hearty Vegetable Orzo 🥦🍋 is an EASY vegan recipe that’s ready in 30 minutes and makes eating your vegetables feel comforting and delicious. Fresh lemon and basil keep the dish light and flavorful!
The Best Orzo and Vegetables
- This veggie orzo is perfectly al dente with crisp-tender vegetables and a generous drizzle of olive oil that gives the dish a rich, almost buttery flavor.
- Lemon zest, fresh lemon juice, and basil brighten up the orzo and vegetables, making every bite feel fresh, light, and perfect for spring or summer.
- Naturally vegan and full of flavor, this easy side dish is satisfying enough to please everyone at the table.
- It feeds a crowd and holds well at room temperature, making it ideal for parties, potlucks, and get-togethers. You can also chill it and serve it as a refreshing pasta salad.
Ingredients for Vegetable Orzo
To make this orzo skillet with vegetables, you’ll need:
- Orzo and olive oil: Orzo is a small, rice-shaped pasta that makes this dish feel hearty while still light and fresh. Be generous with the olive oil since it helps coat the pasta and vegetables, prevents the orzo from sticking as it cools, and gives everything a rich, almost buttery flavor.
- Vidalia onion, garlic, zucchini, broccoli, and red bell pepper: This colorful vegetable combination adds sweetness, crunch, and plenty of texture. A sweet onion such as Vidalia is especially nice, but yellow onion works too. Feel free to swap in other vegetables you have on hand, such as sugar snap peas, shredded carrots, tomatoes, peas, English cucumber, marinated artichokes, or olives.
- Garbanzo beans: Chickpeas add satisfying plant-based protein and make this naturally vegan orzo recipe more filling. Canned garbanzo beans are perfect here; just drain and rinse them well first. Cannellini beans are also a great substitute.
- Kosher salt, black pepper, cardamom, and cayenne pepper: These seasonings give the vegetables and orzo warm, lightly spiced flavor with a subtle kick. The cayenne adds heat, so reduce it or leave it out for a milder dish.
- Lemon juice, lemon zest, and fresh basil: The lemon brightens the whole recipe, while fresh basil adds a summery finish. Stir the basil in near the end so it stays fragrant and fresh. Dried basil can be used in a pinch; use about 1 tablespoon, keeping in mind the finished dish will not have quite the same fresh flavor.
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Vegetable Orzo
- Cook the orzo until al dente, then drain it well.
- While the pasta cooks, sauté the onion until softened. Add the garbanzo beans and vegetables, then cover briefly so everything becomes crisp-tender.
- Toss the warm orzo with the vegetables and garbanzo beans.
- Stir in the lemon zest, lemon juice, and fresh basil, then drizzle with olive oil to bring everything together and keep the orzo beautifully glossy as it cools.
What to Serve with Vegetable Orzo
Lemon Basil Veggie Orzo
🥦🍋 is an EASY vegan recipe that’s ready in 30 minutes and makes eating your vegetables feel comforting and delicious. Fresh lemon and basil keep the dish light and flavorful!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound orzo, cooked according to package directions and drained
- 4 tablespoons olive oil for pan + more for finished dish, as desired
- 1 medium/large sweet Vidalia onion, diced small
- 4 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced
- one 15-ounce can garbanzo or cannelinni beans, drained and rinsed (I used no salt added)
- 1 medium/large zucchini, diced into half-moons
- 1 medium head broccoli florets, about 4 to 5 cups
- ½ red bell pepper, diced small
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more as desired
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more as desired
- 1 to 2 teaspoons cardamom
- pinch cayenne pepper, optional and to taste (does not make it spicy, only enhances flavor)
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest, or to taste
- ¼ cup lemon juice, or to taste
- ⅓ cup chiffonaded basil, loosely packed
- lemon wedges, optional for garnishing
Instructions
- To a very large pot, add the orzo and cook according to package directions. Tip – Add 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil to the water to prevent orzo from sticking, Drain and return to pot; set aside.
- While orzo is cooking, to a separate large skillet add 3 tablespoons olive oil, onions, and cook for about 5 minutes; stir intermittently.
- Add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute, or until fragrant; stir nearly continuously.
- Add the beans, zucchini, broccoli, bell peppers, season evenly with salt, pepper, cardamom, optional cayenne, stir, cover the pot, reduce the heat to medium and allow vegetables to steam for about 5 minutes, or until as tender as desired.
- Transfer the beans and vegetables to the pot with the orzo, add the lemon zest, lemon juice, basil, stir to combine, taste and check for seasoning balance. At this point I added 2 additional teaspoons salt, 1 additional teaspoon pepper, and 3 tablespoons of olive oil. This is a very large pot of pasta and vegetables, don’t be afraid to season it generously; the olive oil keeps everything from sticking, especially the leftovers.
- Optionally garnish with lemon wedges and serve immediately.
Notes
- Recipe will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Nutrition
Serving: 1, Calories: 341cal, Carbohydrates: 55g, Protein: 12g, Fat: 9g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g, Sodium: 660mg, Fiber: 9g, Sugar: 10g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Hi Averie! I just made the lemon basil orzo and vegetables, and it is one of the most delicious meals I’ve ever tasted. I didn’t have fresh basil, so I used 1 teaspoon of dry, and I also used 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder, since I didn’t have any fresh garlic, either. Absolutely incredible. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe. I highly recommend to anyone who think they might like this to try it.
Hi Averie! I just made the lemon basil orzo and vegetables, and it is one of the most delicious meals I’ve ever tasted. I didn’t have fresh basil, so I used 1 teaspoon of dry, and I also used 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder, since I didn’t have any fresh garlic, either. Absolutely incredible. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe. I highly recommend to anyone who think they might like this to try it.
Hi Averie! Quick question. Can this be frozen? I do make a chicken noodle soup that I freeze with good results. Thank you for sharing this recipe, and I can’t wait to try it.
I would say you can freeze it but have to know that upon thawing the veggies are going to have a much mushier texture like frozen-then-thawed vegetables always have.
Hello, I like your recipes. I have a Facebook page where I save recipes for my self and friends. I was unable to find a way to save this recipe to my Facebook page. Can you fix that? Thank you. Dave Richey
Just copy and paste the link into your FB page https://www.averiecooks.com/lemon-basil-orzo-and-vegetables/
Thanks for sharing!
Yum!! Lemon and basil sounds so good , especially with all those vegetables, pasta and beans!
It was so good! Refreshing and light, but still with a comforting touch. Perfect for this time of year!