Lemony Pea and Spinach Orzo
- 20 mintotal time
- $1.29£0.73a serving
- 478444calories
- 1716 gprotein
Serves 4; price is an estimate. Dinner Plan is a paid weekly plan for your household and budget. You see your week before you pay.
One-pan creamy orzo with peas, spinach and lemon, ready in 20 minutes.
Ingredients
Serves 4.
- 12 oz orzo
- 2¼ cups frozen peas
- 5 oz baby spinach
- 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 lemon
- ½ bunch mint, leaves, to serve (optional)
- ½ cup vegetarian Italian-style hard cheese (Parmesan-style), grated, to serve (optional)
- 1 vegetable bouillon cube
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- salt, to taste
- black pepper, to taste
Contains: wheat (gluten), celery. Check the label: milk, soy, sulfites. Optional extras contain egg. Always read the labels if you cook for someone with an allergy.
Method
- Heat the olive oil in a large, deep frying pan on medium heat. Cook the yellow onion for 4 minutes until soft, then add the garlic for 1 minute.
- Stir in the orzo, then add 4 cups (1 L) of boiling water and crumble in the bouillon cube. Simmer for 9–10 minutes, stirring often so it doesn't stick, until the orzo is tender and creamy. Add a splash more water if it gets too thick.
- Stir in the peas for the last 3 minutes, then add the spinach and stir until wilted.
- Finely grate in the zest of the lemon and squeeze in half the juice. Season with salt and black pepper, and serve with mint leaves and grated hard cheese if using.
Leftovers: Fridge 2 days; it thickens as it sits, so loosen with a little hot water when reheating until piping hot.
Ingredients
Serves 4.
- 350 g orzo
- 300 g frozen peas
- 150 g spinach
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 lemon
- ½ mint (pack), leaves, to serve (optional)
- 40 g vegetarian Italian-style hard cheese, grated, to serve (optional)
- 1 vegetable stock cube
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- salt, to taste
- black pepper, to taste
Contains: gluten, celery. Check the label: milk, soya, sulphites. Optional extras contain egg. Always read the labels if you cook for someone with an allergy.
Method
- Heat the olive oil in a large, deep frying pan on medium heat. Cook the onion for 4 minutes until soft, then add the garlic for 1 minute.
- Stir in the orzo, then add 1 L of boiling water and crumble in the stock cube. Simmer for 9–10 minutes, stirring often so it doesn't stick, until the orzo is tender and creamy. Add a splash more water if it gets too thick.
- Stir in the peas for the last 3 minutes, then add the spinach and stir until wilted.
- Finely grate in the zest of the lemon and squeeze in half the juice. Season with salt and black pepper, and serve with mint leaves and grated hard cheese if using.
Leftovers: Fridge 2 days; it thickens as it sits, so loosen with a little hot water when reheating until piping hot.
Nutrition per serving
| Calories | 478 |
|---|---|
| Protein | 17 g |
| Carbohydrate | 83 g |
| Fat | 9 g |
| Fiber | 8 g |
| Sodium | 718 mg |
| Calories | 444 |
|---|---|
| Protein | 16 g |
| Carbohydrate | 79 g |
| Fat | 10 g |
| Fibre | 9 g |
| Sodium | 479 mg |
Worked out from the ingredients, 263 g a serving; optional extras and salt to taste aren't counted. US and UK values differ a little because each uses that country's food data and products. US values from USDA FoodData Central.UK values from McCance and Widdowson's Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset 2021, under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
What it costs
About $1.29 a serving in the US (range $0.99–$1.71) and £0.73 in the UK (range £0.56–£0.97). That's the share of each ingredient this recipe uses; basics like oil, salt and spices aren't counted.
Prices are estimates. Item prices come from public price data where available (US: Bureau of Labor Statistics and USDA; UK: Office for National Statistics). Where that data has no match, we use our own estimate. Ranges set using Open Prices data (Open Food Facts, ODbL). Prices as of October 2026. How we estimate
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