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One Skillet Tuscan Chicken and Orzo. The wonderful flavors of creamy Italian sausage soup are reworked into a creamy chicken and orzo dinner. Spicy Italian chicken sausage mixed with seared chicken breasts, Italian seasonings, and creamy orzo. Add shredded kale, basil pesto sauce, and parmesan cheese for a complete meal. All are made in one skillet and served simply, right from the skillet. And I always recommend a big salad, too. Great for just about any night of the week and perfect for entertaining as well. This is a dish that all will enjoy!
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I find so much inspiration through my family. I say this all the time, but I really do love to cook for the people around me, especially my family. Both my dad and brother love my recipe for Zuppa Toscana Soup. It’s such a flavorful Italian soup that’s always a favorite of mine to make this time of year.
I often take flavors from certain recipes I’ve created before and rework them into an entirely new one. This is what I did with today’s recipe.
The main flavor being yummy Italian season and spicy sausage.
This dish reminds me of a chicken and pasta dinner all mixed into one skillet. I knew my family would be so excited about it—and they were!
I knew this skillet dish had potential! The night I made it, my dad texted me to say how delicious he thought it was—he doesn’t do that too often, so I knew we had a good one!
I have a feeling this will be remaking this over the holidays. It’s super pretty served right out of the skillet and feels fancy enough to serve guests!
Ingredients and Tools
Ingredients
- chicken breasts or small thighs, my family enjoys skinless breasts
- Italian seasoning
- spicy Italian chicken or pork sausage
- salted butter
- onions
- garlic
- celery
- fresh thyme
- dry orzo pasta
- broth or water
- shredded kale or try using spinach
- cream
- basil pesto
- Parmesan
Special Tools
All you need is an oven-safe skillet. I love to use an 11 or 12-inch cast iron skillet.
The details
Step 1: season the chicken
Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Then, I like to toss it with half of the Italian seasoning.
Step 2: cook the sausage and chicken
Next, brown the sausage all over in a large skillet that can go from the stove to the oven. Wiggle the chicken into the sausage and sear it on one side.
Now add the butter and onions, then the garlic, thyme, and remaining Italian seasoning. Oh, and the celery too!
It’s a delicious mix and makes the chicken very flavorful.
Step 3: the orzo
Once the chicken is seared, add the orzo and some garlic. Then, if necessary, you can add some butter, too. I don’t find it’s usually needed with the sausage fat.
Add the broth and water. Mix in the cream and pesto.
Step 4: bake
Next, add the parmesan cheese. Then, put the whole skillet in the oven to finish baking.
EAT!
It’s going to smell wonderful as you pull the skillet out of the oven—like your favorite Italian restaurant, I swear!
If you have extra thyme on hand, finish the dish with a little extra thyme and sea salt.
This dish is everything you’d expect from a multi-step recipe but made in a way that takes less than an hour. Plus, everything is made in one skillet. Simple, simple – and we love that.
As mentioned, I’m sure I’ll be remaking this over the holidays! It’s going to be a busy season and dishes like this are what we all need!
Looking for other dinner recipes?? Here are my favorites:
30 Minute Coq au Vin Chicken Meatballs
Simple Baked Cheesy Italian Chicken Meatballs
Weeknight 30 Minute Coconut Curry Chicken Meatballs
Lastly, if you make these One Skillet Tuscan Chicken and Orzo, 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!
One Skillet Tuscan Chicken and Orzo
Ingredients
- 6 boneless chicken breasts or thighs
- salt and black pepper
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 3/4 pound spicy Italian chicken sausage
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 cup dry orzo pasta
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- chili flakes
- 2 cups broth or water
- 2 cups finely chopped kale
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/3 cup basil pesto
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 400° F. 2. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning. 3. Cook the sausage In a large oven-safe skillet set over medium-high heat until browned all over. Wiggle the chicken into the sausage. Add the onions, garlic, and thyme. Sear the chicken on both sides until golden, 3-5 minutes per side. 4. Add the butter, orzo, celery, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, and chili flakes. Cook until lightly golden, 2 minutes. Add the broth and kale. Bring to a boil, cook for 3-5 minutes, then add the cream and pesto. Sprinkle over the parmesan. Transfer to the oven and cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling around the chicken.5. Serve the chicken, orzo, and sauce topped with thyme. YUM.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
My husband and I really enjoyed this recipe, but the instructions with the sausage was vague. Is it just left whole and added to the skillet? I don’t see instuctions of when it is cut up.
Thank you,
Karen B.
Yay!! Thanks so much, Karen! So glad this recipe was a hit, thanks a lot for trying it out! So sorry for any confusion, I used ground sausage. XxT
Could you help me make adjustments for using rice instead of orzo. Gluten free here and I don’t have a small gf pasta in house.
Hi DeEtte,
Do you have arborio rice? That will work best for you! Otherwise, it really depends what kind of rice you are using…you will most likely have to cook the rice longer. Let me know how this recipe turns out for you! xx
Such an easy and delicious recipe! Will definitely make it again. I added sun dried tomatoes because I had some in the fridge that I wanted to use up and it was a nice addition!
Yay!! Thanks so much, Liz! So glad this recipe was a hit, thanks a lot for trying it out! XxT
Can I use rice instead of orzo? If so, any change to amounts or cooking time?
Hi Stephanie,
Arborio rice is going to work best for you and then you can keep everything the same! I hope you love this dish, please let me know if you give it a try! xx
This was absolutely delicious. I used Italian spicy turkey sausage instead and the flavors were amazing. I loved that the ingredients were pretty simple and didn’t take too long to throw together.
Hey Carrie,
Fantastic! Thanks so much for trying this dish and your comment, so glad to hear it was enjoyed! xT
This was delicious and did, indeed, taste a lot like Zuppa Toscana. The celery, imo, was unnecessary and didn’t add anything to the dish so if you have everything else in your kitchen, don’t make a special trip to pick it up. I won’t add it next time. The recipe calls for chopped onions but the picture shows sliced. I chopped them but will leave them thinly sliced next time. When chopped they really disappear into the sauce.
Thanks so much, Leah! I’m so glad to hear this dish turned out well for you, thanks for making it and your feedback! xT
I’m not sure why people have to leave negative comments that have nothing to do with the actual meal. Sad and pathetic, perhaps they should try publishing something worthwhile.
Did you ever hear of the little saying, if you don’t have anything nice to say, say nothing.
Made this the other day (Halloween) while waiting for trick or treaters – it was a warm day so my doors were open and all the parents were asking what smelled sooo good!
It was delicious- I wasn’t sure if the sausage was cooked whole or cut so I removed it from the casing and left it crumbled in the dish.
Looking forward to the leftovers!
Hey Patti,
Happy Weekend!🍁 I’m so glad this recipe turned out nicely for you, thanks a bunch for making it! xXT
Love this recipe! It’s in rotation for the season. Thank you Tieghan 🙂
Hey Tatyana,
Happy Weekend!🍁 I’m so glad this recipe turned out nicely for you, thanks a bunch for making it! xXT
Tieghan.. the amount of protein (6 chicken breast and the chicken sausage ) to the ORZO seems high? (1 cup orzo)? Thanks
Hi Frank,
The orzo really expands a decent amount, but you can totally reduce your chicken if you want to! Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
If you get bored easily why do you have an excessive amount of chicken and orzo recipes?
Hi, any substitutions for the cream? For lactose intolerant folks?
Hi Stacy,
Any dairy free cream that you enjoy will work, coconut cream is a great option! Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
Pesto. Cream. Orzo. Parmesan. None of these ingredients are remotely Tuscan. Unlike the US, where regional flavors and trends bleed across lines and are found in many areas, Italian cuisine is very specifically regional, especially with ingredients like Parmesan vs Romano, etc. Italians are VERY particular and even a little gatekeeping with these things but just wanting to share because unless you’ve traveled there, you may not know or understand those distinctions.
There are a lot of tags and identifiers you can use to title this recipe. Tuscan ain’t it.
I was going to say the same thing. It’s not “Tuscan” even in the way we describe dishes as Tuscan in the U.S., which usually have ingredients like spinach and sundried tomatoes. This is barely Italian-ish.
I think recipes like this are just thrown together for SEO and clicks, though, not for actual quality or accuracy, so I wouldn’t worry about it too much.
Loved this recipe,I cook a lot with boneless skinless thighs so that’s what I used,not a kale fan so I used spinach instead and no pesto on hand but I had fresh basil so I chopped that up.
It turned out great 😋
It’s amazing how the recipe”bullies”put their two cents in on what you call a recipe,does anyone really care to hear their opinions? Hard no!
Keep up the great creative recipes!
Thanks so much, Mary Ann! I’m so glad you enjoyed this dish and thanks a lot for sharing what worked best for you! Have a nice week! xT
Would greek yogurt work instead of heavy cream?
Hey Debbie,
Sure, I don’t see why not! Please let me know if you give this dish a try, I hope you love it! xx
Could baby spinach be used instead of kale? Looking forward to trying this recipe…thx!!
Hey Diane,
Totally, that will work nicely for you! Happy Halloween! xx
Thanks – this sounds amazing! Hoping to make this soon. Do you think this would work with half and half?
Hi Wendy,
Yes, that would be just fine for you to do! Please let me know if you try this dish, I hope you love it! XxT