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Orzo with Mushrooms, Scallions and Parmesan is a delicious pasta dish made with orzo and mushrooms in a light sauce flavored with chicken stock, marjoram, scallions, and Parmesan cheese.
This recipe for Orzo with Mushrooms, Scallions and Parmesan has been in my recipe collection for years. It has also been shared with several of my family members, and it’s so good, it shows up on the menu for many of our family gatherings.
This Orzo with Mushrooms, Scallions and Parmesan is super easy to make. It’s a delicious combination of tender orzo pasta and plump sautéed mushrooms. Although the ingredients are simple, this pasta dish packs a lot of flavor because the orzo is cooked in chicken stock. (Use homemade chicken stock if you can, or a good-quality canned stock for convenience.)
Then the remaining stock (leftover from cooking the pasta) is used as a light sauté sauce that is flavored with marjoram and chopped fresh scallions. Those delicious flavors absorb into the mushrooms as they cook – further intensifying the savoriness of the dish.
Finally, the cooked orzo and mushrooms are finished off with a sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese – which adds additional creaminess plus more flavor to the orzo and mushrooms.
This Orzo with Mushrooms, Scallions and Parmesan can be served as a side dish, but it also makes a delicious, meatless main course as well. And, if you’d like to make this as a vegetarian dish, feel free to swap the chicken stock for vegetable broth.
Our recipe today was adapted from this recipe I originally clipped out of Better Homes & Gardens magazine several years ago.
This recipe originally appeared on A Family Feast in February 2013. We’ve updated the photos and text.
You may also like these other recipes made with orzo pasta:
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Orzo with Mushrooms, Scallions and Parmesan
Ingredients
- 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock (plus more as needed)
- 3/4 cup orzo pasta
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 8 ounces white button mushrooms, cleaned and quartered
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried marjoram
- 1 bunch scallions, diced (include both white and green parts)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, bring the chicken stock to a boil. Add orzo to the stock and cook until al dente – approximately 10 minutes. (Add more chicken stock to the saucepan if necessary if the pasta absorbs all of the liquid during the cooking process.)
- While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add quartered mushrooms and sauté, stirring frequently, until just slightly tender. Add marjoram and scallions to the skillet and cook, stirring for about 1 minute.
- Drain the orzo in a colander that has been placed in a large bowl – you want to collect any remaining chicken stock leftover from the cooking process to use for the sauce.
- Add the cooked orzo to the skillet with the mushroom mixture, along with 1/4 to 1/3 cup of the reserved chicken stock from cooking the pasta. Over medium high heat, simmer until most of the liquid is evaporated. Remove from heat. Season with salt and grated parmesan – toss to combine and serve immediately.
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ORZO WITH USHROOMS AND SCALLIONS AND PARMESAN
I TOTALLY LOVE THIS DISH. EASY TO COOK AND ADAPT.
I USE MIXED WILD AND BROWN CHESTNUT MUSHROOMS ADD A BIT OF DOULBLE CREAM IF YOU WANT RELLY CRSMY SAUCE.
I AM NOT A RISSOTO LOVER AND THIS WORKS SO WELL.
DELISH
★★★★★
Thanks Shelagh!
We had this with a pan seared steakhouse salmon and roasted asparagus and it was AMAZING. My family hates mushrooms so I always mince them. Everyone inhaled this! It’s totally fine dining or Thanksgiving worthy!! And made our recipes of highest standards list! Thanks for sharing ❤️❤️
★★★★★
Wow Angel – Thank you so much! So glad the recipe was a hit!
Do you have nutrition info on this dish? It’s really good but we are watching calories and carbs
and it would be good to know.
★★★★★
Hi Beverly – I’ve added the information to the bottom of the recipe card.
This is wonderfully delicious! Easy and delish are winners. The Parmesan cheese adds a great flavor. Made this several times and always gets wow this is sooo good. I would like my mushrooms to be as dark as yours. Did you use baby Bella’s? The white mushrooms didn’t get toasted the way I see in photo. Any suggestions? I used a nonstick pan as that’s what it looked like was used in photo.
★★★★★
Hi Sandy – You can definitely use baby bella mushrooms in this recipe. (I don’t recall if we used those in the photos – I does look like we did!)
Hi Martha, your Orzo with Mushrooms, Scallions and Parmesan recipe sounds absolutely delicious!
I’m making Panko Scallops for my husband on Valentines Day. I was thinking of making Lemon Orzo w/Asparagus until I saw your recipe. We love mushrooms and it appears this can be made ahead and warmed in the microwave. Do you think the Mushroom Orzo would go nicely with the Scallops?
Myrna
Hi Myrna – Yes – sounds like a great side dish for the scallops and it reheats nicely in the microwave. Hope you both enjoy the recipe!
Delicious and so simple to make!
Thanks Jennifer!
Delicious! I only used 1/4 cup parm and immured the salt and marjoram and used brown Bella mushroom instead and added 4 shiitake mushroom tops. I did add butter when stir frying the mushroom. This was amazing, thanks for the recipes!
You’re welcome Jenny – glad you enjoyed the recipe!
I love mushrooms and finally made this wonderful recipe! I cooked it exactly as posted-was a little hesitant about adding a whole bunch of scallions but it worked! I added a couple of grinds of black pepper after plating and enjoyed every bite. I’m adding this to my vegetarian rotation (Using veggie broth). Thank you for a simple-to-make and delicious recipe!
★★★★★
Glad you enjoyed the recipe Sharon! If you love mushrooms, you may enjoy this recipe too: https://www.afamilyfeast.com/mushroom-ragout/
Delicious (with adjustments for personal taste)!
I’m most emphatically NOT a fan of Parmesan, so we substituted minced garlic and Cajun seasoning, to bring out the flavor in the lemon pepper. We added the seasonings to the vegetables while sauteing, instead of just before serving, to let the flavors infuse, and served it with seasoned and baked chicken breast as our protein.
No butter in our recipe; we used olive oil across the board.
My men and my dietician approved, and this will definitely be a recipe my family repeats in the future!
★★★★
Glad you found a variation that you enjoy Andi!
This was crazy easy and so delicious! I added fresh spinach to the mushrooms and served it all over chicken- 100% adding this into the busy week night rotation. Thank you!!
★★★★★
You’re very welcome Serena! Love the idea of adding spinach to this dish!