Blistered Tomatoes in Orzo

These Blistered Tomatoes 🍅 in creamy orzo is the perfect recipe to use fresh, in-season tomatoes from the garden or local farmers market. This recipe is so simple, and the perfect, summer, comforting meal that is great a side dish or main course.

Why You’ll Love Blistered Tomatoes

• Versatile: Add in other veggies, or pair with your favorite protein
• Flavorful: Blistered tomatoes are sweet, and perfect when paired in a savory dish like this orzo recipe
• Quick: Make this easy recipe in just 40-minutes. Great for a summer night when you don’t want to spend all evening in the kitchen

Ingredients

Tomatoes 🍅 – Tomatoes are SO good for you and one of my fav fruits in the summertime because the flavor is so delicious and fresh. Tomatoes help with immunity, heart and brain health, and so much more.

Maria Koutsogiannia

Maria is the creator of FoodByMaria and your go-to Greek food expert for cozy, flavor-packed recipes. Inspired by her Mediterranean roots, she brings traditional Greek flavors, feel-good ingredients, and a whole lot of joy to everyday cooking.

More about maria

Orzo – Orzo may look like rice but it is actually a short/small pasta. Orzo can be a great noodle to use in dishes in place of rice, or even in soups or stews

Olive Oil – Make sure you use a good quality olive oil in your cooking. To be able to tell what the best one is in your local grocery store, buy one in a tinted glass bottle vs. clear plastic, and make sure it is extra virgin

How to Make Blistered Tomato Orzo

1. Start by heating a tall-sided skillet or medium pot over high heat. Once hot, add the tomatoes, cooking for 3-5 minutes, gently shaking the pan occasionally, until tomatoes are just blistered and starting to burst. Turn to medium. heat and add 1 tbsp olive oil and pinch of salt and pepper. Cook for 3-4 more minutes stirring often.
2. Turn the heat off and remove half of the tomatoes from the pan to a bowl, set aside.
3. Turn the heat back to medium and add 1 tbsp olive oil, diced onion and minced garlic and cook for 6-8 minutes until the onion is softened and the tomatoes have broken down a bit more.
4. Add the stock paste, salt, pepper, 2 cups water, orzo and half of the chopped basil and half of the minced chives and stir to combine. Bring to a boil over high heat and then turn to medium-low once simmering. Keep at a simmer and cover with a lid most of the way while the orzo cooks, removing the lid to stir every 3-4 minutes so it doesn’t stick.
5. Cook until the orzo is al dente, about 9-12 minutes and you’re left with a creamy orzo with a thickened sauce. If you find the orzo isn’t quite done and there isn’t alot of liquid left, add another half cup of water and cook for a few more minutes.
6. When done, taste and adjust the seasoning with more salt and pepper if desired. Remove the orzo from the heat and top with reserved blistered tomatoes and the rest of the fresh basil and fresh chives. Drizzle with olive oil if desired.

Tips and Tricks

• If you don’t have chicken or vegetable stock paste use chicken or vegetable broth instead of water and omit the paste
• Serve as a side dish to anything you’re grilling this summer
• If you love this recipe you’ll love our Greek Shrimp and Orzo Pasta Bake or Chicken and Orzo with Tomatoes (Kotopoulo Youvesti)

Substitutions

• Orzo: You can definitely swap orzo for another grain, however, you’ll need to adjust the cooking time as required. Things like quinoa, couscous, or rice can all be great options for this Blistered Tomatoes recipe
• Basil: Basil is so fresh and pairs well with tomatoes, however, if you don’t have any you can omit it, or swap it for another herb like oregano

Best served with

• Grilled Romaine Salad
• Chicken Souvlaki
• BBQ Salmon Kebab

How to Store Leftovers

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Common Questions

5 from 4 votes

Blistered Tomatoes in Orzo 🍅

This delicious summer recipe with Blistered Tomatoes in Orzo is great as a side dish to your grilled meats, or on its own.

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

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Course Side Dish

Cuisine Greek-Inspired

Servings 4 as a side dish

Calories 206

Servings: 4 as a side dish

IngredientsInstructionsNutrition

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Ingredients

• ▢ 4 cups cherry tomatoes
• ▢ 2 tbsp olive oil
• ▢ 1 small yellow onion, diced
• ▢ 4 garlic cloves, minced
• ▢ 1 tbsp chicken or vegetable stock paste
• ▢ 2 – 2 ½ cups water
• ▢ 1 tsp salt
• ▢ ½ tsp pepper
• ▢ 1 cup dried orzo pasta
• ▢ ½ cup fresh chopped basil
• ▢ ¼ cup fresh minced chives

Instructions 

Start Cooking

1. Start by heating a tall-sided skillet or medium pot over high heat. Once hot, add the tomatoes, cooking for 3-5 minutes, gently shaking the pan occasionally, until tomatoes are just blistered and starting to burst. Turn to medium. heat and add 1 tbsp olive oil and pinch of salt and pepper. Cook for 3-4 more minutes stirring often.
2. Turn the heat off and remove half of the tomatoes from the pan to a bowl, set aside.
3. Turn the heat back to medium and add 1 tbsp olive oil, diced onion and minced garlic and cook for 6-8 minutes until the onion is softened and the tomatoes have broken down a bit more.
4. Add the stock paste, salt, pepper, 2 cups water, orzo and half of the chopped basil and half of the minced chives and stir to combine. Bring to a boil over high heat and then turn to medium-low once simmering. Keep at a simmer and cover with a lid most of the way while the orzo cooks, removing the lid to stir every 3-4 minutes so it doesn’t stick.
5. Cook until the orzo is al dente, about 9-12 minutes and you’re left with a creamy orzo with a thickened sauce. If you find the orzo isn’t quite done and there isn’t alot of liquid left, add another half cup of water and cook for a few more minutes.
6. When done, taste and adjust the seasoning with more salt and pepper if desired. Remove the orzo from the heat and top with reserved blistered tomatoes and the rest of the fresh basil and fresh chives. Drizzle with olive oil if desired.

Notes

• If you don’t have chicken or vegetable stock paste use chicken or vegetable broth instead of water and omit the paste.
• Serve as a side dish to anything you’re grilling this summer!
• If you love this recipe you’ll love our Greek Shrimp and Orzo Pasta Bake or Chicken and Orzo with Tomatoes (Kotopoulo Youvesti)

NutritionHide Nutrition

Calories: 206kcalCarbohydrates: 29.4gProtein: 5.4gFat: 7.9gSaturated Fat: 1.1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.9gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gSodium: 603.6mgFiber: 3.4gSugar: 5.8g