An incredible skillet dinner that’s too good not to re-share.
This one pan chicken meatball pesto orzo is packed with your favorite basil pesto cooked right in the meatballs and orzo. The meatballs get perfectly juicy from shredded zucchini, which adds an easy boost of veggies, too! Golden, tender mushrooms add a wonderful savory element, and the whole dish gets topped with glorious, melty mozzarella cheese.
Just LOOK at that epic cheese pull. This one’s great for customizing and boosting the veggies, and is the perfect meal for busy weeks that the whole family will love.
Ingredients in this chicken meatball pesto orzo
This incredible one pan pesto orzo with chicken meatballs is bursting with savory flavors and packed with nutritious veggies and protein. Here’s what you’ll need to make it:
- For the meatballs: the pesto chicken meatballs are made with lean ground chicken, a whole shredded zucchini for extra moisture and a boost of veggies, panko bread crumbs, an egg, basil pesto, lemon zest, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
- For the mushrooms: we’ll also be cooking down some mushrooms with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and fresh garlic.
- For the orzo: you’ll cook the orzo in low sodium chicken broth, milk, more basil pesto, lemon juice & zest, salt, Italian seasoning, and melty mozzarella cheese.
- To garnish: top this beautiful pan with fresh basil, freshly grated parmesan cheese, and red pepper flakes for a little heat.
Make this baked pesto orzo your own
There are a few simple additions and swaps you can make in this pesto chicken orzo to customize it:
- Go vegetarian. Feel free to skip the meatballs and start at step 5 to make a lovely baked pesto orzo with mushrooms! Add a can of chickpeas for an extra boost of protein.
- Choose a new protein. You could also cube and sear chicken breast, or add sliced, cooked chicken sausage, ground, cooked Italian sausage, or even a can of tuna.
- Add extra veggies. Get even more veggies in by cooking sliced zucchini, spinach, or bell pepper in with the mushrooms.
Can I make it gluten free?
Sure! Simply use gluten free orzo or your favorite gluten free short pasta, and use gluten free bread crumbs in the meatballs.
Pick your pesto
You can feel free to use your favorite store-bought pesto, but I think my Cilantro Pistachio Pesto would be amazing in this baked orzo recipe! When choosing a pesto brand be sure to check the label in case you need this dish to be nut free.
How to make this one pan chicken meatball pesto orzo
- Form the meatballs. You’ll start by shredding your zucchini, squeezing out all of the moisture with a paper towel or cheesecloth, and mixing it with the rest of the meatball ingredients. Use clean hands to form 16 golf ball-sized meatballs.
- Brown the meatballs. Add olive oil to a deep oven-safe skillet and brown your meatballs in batches, placing them on a plate once they’re done browning.
- Cook the mushrooms. In the same skillet, cook your mushrooms in a little olive oil, salt, and pepper, then stir in the fresh garlic.
- Cook the orzo. Stir the chicken broth into the pan, then stir in the milk, pesto, lemon juice and zest, orzo, and seasonings. Bring the orzo to a simmer, then nestle the meatballs in the pan and transfer it to the oven to fully cook. Remove it from the oven, top with mozzarella, and bake again for 5 minutes.
- Garnish & serve. Once the cheese is nice and bubbly, garnish with fresh basil, parmesan, and red pepper flakes, then dig in!
Make the meatballs ahead of time
You can easily prep these pesto chicken meatballs 1 day ahead of time so that all you have to do is brown them and cook them with the orzo the next day. Simply mix and form the meatballs, then place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Tightly cover the meatballs with plastic wrap and place them in the fridge until you are ready to cook them.
Storing tips
Store any leftover pesto orzo with chicken meatballs in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days. Simply reheat in the microwave.
More one pan meals
- Bright & Herby Lemongrass Chicken Green Curry
- Sweet and Spicy Gochujang Chicken Bowls
- Sheet Pan Herby Lemon Garlic Chicken and Potatoes
- One Pan Tomato Basil Baked Orzo
- One Pan Lightened Up Hamburger Helper
Get all of my one pan meals here!
I hope you love this chicken meatball pesto orzo recipe! If you make it be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked it. Enjoy, xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
One Pan Baked Pesto Orzo with Chicken Meatballs
Ingredients
- For the meatballs:
- 1 small to medium zucchini
- 1 pound 93% lean ground chicken (or turkey)
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs, gluten free if desired
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons your favorite basil pesto
- Zest from 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- Optional: ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 to 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- For the mushrooms:
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pound baby bella mushrooms (or a mix of mushrooms of choice), coarsely chopped
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- For the creamy pesto orzo:
- 2 ½ cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup milk of choice (I recommend whole milk or 2%)
- ⅓ cup your favorite basil pesto
- 1 pound uncooked orzo*
- Zest from 1 lemon
- ½ lemon, juiced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon italian seasoning
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- To garnish:
- ¼ cup fresh julienned basil
- Freshly grated/shredded Parmesan cheese
- Red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Shred the zucchini: Use a cheese grater to shred your zucchini. Measure out 1 heaping cup of shredded zucchini, then place shredded zucchini in a paper towel or cheese cloth and squeeze out ALL of the moisture/water. This is very important! Transfer shredded zucchini to a large bowl and discard the excess zucchini water.
- Form the meatballs: In the large bowl with the shredded zucchini, add the ground chicken, breadcrumbs, egg, basil pesto, lemon zest, italian seasoning, garlic powder, red pepper flakes (if using), kosher salt and black pepper. Use clean hands to mix until well-incorporated and form into 16 golf ball sized meatballs. (You can make the meatballs up to 1 day in advance. Place meatballs on a large plate or baking sheet lined with parchment paper, then cover well with plastic wrap and place in the fridge until ready to cook.)
- Cook the meatballs: Place a large deep oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat and add in olive oil. Add the meatballs and brown on all sides. This should only take about 6 minutes total. Do not worry about cooking them all the way through, they will finish cooking in the oven. You may need to do this in batches, depending on how many meatballs you can fit in your skillet without overcrowding them. When the meatballs are done browning, transfer them to a plate and set aside. Keep the heat in the pan.
- Cook the mushrooms: Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan and then add in the mushrooms, salt, and pepper. Stir occasionally until all liquid absorbs and mushrooms have cooked down and start to turn brown and caramelize on the edges, 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 minute.
- Cook the orzo: Slowly add the chicken broth to the pan while scraping up any yummy bits from the bottom of the pan, then stir in the milk, basil pesto, lemon zest and lemon juice. Stir in the orzo, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, and Italian seasoning until well combined. Bring mixture to a gentle simmer. Nestle the meatballs on top of the orzo then immediately transfer to the oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes until the orzo is cooked. Remove from the oven, sprinkle mozzarella cheese all over the top and bake for 5 more minutes or until the cheese is melted and slightly golden brown in places. Remove from the oven and top with fresh julienned basil, parmesan cheese and extra red pepper flakes, if desired.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
Would canned coconut milk work in this recipe to make dairy free?
I’d be afraid that it will add too much sweetness or coconut flavor, but let me know if you give it a try! Otherwise, a plain, unsweetened almond or cashew milk might work better.
One of my favorites for hosting, people always love it! I appreciate it all being done in one pan and it’s SO yummy. I’m not a mushroom girl so I just completely omit that part and it’s still great. My father-in-law substituted spinach for the mushrooms and he also loved it that way.
Amazing! So happy to hear that it’s a favorite!
This was pretty easy even though I hate making meatballs. It was delicious!!
So glad you gave it a try!
Is this a good recipe for postpartum meal prep/freezing? Not sure if it would freeze up well or not?
Hmm I haven’t tested freezing this — I’d just be afraid the texture of the orzo with the cheese might get a bit odd when re-heating. You could absolutely freeze the meatballs ahead of time though!
My husband and kids requested this before I went out of town for the weekend so they could eat the leftovers! It is so delicious! I love everything Ambitious Kitchen has to offer!
Amazing! Perfect family dinner 🙂
I’ve made this recipe twice now and the guys I cook it for have loved it. It’s so delicious and it blesses me to just use my dutch oven. I’m not a mushroom fan so I just totally omitted that part and it was still great!
So happy to hear that!
This was absolutely delicious! I printed the instructions and it couldn’t have been easier to follow along with the recipe. It was very flavorful and can’t wait to make it again!
Perfect!!
I’ve made this so many times. It slaps. It can easily be a 2 night dinner and it tastes so good left over. Highly recommend.
We’re obsessed with this one!
Is that supposed to say 1lb of dry uncooked orzo or 1 cup of dry uncooked orzo?
1lb dry uncooked!
This looks amazing! I am celiac so need gluten free and cannot find gluten free orzo where I am. Any suggestions how can I make this as a rice based dish rather than orzo?
Yes, 1 3/4 cups of rice should work! Otherwise you could use a gluten-free short pasta (I saw a reader use ditalini with success).
Delicious! Made thru cooking the mushrooms. Then 45 minutes prior to dinner, did the rest. Worked out fine. Keeper recipe.
Perfect! Glad it was a hit!
Delicious! Pretty easy to put together for a Sunday dinner. Did everything thru cooking mushrooms and then when within 45 minutes of dinner, did the rest. Worked out fine! Keeper recipeQQ
This looks amazing and I am a fan of your recipes! Where I live, I can’t find gluten free orzo. Could I use rice and what other modifications would you make?
Yes, 1 3/4 cups rice should work as a replacement!
Tasty recipe! A bit laborious, but then I also made my own pesto which upped the effort. But all worth it, so good! I wanted more veg so I added chopped zucchini to the pan with the shrooms, and I didn’t have orzo so I subbed anelli (that I bought for your spaghetti-o recipe!) and it worked swell. Next time I think I’ll add more veg, red pepper, onion, and/or tomato, and skip the mozz (didn’t need it) n stick with parm. The meatballs have an amazing flavor, I think this will go in rotation! Thankee as always!
Love that! This one’s great for customizing 🙂 Glad you enjoyed!
What’s the best make and take method? I’m taking this to a friend’s house, and they likely won’t eat it for 1-2 hours after I make it. I’m thinking I take it up to just before the cheese part, cover it with foil, and let them put the cheese on and bake just before they eat? Amy other considerations so he doesn’t get glued or dry?
Yes, that’s what I would suggest for prepping it and heating/baking it later!
I’ve made these a few times and it is absolutely delicious!! Definitely make the meatballs ahead of time if you are time constrained. The whole family loves them, love all the pesto flavor. This was also excellent leftover!
So happy to hear that!
This was so good! And yes, it’s a labor of love. A weekend dish for us! I also made with GF panko and GF Barilla Orzo (didn’t need extra liquid like one of the reviewers mentioned – perhaps for other GF pastas, you do). Would LOVE to get a link to the oven proof skillet you used for this!! I’ve been on the hunt for the perfect one. Thanks for another great recipe.
So glad it was a hit! Here’s the braiser I use for tons of one pan meals like this one 🙂
I’m gluten-free and used a GF ditalini pasta, as well as almond milk. This was delicious! It makes a bunch – so lots of leftovers (yay!). Definitely will be making this again.
Perfect! So glad you enjoyed!
I followed the recipe exactly, including the mushrooms, which I detest. The orzo was hard in the middle and gummy on the exterior and for all the lemon, pesto, and basil in the recipe, there was almost no flavor. We won’t be making this again and will be tossing the inedible remains.
So strange! Was all of the orzo fully submerged in the “sauce” ingredients? I’m not sure how it ended up without any flavor with 2.5 teaspoons of salt, pesto, and seasonings.
We loved this recipe! We skipped the mushrooms and just made extra meatballs. We actually ended up with too many meatballs and used the extra for subs, but I’ll do that on purpose next time because it gave us two totally different meals! We’ll definitely make this again.
A good problem to have! Glad you loved it!
Made this tonight and it was delicious! We used frozen meatballs for convenience and added some frozen veggies. Thank you for sharing this recipe it is so versatile.
So happy to hear that!
So good! This is a company meal as well as a family meal. Next time I will add more vegetables, spinach, red bell pepper and peas. Also maybe some calabrian chili peppers instead of the chili flakes.
Absolutely! This one’s great for customizing 🙂
I’m making this as I write and I’m wondering if coconut milk ( the canned kind) could be subbed for the dairy milk? Can’t wait to taste this delicious looking dish.
I think that should work! Just note that the “sauce” may have a slight sweetness to it.
I made the meatballs with turkey and they are so lemony, fresh, and filling! I even forgot to add an egg to the mixture but they still came out moist. Will try them with the orzo next time- yum!
I’m glad they still turned out well! Such a great dinner 🙂
Incredible recipe- swapped spinach & sundried tomatoes instead of mushrooms. 10/10 for us!
Love it!!
Absolutely delicious. This will be on repeat!
So glad you enjoyed!
This is a winner. Great flavors, easy prep and cleanup. We will have this on regular rotation.
The perfect weeknight dinner!
Really delicious recipe. The orzo is so flavorful and creamy. We had a side green salad and I bought pre made turkey meatballs to save on time. We nixed the mozzarella on top because it really didn’t even need it. Highly recommend!
Perfect! Great swaps to customize 🙂
A little time-consuming, but easy to follow and so delicious and satisfying.
I took this to a potluck tonight and it was big hit. Several people asked for the recipe. Will definitely make again.
Thank you for sharing this fabulous recipe.
Love that! Glad it was a hit 🙂
This recipe is delicious! My orzo took about 15 mins to get fully cooked in the oven. I also ran out of lemon, so I was only able to put zest in the meatballs, and then juice in the orzo, but no zest in orzo, still great flavors! Will make again.
I’m glad you still enjoyed! Such a great dinner 🙂
This was so, so good. The meatballs were a delight, bright and zippy and savoury. We used 93% lean ground turkey and it was perfect, tender and moist. The grated zucchini in brilliant in them, and I topped it with grated gruyere I had some left that needed finishing. I didn’t have Italian seasoning so I subbed with half dried basil and half dried oregano.
My orzo took a little over 20 mins to get cooked to al dente in the oven, before I was able to top with cheese for the final 5 mins, I’m not sure why. I cooked it in an oven-safe skillet placed on top of a sheet pan in case of spills, so possibly that had a little insulating effect. No matter, it was so tasty that it’s definitely going into the rotation. My 4yo who normally eats like a bird cleared his whole plate enthusiastically and kept giving it a “thumbs up” gesture.
With the meatballs shaped the night before, it comes together easily the day of. The finishing time in the oven is perfect for throwing together a salad, setting the table, and pouring a drink. A company worthy dish!
So happy this was a hit with the whole family! Great idea to prep the meatballs beforehand, too 🙂