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The Easiest One Pan Caprese Pesto Orzo Bake. Trust me, this is going to become your new go-to for busy nights. Roasted tomatoes with garlic, shallots, and olive oil, all tossed together with dry orzo pasta, basil pesto, then finished with melty mozzarella cheese. This incredible dish is all made in one pan without even having to boil any water. Just mix, bake, eat, and enjoy!
I know this is a recipe post, but for long-time readers, I just have to quickly say how incredible the last few days have been. Your support for me is just so sweet and incredible to feel. I feel so very loved by you all and I just want to say thank you, thank you!
For everyone who has already received the book, what’s your favorite recipe so far?!
Going to chat more about all this fun stuff on Sunday, but I just had to say thank you!
Ok, ok, back to today’s recipe. This is the easiest recipe and certainly my favorite of the week!!
I honestly have no idea how I thought to put this one together, but it’s pretty perfect. The flavors are nothing new by any means, but the cooking method is super smart. And the end product is so very delicious.
A lot of times one-pan pasta dishes aren’t cooked properly. But because we’re using orzo, which is such a small pasta, it cooks up really well!!
Here are the simple, simple steps
Start out by roasting the tomatoes, just to get them cooking before we add the pasta. I added some garlic, shallots, and chili flakes to bump up the flavor a bit.
When the tomatoes start sizzling, pull them out and add the DRY orzo pasta, a jar of basil pesto, and some peperoncinis. The peperoncinis are not traditional for Caprese, but I’m obsessed with them and they add a lot of flavor to the dish.
The next key ingredient…water.
So simple, and yes, technically not an ingredient. But the water cooks the pasta just as if we had boiled it on the stove. Once the water is in, bake another 10 minutes or so. Allowing the water to cook into the pasta, then stir, and sprinkle over the cheese. Now finish baking!
Finish it up and eat
When the sauce is bubbling and the cheese has melted, pull the pan out. If there’s a lot of oil on top from the jar of pesto, just drain that off and save it for dipping with bread (YUMMM).
Top with plenty of fresh basil and that’s literally it. SO SIMPLE, SO DELICIOUS! And I love that there’s basically no prep or extra dishes.
Simple but delicious really is the key!
Looking for other easy pasta bakes? Here are my favorites:
One Pot Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta with Whipped Ricotta
Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Pasta
4 Cheese Sun-Dried Tomato and Spinach Pasta Bake
Lastly, if you make this Easy One Pan Caprese Pesto Orzo Bake, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Easiest One Pan Caprese Pesto Orzo Bake
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 541 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2-3 cups cherry tomatoes
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 1/3 cup fresh basil, chopped
- chili flakes
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 1 pound dry orzo pasta
- 1 (8 ounce) jar basil pesto
- 2-3 tablespoons sliced peperoncinis
- 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 400° F.2. In a 9×13 inch baking dish, combine the tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, shallots, basil, chili flakes, salt, and pepper. Roast 10 minutes. Pull the tomatoes out of the oven. To the same pan, add the orzo, pesto, and peperoncinis. Pour over 2 1/2 cups of water and stir to combine. Return the dish to the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes, until most of the water has cooked into the pasta, but not all of it. 3. Stir the pasta around, then sprinkle over the cheese. Bake another 10 minutes, until the cheese has melted and the sauce bubbling. If there's a lot of oil from the pesto on top, drain off the excess. Top with fresh basil!
We loved this. I did a mix of orzo & ditilini (can’t spell) bc I only had 1/2 lb orzo. I sprinkled minced onion bc they were out of shallots. Regardless it turned out very good!!
Hi Ashley,
Happy Wednesday!! 🌸🌤️ I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your review, so glad it turned out well for you! xT
My kids devoured this even though I added too many red hot pepper flakes! Next time I will have to double this recipe. It smelled so good in the oven when I was roasting the cherry tomatoes. Thanks for another great recipe!
Hi Jenny,
Happy Friday!!🥑🍑 I love to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks a lot for making it and sharing your review! xT
Delicious and unique! I’ve made this four times now and it is a BIG HIT! Tonight I didn’t have orzo so I subbed Ditalini and I didn’t have mozzarella so I added goat cheese at the end and swirled it in. Even with those two small substitutions it was still delicious.
If you’re making for kids you may want to skip the red pepper flakes as the pepperocini give it enough zip (in my kids’ opinion).
Thanks for all of the delicious recipes Tieghan!
Hey Amy,
Awesome!! Thanks a bunch for trying this recipe and your comment, so glad to hear it turned out well for you! xT
Hi ! Do you have any recommendations for how to add chicken to this?
Hey Rachel,
Sure, I would add pre-cooked and shredded chicken to the dish before baking. Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love this recipe! xT
Delicious!! I threw in some banana peppers since I had them on hand instead of the pepperocinis. Will be making again and again. : ) thank you
Hey Trish,
Happy Monday!! 🍋🫐 I truly appreciate you making this recipe and your comment, love to hear that it was a hit! xT
Hi! I haven’t made this yet but will be making Monday night! I can’t wait! Do you think I can successfully substitute quinoa for the orzo? Thanks!!
Hi Nadia,
So sorry, I’ve never tested this recipe with quinoa so I’m not sure what the results would be. Let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx
This is my husband’s favorite dinner. He loves to have a portion in the freezer easy to heat up when I am out of town. We add a layer of rotisserie chicken under the mozzarella for extra protein.
Hey Sally,
Fantastic!! I appreciate you making this recipe and your comment, so glad to hear it was delish! xT
This was good. I should have added more crushed pepper the first time. I used the leftovers and put an egg and balsamic reduction on top of individual servings. That was really good!
Hey Christina,
Happy Friday!!🌼🐰 I really appreciate you making this dish and sharing your review, so glad to hear it turned out well for you! xx
I made this Caprese dish tonight and it was perfect! Followed the recipe exactly and made a salad to go with it. The perfect meatless meal. That top layer of cheese ……. 😍😍
Thank you for sharing another one of your divine creations, Tieghan!
Hey Sandy,
Lovely!! I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your comment, so glad to hear it turned out well:) xx
This was so easy to make and super tasty!! Will definitely make again. Thank you!
Hi Lisa,
Happy Wednesday!!🌈 🐇 I am so glad to hear that this recipe turned out well for you! Thanks for sharing your feedback and trying it out! xT
Hi. Recipe says to pull the tomatoes out of the oven but I do not see where/when to add them back
Hi Paula,
You are adding everything to that same pan with the tomatoes in it:) Please let me know if I can help in any other way! I hope you love this recipe! xT
Thank you for the recipe! We all enjoyed it. I added a few extra spices.
Love to hear this Maria!! Thanks so much for making the recipe! xT
Very easy to make. Love the one pan and minimal clean up. It was delicious!! Added shrimp for some extra protein. Thanks for sharing ❤️
Hey Robyn,
Fantastic!! So glad to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks so much for making it! Have a great weekend:)
This was oh so easy and good. I don’t care for pepperocinis so I added a can of quartered artichoke hearts. Basil is not readily available here in winter so I used dried.
I don’t understand the comments about blandness. With the shallots, garlic, pesto , chili flakes , salt and pepper there is plenty of flavor, and some pepperocini would add a lot.
Hey Paula,
Fantastic!! So glad to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks so much for making it! Have a great weekend:)
So so good. I added a block of feta in the middle for creaminess and it all came together beautifully! Great recipe!
Hey Divya,
Fantastic!! So glad to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks so much for making it! Have a great weekend:)