This slow cooker orzo in vegetable sauce is a thick, creamy, and delicious meal. You will love this amazing recipe made with tons of veggies, chickpeas, and pasta. A true one-pot supper!
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If you are looking to eat more veggies, you have come to the right place! The creamy sauce in this delicious orzo recipe includes tons of hidden vegetables. And - is so amazing, the whole family will love it - including your picky eaters.
This great recipe is the ultimate one-pot dish since it even contains beans for some added protein. It can be made dairy-free, if that is your preference. This is my idea of comfort food and it's a great weeknight dinner the entire family will love.
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📝Shopping list
To make this delicious dish, you will need these common ingredients:
- Bell Peppers - diced
- Yellow squash - diced
- Carrots -diced
- Canned plum tomatoes
- Chickpeas*
- Vegetable broth*
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Full fat coconut milk
- Orzo - uncooked
- Parmesan cheese* - use nutritional yeast to keep it dairy free/vegan
🔪Instructions
Start by cutting all fresh vegetables into large chunks. Spray or grease your slow cooker with a non-stick cooking agent. Add fresh veggies, tomatoes, chickpeas, broth and spices to the bottom of the pot.
Cover and cook on low heat for 6-8 hours until all vegetables are soft. Next, use an immersion blender to blend slow cooked ingredients into a smooth sauce.
Taste your sauce at this point and adjust salt and pepper to your liking. Stir (uncooked) orzo into sauce, cover and continue to cook until the orzo is cooked al dente. This took me about 50 minutes (but the timing may vary based on your slow cooker).
Once orzo is ready, stir in full-fat coconut milk and cheese (or nutritional yeast). When fully incorporated, your creamy orzo pasta is ready to serve!
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Orzo in this photo has not yet fully cooked.
🍽Serving suggestions
This orzo pasta recipe has enough different food groups and is filling enough to be a complete meal. However, it also makes a perfect side dish! It is great served alongside a whole slow cooker chicken or lemon pepper chicken. Alternatively, stir shredded leftover chicken breasts right in with your pasta for a one dish meal.
I love to make mine extra cheesy by melting in some additional shredded parmesan cheese. Shredded mozzarella can also be melted in for some extra cheesy goodness. One of my favorite ways to flavor it up is to sprinkle it with some Black Truffle Parmesan Seasoning (which I get at Costco).
Crunchy garlic bread and a crisp side salad are great accompaniments for this delicious recipe.
If you are a fan of heat, sprinkle yours with some red pepper flakes!
🔁Substitutions
- Orzo is a small rice-shaped pasta. You can use other tiny pasta shapes such as stars (stelline) in place of the orzo if you prefer.
- If you don't have an immersion blender, a countertop blender can be used. Be careful transferring slow cooker contents to your blender. It will be very hot!
- To keep this dish vegan or dairy free, replace parmesan cheese with nutritional yeast.
- If you are not a fan of garbanzo beans, white beans can be used in their place.
- Feel free to substitute chicken broth for vegetable stock if that is what you have on hand.
If you love this recipe...
Please let me know in the comment section below!
Storing leftovers
Leftovers of this family favorite can be stored in an airtight container or zip-top bag. It will last 3-5 days in the refrigerator and up to 3 months in the freezer.
Your pasta can be quickly reheated the next day by microwaving for 1-2 minutes. If the sauce is thicker than you like upon reheating, it can be thinned by adding additional broth or coconut milk.
😉Hints & hacks
- If you need this dish to cook faster, cut your fresh vegetables into smaller pieces. That and cooking on high heat will allow this dish to come together in less time.
- Freshly grated parmesan cheese is always the tastiest. But, I have used everything from that down to the shelf-stable kind with great results in this dish.
- To prep this meal in advance, cut up all veggies. Mix them together in an airtight container or bag along with the spices, beans, and broth. Refrigerate until ready to cook. Perfect meal prep for busy nights!
- Store leftovers in individual serving-sized containers for easy grab-and-go future meals. They make the perfect meal on a busy day.
- I am generally a big fan of slow cooker liners. However, I do not recommend using them for recipes involving an immersion blender. The blade of the blender can too easily catch on the liner and shred it into the food.
- In the market for a slow cooker? I love mine!
- Don't forget to plug your slow cooker in and turn it on! 😏
📖 Recipe
Slow Cooker Orzo In Vegetable Sauce
All nutrition information shown here is automatically generated and should be considered an estimate. If you follow a specific diet, please calculate your own values to ensure accuracy.
Equipment
- 4 quart slow cooker or larger
- Knife and cutting board
Ingredients
- 2 red bell peppers can use orange as well. cut into large chunks
- 2 yellow squash cut into large chunks
- 2 carrots cut into large chunks
- 28 oz can plum tomatoes with all juices
- 1 14 can chickpeas rinsed and drained
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ can full fat coconut milk about 7 oz
- 16 oz orzo
- 1+ cup parmesan cheese shredded
Instructions
- spray or grease slow cooker with a non stick agent of some sort
- add all cut veggies, spices, tomatoes, beans and broth to slow cooker2 red bell peppers, 2 yellow squash, 2 carrots, 28 oz can plum tomatoes, 1 14 can chickpeas, 1 cup vegetable broth, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 4-6 hours. You are ready for the next phase when all veggies can be easily pierced with a fork.
- Use an immersion blender to turn your veggies into sauce (the fun part!)
- test taste salt and add additional salt and or pepper as preferred
- add orzo and coconut milk, cover and continue to cook on low until orzo is fully cooked. This takes me about an hour.16 oz orzo, ½ can full fat coconut milk
- Just before serving, stir in shredded parmesan and allow to fully melt.1+ cup parmesan cheese
- serve and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
All nutrition information shown here is automatically generated and should be considered an estimate. If you follow a specific diet, please calculate your own values to ensure accuracy.
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Kelly says
We made this today/tonight, and it was delicious. My husband ate seconds. I made it exactly as is, except I didn't need to spray the crockpot before. This is definitely a keeper for our family.
The Lazy Slow Cooker says
Hi Kelly, I am so glad to hear you enjoyed this dish! Thank you for taking the time to share.