No one needs to know how easy this creamy, Pumpkin Baked Orzo recipe is. You can serve it on a busy weeknight or at the holiday table.
Don’t you love an easy recipe that doesn’t taste like it was easy to make? This baked orzo with pumpkin and sage is one of those dishes.
It’s easy enough to make on a Tuesday after work when standing in the kitchen isn’t your top priority. But it’s also special enough that you can totally serve it up at the holiday table.
More Cozy Casseroles: My Family’s Favorite Spaghetti Casserole, Vegan Baked Ziti
What is orzo?
Orzo may look like rice, but it’s actually pasta. The two are not interchangeable.
Orzo cooks up a lot faster than rice. White rice takes about 15-20 minutes on the stovetop, while orzo cooks up in under 10.
Orzo and rice also have very different textures.
While rice has a pretty firm texture after cooking, orzo has the same tenderness you’d expect from other small pastas, like macaroni. That texture makes it lovely in casseroles, like this baked orzo recipe!
Easy Baked Orzo
There are a few elements that make this recipe easy. Let’s talk about them!
Since you’re not cooking a ton of pasta, you can cook the orzo and canned white beans together right in your Dutch oven. The same Dutch oven you use to bake.
That means fewer dishes to clean up!
Another important time-saver in this recipe is the carrots. Don’t waste time shredding carrots by hand! Most grocery stores sell bags of shredded carrots right alongside the bags of baby carrots. Pick one up and save yourself a ton of prep time.
The pumpkin in this recipe comes straight out of a can, so there’s also no baking pan to clean up.
With all the time you saved, you’ll have supper on the table a lot faster. So while your orzo casserole bakes, kick back and unwind from the workday.
If you’re making this for a holiday dish, you just bought yourself more time to work on other dishes or to hang with your family and friends — whichever appeals to you most!
Creamy Pumpkin Baked Orzo
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cup dry orzo
- 1 15 ounce can white beans – drained and rinsed
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 cup diced sweet onion
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 6 cloves garlic – minced
- 2 cups kale – chopped super fine in a blender or food processor
- 1 15 ounce can pumpkin
- 1/3 cup soy milk – You can also use almond or oat milk.
- 1 teaspoon dried sage
- salt and pepper – to taste
- roasted, salted pumpkin seeds – optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Bring 6 quarts of water to a rolling boil. Add the orzo and beans, and cook, stirring often, for 8-9 minutes, until the orzo is tender. Drain and rinse.
- Heat the oil in a Dutch oven on medium high. Sauté the onion, carrots, and garlic until the onions begin to soften, 5-7 minutes. Add the kale and cook a few more minutes to soften.
- Turn off the heat, and stir in the orzo and beans, pumpkin, vegan milk, and sage. Stir really well, so everything is nice and incorporated. Taste, then season with salt and pepper.
- Bake for 30 minutes, uncovered, then top with the pumpkin seeds (if you’re using them), and serve.
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