This Mediterranean Orzo Pasta dish has a delicious combination of many aromatic flavours and is topped with warm oven roasted chicken skewers. Even though there appears to be many steps to this recipe, each step is very simple and can be thrown together in only a few minutes. With layers of orzo pasta, sundried tomato feta topping, homemade tzatziki, fresh veggies, and perfectly spiced chicken skewers, this recipe is packed with flavour and sure to be a hit for everyone. Find more delicious lunch and dinner ideas for the whole family here.
Base Ingredients:
- Wooden skewers
- Chicken breasts (2 chicken breasts = 4 skewers roughly)
- 1 cup orzo pasta
- 1/2 cup red onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/3 cup kalamata olives, halved
- 1/2 cup sliced cucumber
Chicken Skewers Marinade:
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1/4 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
Mediterranean Orzo Pasta Dressing:
- 1/8 cup olive oil
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- Zest from half a lemon
- 1 large garlic clove, minced
Sundried Tomato Feta Topping:
- 3/4 cup feta, crumbled
- 1/8 cup sundried tomatoes, sliced into small pieces
- 1 tbsp sundried tomato oil (from the sundried tomato jar)
- 1/2 tbsp honey
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- salt and pepper
Homemade Tzatziki:
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup grated cucumber – wrap grated cucumber in paper squeeze out all liquid
- 1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
- 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped
- salt + pepper to taste
Garnish:
- Olive oil
- Fresh dill
- Lemon slices
- Pita or naan, this is my favourite kind
Directions
- Preheat oven to 425°F (if you are baking your chicken in the oven, omit if you are barbecuing your chicken)
- Soak wooden skewers in water while preparing the rest of the ingredients to prevent them from burning in the oven
- Cut chicken breast into 1-1.5 inch cubes and put in a large bowl
- In the meantime, prepare the marinade by mixing together all of the marinade ingredients in a small bowl first and then pouring the marinade over the cubed chicken, mix until evenly coated and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes
- While your chicken is marinating you can prepare your pasta dressing, sundried tomato feta topping, and homemade tzatziki: add all of your pasta dressing ingredients into a small bowl or salad dressing shaker; combine all of the sundried tomato feta topping ingredients into a medium sized bowl and combine, set aside; combine all homemade tzatziki ingredients into a small bowl, set aside
- Remove marinated chicken from the fridge and start assembling your chicken skewers, adding about 4-5 pieces of cubed chicken to the centre of each wooden skewer
- For cooking the chicken you have a few options – you can grill your skewers on the barbecue, bake them on a lined baking sheet, or what I did was delicately rest the skewers on a loaf pan (see image below) to act as a mini rotisserie
- Bake the skewers in the oven for 15-18 minutes until chicken is cooked through but not dried out
- While your chicken skewers are cooking, boil a large pot with salted water and cook your orzo pasta according to the package instructions, strain and pour into a large bowl, add in your pasta dressing and mix until combined
- Once the chicken is finished cooking, remove from oven and set the oven to broil, place the red onions, cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives on a lined baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, broil for 5 minutes
- Next, assemble your dish starting with the orzo pasta as your base (tossed in the Mediterranean pasta dressing first), add the broiled red onion, cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives, fresh cucumber, homemade tzatziki, the sundried tomato feta topping, and then the chicken skewers (refer to image sequence below)
- Finally, add a drizzle of olive oil, lemon slices, dill and pita/naan for garnish
Enjoy your Mediterranean Orzo Pasta with Chicken Skewers! 🙂