Brown Butter Chicken and Vegetable Orzo
This Brown Butter Chicken and Vegetable Orzo has juicy chicken marinated in Greek dressing, sauted vegetables, and orzo that are tossed in a thyme brown butter sauce.
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 734kcal
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1.5 pounds chicken breasts cut into ~1 inch sized cubes
- juice of ½ lemon
- ½ tbsp. fresh basil chopped and packed
- ½ cup Greek dressing
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Vegetables
- 2-3 tbsp olive oil divided
- 1 bell pepper chopped (I used ½ of a green pepper and ½ of a yellow pepper)
- 2/3 cup onion diced (I used 1/3 cup red onion and 1/3 cup sweet onion)
- 2 cloves fresh minced garlic
- 1 lemon divided
- ½ zucchini cut into ~1/4” x 1.5” pieces
- 1 ½ cups baby tomatoes
- ½ pound asparagus cut into 2-3” pieces
Brown Butter Sauce and Orzo
- ½ pound dried orzo
- 2-3 cups chicken broth
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- ½ tbsp. fresh thyme
- 2 teaspoons fresh minced garlic gloves
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley chopped
- 1 tbsp flour
Instructions
Chicken and Vegetables
- In a container that can be covered, mix together lemon juice, basil and Greek dressing. Add chicken and stir to ensure chicken is evenly coated. Cover and let marinate in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
- In a large pot or dutch oven, heat 1 tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat. Add bell peppers, onions, garlic, and juice of ½ of a lemon. Saute until softened, Remove from pot and set aside.
- If the pot is dry, add another tbsp olive oil, otherwise, you may skip this. Add chicken and cook, stirring frequently, until chicken is cooked through. Remove from pot and set aside.
- Next, add another tbsp. of olive oil. Then, add asparagus, zucchini, and tomatoes. Saute until softened and tomatoes are blistered.
Orzo and Brown Butter Sauce
- Cook orzo according to package directions (consider substituting 2-3 cups of the water with chicken broth, which is listed in ingredients).
- While orzo is cooing, make the brown butter sauce. Melt butter in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Continue to stir until butter begins to turn amber in color.
- Stir in garlic, salt, thyme, and parsley. Continue to stir for another 1-2 minutes, or until butter begins to turn a deep amber in color.
- Remove from heat and stir in flour.
- Stir together cooked chicken, vegetables, orzo, and juice from remaining ½ of lemon. Pour brown butter sauce over dish and stir well.
Nutrition
Calories: 734kcal | Carbohydrates: 59g | Protein: 47g | Fat: 34g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 139mg | Sodium: 1223mg | Potassium: 1258mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 2275IU | Vitamin C: 80.3mg | Calcium: 79mg | Iron: 3.9mg