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These delicious Chicken Meatballs with Orzo are so easy to make. It’s made with protein-packed chicken meatballs, creamy orzo, and a flavorful Greek lemon sauce that’s packed with lemon, garlic, and dill. This recipe is a great one when you’re looking for a quick but tasty meal you can prep in just 15 minutes and let your oven do the rest of the work.
This post was created in partnership with DeLallo.
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.
Why You’ll Love Chicken Meatballs and Orzo
- Flavorful: What I love about this meatball dish is the lemony dill sauce. It’s so flavorful, I could seriously drizzle it on anything.
- Quick Prep: Prep this dish in only 15 minutes and let your oven do the rest of the work. This is an easy, nutritious meal that is great for those busy weeknights and busy families.
- Budget-Friendly: You can make these Chicken Meatballs in a pinch with a few simple, budget-friendly ingredients.
Ingredients
Orzo – Orzo, named for its “barley” shape, is a versatile, tiny pasta perfect for soups, but it also excels in baked dishes like this one or pasta salad. I used DeLallo Orzo, which originated near Naples, is crafted from high-quality durum wheat and fresh mountain spring water, then slowly dried to preserve its color, texture, and aroma. This process ensures it always cooks up perfectly al dente.
Sundried Tomatoes – For these Chicken Meatballs, I used julienned sun-dried tomatoes from DeLallo. These tomatoes are super convenient to have in your pantry, and they’re already cut into strips for you to easily add them into recipes. They come packed in olive oil with herbs, and are perfectly chewy, bold, and add a little sweetness to this dish.
Olive Oil – You know I have a little thing (okay, a big thing) for olive oil. The key to any recipe is to make sure you’re using a quality, extra virgin olive oil. For these meatballs, I used DeLallo’s Private Reserve Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Their olive oil is a premium, Italian olive oil, full of flavor and perfect for pasta dishes like this one.
How to Make Chicken Meatballs with Orzo
- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- Make the lemon sauce by whisking together all of the lemon sauce ingredients and then set aside.
- Make the meatballs: In a bowl mix together all of the meatball ingredients until combined. Once combined, scoop about 1 1/2 – 2 tablespoons at a time and form into meatballs – you’ll get 22-26 meatballs. Place each meatball onto a plate and then set aside.
- To a large oven safe skillet or braiser over medium-low heat add the chopped spinach and wilt until there is no moisture left. Set the wilted spinach aside.
- To the same oven safe skillet or braiser, add 1 tbsp olive oil over medium-low heat. When the oil is warm, add the minced garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes until fragrant.
- Add the wilted spinach, fresh mint, fresh dill, salt and pepper and stir until combined and the herbs are wilted.
- Add the chicken stock paste and hot water and stir to combine.
- Pour in the orzo and stir to combine.
- Gently place the meatballs in amongst the orzo.
- Cover the pan with a lid or tin foil and bake in the preheated oven for 25-28 minutes, removing the lid or tin foil for the last 5 minutes of cooking. Bake until the meatballs are cooked through and the orzo is creamy.
- Drizzle the lemon sauce over the meatballs and orzo and then garnish with fresh parsley, mint and/or dill. Serve immediately.
Tips and Tricks
- Don’t Overmix: Overmixing the ground chicken will make your meatballs tough and dense. Mix just until the ingredients are combined
- Wet Your Hands: Keep a small bowl of water nearby and wet your hands before rolling the meatballs. This prevents sticking and helps you form them gently without overworking.
- Don’t Overcook: Chicken meatballs cook relatively quickly. Bake them until they’re golden brown and cooked through, but avoid over-baking, which leads to dry meatballs.
Variations
If you like this easy orzo bake, here are some other orzo recipes that I think you’ll love:
Substitutions
- Ground Chicken: You can swap the ground chicken in this recipe for ground turkey if you prefer.
- Dill: The lemon dill sauce is so refreshing and delicious, but you can swap the fresh dill for your preferred herb for a different twist.
- Orzo: Serve these Chicken Meatballs over rice if you don’t have orzo.
- Sundried Tomatoes: You can opt for artichoke hearts instead of sundried tomatoes if you prefer.
Best served with
How to Store Leftovers
Store leftovers of these Chicken Meatballs, once cooled, in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Common Questions
Ingredients like herbs, olive oil, eggs, or breadcrumbs can help make your meatballs more moist, so don’t skip out on them. You also want to make sure you don’t overcook them!
Just like any pasta, you want the orzo to be al dente – cooked through but still with a slight bite. It will continue to absorb liquid as it rests.
The key is in the binding ingredients (eggs and olive oil) but if you are having trouble with forming them, cool the mixture in the fridge for 10 minutes and then try.
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Watch the Video
Ingredients
For the Greek lemon sauce
- juice of one lemon
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp fresh minced dill
- 3 garlic cloves, pressed
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp ground pepper
For the meatballs
- 450 g (1 lb) ground chicken
- ⅓ cup oil packed sundried tomatoes, drained and finely chopped
- ¼ cup fresh chopped parsley
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp ground pepper
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ cup breadcrumbs
- 1 egg
- 3 garlic cloves, pressed
- Zest of one lemon
For the orzo
- 125-150 grams chopped fresh spinach (about 4-5 cups chopped)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tbsp fresh minced mint
- ¼ cup fresh chopped dill
- 1 tbsp chicken stock paste
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp ground pepper
- 2 ¾ cups hot water
- 1 cup dry Delallo orzo pasta
Garnishes
- Fresh parsley, dill and mint for garnish
Instructions
Start Cooking- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- Make the lemon sauce by whisking together all of the lemon sauce ingredients and then set aside.
- Make the meatballs: In a bowl mix together all of the meatball ingredients until combined.
- Once combined, scoop about 1 1/2 – 2 tablespoons at a time and form into meatballs – you’ll get 22-26 meatballs. Place each meatball onto a plate and then set aside.
- To a large oven safe skillet or braiser over medium-low heat add the chopped spinach and wilt until there is no moisture left. Set the wilted spinach aside.
- To the same oven safe skillet or braiser, add 1 tbsp olive oil over medium-low heat. When the oil is warm, add the minced garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes until fragrant.
- Add the wilted spinach, fresh mint, fresh dill, salt and pepper and stir until combined and the herbs are wilted.
- Add the chicken stock paste and hot water and stir to combine.
- Pour in the orzo and stir to combine.
- Gently place the meatballs in amongst the orzo.
- Cover the pan with a lid or tin foil and bake in the preheated oven for 25-28 minutes, removing the lid or tin foil for the last 5 minutes of cooking. Bake until the meatballs are cooked through and the orzo is creamy.
- Drizzle the lemon sauce over the meatballs and orzo and then garnish with fresh parsley, mint and/or dill. Serve immediately.
Notes
- This recipe is a great one to meal prep for lunches! After cooking, let the orzo and meatballs fully cool and then portion into containers. Store in the fridge for up to 3 days and reheat as desired.
- If you love this recipe, try our Easy Marry Me Chicken Recipe
70 people are discussing this recipe. Join in
Made this tonight – substituted with ground beef and broccoli instead of ground chicken and spinach, since it’s what I had on hand and was still delicious! Will definitely try as written next time ❤️
YES!!! So glad to hear that, thank you so much!
Hubby rated this as top 3 recipes I have made! LOVED IT
YES!!!!! This makes me SO happy, thank you so much!
I just made this recipe and it came out so so good! Super easy, fresh, light, and delicious!
thank you so much for the love Vanessa!
I am always looking for meatball recipes with no cheese. These meatballs are absolutely delicious & are packed with flavor! The orzo and lemon sauce make this one of the best dinners I have made. My family wants it on the rotation!
Wow, thank you so much, Heidi!! That makes me so happy!!
Loved! Delicious and simple to make. The dressing was next level and I made extra for other dishes throughout the week!
Thank you so much, Kayla! That makes me so happy.
Great recipe! I added feta at the end and it was so good. Also make a double batch of meatballs and froze them for other dishes. Definitely making this again!
oh heck yes, thank you so much, Dianna!
I don’t know what I did wrong but after 30 minutes it was still very watery. The oven was at 400 – I use an oven thermometer to be sure. When adding the water to my stainless skillet, it was hot but not boiling. Could that be my problem? Thank you for any help.
Did you add the correct amount of Orzo?
Thank you for your response. I did add the 1 cup per the recipe. As an update, after leaving it on the counter for a short time, the orzo absorbed all of the water. And I thoroughly enjoyed it and the leftovers. I definitely will try it again.
very glad to hear that!
Delightfully different!
thank you so much, Linda!!
I am looking forward to making this, but I’m thinking about doing half orzo, half rice. I think it would probably need to cook longer and maybe I would need to wait to add the meatballs. I’m wondering if I could get Maria’s expert opinion.
Hello Wendy! I didn’t test it this way but I think you should be good with the same cook time but you can always take the lid off and check and keep cooking as you see fit!
AMAZING!! The whole family loved it, doubled the recipe to feed a crowd.
YES!! That makes me so happy! Thank you Holly!!!
Hi Maria – this looks like another great recipe. I have 2 questions. What size pan did you use (Approximate)? Can this recipe be doubled ? Many thx for your time.
Hey Debbite! This was a 3.4L Casserole Dish! You can 100% double the recipe, just adjust the casserole dish accordingly! And I would use my video (below the recipe card) for reference!