Sun-dried Tomato Baked Salmon Orzo Recipe

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One Pan Sun-dried Tomato Baked Salmon Orzo Recipe that’s ready in around 35 minutes! Cook the orzo in broth, stir in baby spinach, and top with the salmon filets. Bake until the orzo is creamy and the salmon is tender!

It’s a one pot dinner kinda day!

This one not only has a minimum prep time, it also comes complete with sun-dried tomato and baby spinach flavored orzo in one pan! It’s totally giving Tuscan Chicken vibes. But it comes together in one pan with a pasta, veggies, and salmon.

We’ll start by making the salmon marinade in the same dish that you’ll bake the pasta in. Dip the salmon to coat both sides in the garlic and red pepper marinade. Then add the orzo, sun-dried tomatoes, and broth and let it cook in the oven until the orzo is almost done. We’ll top it with the salmon filets and bake a little longer.

What you’re left with is an easy one pan salmon orzo dinner!

Ingredients for baked salmon orzo recipe:

Salmon fillets: You’ll want to use 4-5 ounce fillets. Keep in mind that the cooking time will vary based on ounces of each salmon filet. You’ll want to reduce the cooking time for 4 ounces of salmon.
Sun-dried Tomatoes: We’ll add sun-dried tomato oil to the marinade and then use the tomatoes themselves with the orzo and the pesto to give it tons of delicious flavor. If you don’t have the tomato that come packed in oil, you can swap it with a couple tablespoons of olive oil. But know that you’ll need to flavor the marinade with a few extra seasonings. The tomato oil really packs a flavorful punch!
Melted Butter: use unsalted butter so you can control the amount of sodium in this recipe.
Lemon Juice: Fresh lemon juice helps flavor the marinade and is the acid that this recipe needs.
Seasonings: You’ll need kosher salt, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes. We’ll use all of these to flavor the marinade.
Sun-dried tomato pesto: this is an ingredient that is readily available in most grocery stores these days. If you prefer to make your own, I have a recipe here.
Garlic: we’ll mince a few cloves of garlic and add it to the orzo portion of the dish.
Orzo pasta: You’ll need dry orzo pasta for this recipe. This is an ingredient that’s easily available in most grocery stores.
Chicken Broth: I prefer to use low sodium chicken broth for this recipe and then adjust the sodium as needed.
Parmesan Cheese: Adds umami and saltiness to the recipe. We’ll add the cheese, spinach, and cream once we remove the foil, right before. adding the salmon.
Baby Spinach: Adds color and nutrients to the dish.
Heavy Cream: Gives it a subtle hint of creaminess without being too much.
Garnish: you can garnish this recipe with chopped parsley or chives. Any herbs that add subtle flavor will do!

Instructions for salmon orzo recipe:

Make the marinade. Start by preheating the oven. While the oven heats through, we’ll combine the sun-dried tomato oil, butter, lemon juice, ¾ teaspoon salt, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes in the dish we plan on using for the orzo bake. Dip the salmon filets, flesh side down in the marinade. Then keep the fillets aside.
Simmer the orzo. To the remaining marinade, add the pesto, tomatoes, fresh garlic, orzo and the broth. Cover with a tight-fitting lid or foil so that the orzo has a chance to boil and took through in the total time.
Finish the dish.Remove the dish from the oven, you’ll notice the orzo looks watery, but don’t worry! Stir in the parmesan, spinach and cream. Place the marinated salmon on. top and let the dish cook until the salmon is tender and the orzo is al dente. Remove from the oven and top with parsley or other fresh herbs.

Variations on this dish:

Swap the pesto.

You can use traditional basil pesto if you aren’t a fan of tomato pesto.

Play up the lemon flavor a tad bit more.

Use lemon zest in the marinade or a little on top of the salmon once it’s cooked and out of the oven.

Add more acid to cut the richness.

Stir in a couple tablespoons of capers when when you add the baby spinach. This gives it salmon piccata meets salmon cacciatore vibes.

If you like this recipe, you might also like:

salmon with parsley over orzo in baking dish

Yield: Serves 4

Sun-dried Tomato Baked Salmon Orzo Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

One Pan Sun-dried Tomato Baked Salmon Orzo Recipe that's ready in around 35 minutes! Cook the orzo in broth, stir in baby spinach, and top with the salmon filets. Bake until the orzo is creamy and the salmon is tender!

Ingredients

4 (4-5 ounce) salmon fillets
¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil (+ 2tbsp oil)
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 tablespoon lemon juice
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons sun-dried tomato pesto (homemade or store-bought)
4 cloves garlic, pressed
12 ounces dry orzo
2 ¾ cup chicken broth (or vegetable)
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
1 ½ cups baby spinach, chopped
¼ cup heavy cream

Instructions

PREP: Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400ºF. Add the sundried tomato oil, melted butter, lemon juice, kosher salt, garlic powder, and pepper flakes, to a 12x9 baking dish and whisk it together.
MARINATE: Dip or brush the salmon filets with the marinade (leaving most of it in the pan.) Set the salmon filets aside for now on a plate.
BAKE: To the remaining marinade in the pan, add pesto, sun-dried tomato slices, garlic, orzo and the broth, cover with a tight fitting lid or with foil and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.
STIR: Remove the dish from the oven, stir in the parmesan, baby spinach, and heavy cream until combined.
TOP: Place the salmon filets over the orzo and veggies, and roast uncovered for another 12-18 minute depending on the thickness of the filet and how well done you like your salmon.
SERVE: Serve the salmon filets with the orzo and enjoy!

Notes

Swaps: feel free to swap the tomato pesto for basil pesto if that's more your thing.
Sun-dried tomatoes: if yours didn't come packed in oil, you can still use them but you'll need to amp up seasonings for the salmon a bit and swap the oil for olive oil.