Spinach Turkey Orzo is a super easy meal that is packed with flavor for a perfect quick dinner option! This orzo dish has ground turkey, spinach, pine nuts, golden raisins and is topped with olive oil and shaved parmesan. The complexity of flavors in this dish is amazing, but you don't have to spend a long time getting this dinner together!
Quick dinners. We all know how important it is to have those quick and easy dinner recipes in our arsenal. This particular recipe came about when we first moved to Arizona when we were living with my parents.
My mom and I would take turns making dinner for the five of us (my parents, grandmother, husband and me) and at one point she discovered this recipe.
I don't know where the original one came from, but it used leftover chicken so we would often grab a rotisserie and use it for this recipe.
One time we had some ground turkey so we decided to try to use that instead and it turned out so perfectly that I haven't made it with chicken since.
This dish is one of those that fools you a little bit. It tastes so good and there is so much variety in flavors that you think someone slaved over it. The truth is, this recipe is ready in under 30 minutes, which is something we all need some days!
Orzo is a pasta that I didn't get exposed to until after college but it's such a great one! It's lighter than a lot of pastas because the pieces are so small.
I mentioned the complexity of flavor in this dish and it's truly one of the things I love most about this recipe. Let me lay this out for you. This orzo dish has ground turkey, spinach, pine nuts and golden raisins.
There is no real "sauce" to this pasta, just olive oil, spices and it's topped with shaved parmesan. You can chop the spinach up into super small pieces, if you need to hide it from the kids (or adults) ;).
This dish makes enough to share or to have leftovers ready for a few days! You could also half the recipe if you don't need as much.
You have sweet, you have savory, salty, crunchy and soft all combined into one dish. And did I mention it happens in under 30 minutes? Yep. Give this recipe a try, you'll love it, I promise!
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If you make this recipe, I'd love to know! Comment and leave a rating below the recipe.
Spinach Turkey Orzo
Spinach Turkey Orzo is a super easy meal that is packed with flavor for a perfect quick dinner option! This orzo dish has ground turkey, spinach, pine nuts, golden raisins and is topped with olive oil and shaved parmesan. The complexity of flavors in this dish is amazing, but you don't have to spend a long time getting this dinner together!
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon ground pepper
- 8 ounces orzo (about ½ a box)
- 1 cup pine nuts
- 1 ½ cups loosely packed spinach, cut into 1 inch pieces
- ½ cup golden raisins
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasonings
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- ½ cup shaved parmesan cheese
Instructions
- In a medium skillet, season ground turkey with salt and pepper, then brown the meat. Remove turkey from pan and set aside once cooked.
- Meanwhile, add about 2 cups of water to medium pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add orzo
- In the pan used for the turkey, toast pine nuts on medium-low heat, tossing occasionally with a wooden spoon, until pine nuts are light golden brown.
- Return turkey to pan with pine nuts and add spinach and raisins. Cover and set to low heat. This allows the spinach to wilt slightly and the raisins to get a bit of moisture.
- Drain orzo once cooked. If it will fit, add to pan with turkey and toss with olive oil and spices. This will help wilt the spinach as well. If not, toss everything in a large bowl.
- Add shaved parmesan cheese on top right before serving.
Diane says
This is really good. I did NOT put a tablespoon of salt or pepper—a teaspoon each was adequate. I used regular raisins (delish!) and waaaaay more spinach than the recipe->4 full hands full. YUM. My orzo was no longer in a package and my kitchen scale wasn’t working, so who knows if I had the right amount. But I love orzo, so who cares.
Will make again.
Madison Wetherill says
I actually love to use more spinach too - I'm glad you went for it! The golden raisins are fun, but regular raisins work too! So glad you enjoyed it, Diane!