A vibrant vegan dinner that’s ready in about 40 minutes, that’s my spring green orzo “risotto”! Featuring orzo pasta, asparagus, frozen spinach, vegetable stock, lemon, and a savory cashew and edamame purée, this hearty pasta dish still feels light and fresh. Similar to the popular creamy lemon orzo from the archives, this recipe comes together mostly in one pot with a quick detour to the blender for the cashew edamame purée.

This skillet orzo dish is warm and comforting, but still vibrant and veggie-packed. My go-to move for making orzo a meal is combining it with sautéed seasonal vegetables, a legume, and finishing with something creamy for a lush, risotto-like texture. You can see this routine at work in my mushroom asparagus orzo and spinach artichoke orzo recipes. It’s a very well-tested formula in my kitchen at this point!

I am using the term “risotto” a bit loosely here. Orzo is a rice-shaped pasta made from wheat flour. It does let off starch as it cooks, making the end result a bit creamy. A dish like this is sometimes referred to as orzotto. It does not require the constant stirring and gradual additions of stock like traditional risotto made with arborio rice. For a gluten-free option, I recommend checking out DeLallo’s corn and rice-based orzo pasta.

The steps for making this recipe are fairly simple. First, I have you blend up a purée of thawed edamame, raw cashews, spinach, vegetable stock, miso, and nutritional yeast. This purée is going to be added at the end of the cooking time for an extra creamy finish. Once that’s done you sauté some asparagus and then get started on the orzo base. The orzo will simmer in vegetable stock for about 8 minutes before you add the edamame cashew cream and asparagus.

One thing I’ll mention: when you add the edamame cashew cream, it’s going to seem soupy. Just keep stirring over medium heat until the orzo soaks up the liquid.

Vegan parmesan is nice on top of this dish, but not 100% necessary. A swoop of extra virgin olive oil and a few cracks of black pepper is a simple and tasty finish. Hope you love this one as we slowly welcome spring!

Spring Green Orzo “Risotto” (Vegan)

Ready in 40 minutes with 12-ish simple ingredients this spring green orzo is lusciously creamy with a bright hint of lemon. Edamame, frozen spinach, and asparagus add a dose of veggie goodness to this easy pasta dinner.

5 from 2 votes

Print Recipe

Prep Time: 15 minutes mins

Cook Time: 25 minutes mins

Total Time: 40 minutes mins

Servings 3 -4

Ingredients

• ⅓ cup raw cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours and drained
• ½ cup frozen shelled edamame, thawed
• ½ cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed
• 1 tablespoon white miso
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 3 cups vegetable stock, divided (plus extra if needed)
• 4 teaspoons olive oil, divided
• ½ lb (227 grams) asparagus, tough ends trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
• sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 medium shallot, small dice
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• pinch red pepper flakes, optional
• ½ lb (227 grams) orzo pasta
• 1-3 teaspoons lemon juice, to taste

Equipment

• Blender

Notes

• You can replace cashews with macadamia nuts (soak for at least 8 hours), pine nuts, or raw sunflower seeds. If you don’t mind the grassy flavor of hemp seeds, those work as well!
• This recipe may behave differently with a gluten-free orzo or other tiny pasta. Regular wheat-based pasta lets off a lot of creamy starch. If you’re using GF pasta, I’d start with only 1 ½ cups of the vegetable stock and add more as it cooks if necessary.
• I find that one pan orzo recipes like this just love to stick to the bottom of the pan. Stir often, scraping up the bottom of the pan, to avoid this!
• The frozen spinach that I buy comes in these convenient little ¼ cup portions (I think they’re designed for smoothies), so I just thaw 2 of them.
• I like a lot of acidic flavor in my food, but know that this is not the case for others. I recommend starting with 1 teaspoon of lemon juice and then adding more if you like. I personally go up to 1 tablespoon!

Instructions

• In an upright blender, combine the cashews, edamame, spinach (no need to squeeze the moisture out), miso, nutritional yeast, and ¾ cup of vegetable stock. Blend on high until completely smooth and creamy, about 30 seconds. Set aside.
• Place a deep skillet or braiser pot over medium heat. Add 2 teaspoons of olive oil and swirl it around. Add the asparagus and season with salt and pepper. Sauté until bright green and beginning to soften, about 3-4 minutes.
• Transfer the cooked asparagus to a plate and set aside.
• Return the skillet to medium heat and add remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the shallots. Sauté the shallots until soft and translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, lemon zest, and red pepper flakes (if using). Sauté for another 30 seconds.
• Add the orzo pasta to the skillet and stir to toast for a minute or so. Then, add the remaining vegetable stock and stir. Season with salt and pepper before bringing to a boil. Then, lower the heat to a simmer and cook until orzo is soft, about 8 minutes, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot often. The orzo will want to stick to the bottom of the pot, so just keep stirring. You want to keep the consistency nice and fluid.
• Once the orzo is soft and the mixture is slightly creamy, add the cashew edamame cream to the skillet and stir to combine. It will seem too soupy at first! Keep stirring over medium heat and gradually the orzo will absorb the liquid. Adjust the seasoning if necessary and then stir in the lemon juice and sautéed asparagus. You should have a creamy risotto-like texture at this point.
• Serve the spring green orzo hot and enjoy!

Author: Laura Wright

Course: Main Course

Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian

Keyword: asparagus, braiser, cashews, edamame, frozen spinach, garlic, lemon, miso, nutritional yeast, orzo, orzo pasta, pasta, shallots, skillet, spinach, spring, vegetable stock