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This easy meatball orzo casserole is a meal that utilizes frozen meatballs, jarred Alfredo sauce, and prepared pesto to make a delicious dinner. Plus, it’s ready to enjoy in about 35 minutes!
The main part of this easy meatball orzo casserole is orzo pasta. This is small like rice and only needs to cook like 8 minutes for this dish. It also is cooked in chicken broth rather than water. This gives flavor and also helps to make the sauce.
Once you cook the orzo you mix it with some frozen meatballs, spinach, jarred Alfredo sauce, pesto, and salt and pepper. Now, the recipe called for an entire 6 oz jar of pesto. It was a little to much for us. So now, I only use 1/2 of that amount and we like it better. So the amount you use is up to you. I would start with half, because you can always mix more in at thee end of cooking if you want it stronger.
Once you have all thee ingredients combined, you add it to a grease baking pan. Top it with some parmesan cheese and bake. You want it to bake for about 25 minutes until it is bubbly and the cheese is melty.
Here is what you need to make the
Easy Meatball Orzo Casserole
- CHICKEN BROTH
- ORZO PASTA
- FROZEN MEATBALLS
- FRESH SPINACH
- JARRED ALFREDO SAUCE
- REFRIGERATED BASIL PESTO
- SALT AND PEPPER
- PARMESAN CHEESE
Easy Meatball Orzo Casserole
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 6–8 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 5 cups chicken broth
- 1 (16 oz) box orzo pasta
- 1 (26 oz.) bag frozen meatballs
- 3 cups fresh spinach, chopped
- 1 (16 oz) jar Alfredo sauce
- 1/2 to 1 (6 oz) container refrigerated basil pesto
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13 inch baking dish.
- In a large saucepan, bring chicken broth to a boil. Add orzo and cook for 8 minutes (orzo will finish cooking in the oven).
- Transfer orzo and broth mixture to a large mixing bowl and stir in meatballs, spinach, Alfredo sauce, pesto and salt and pepper, to taste. Add the mixture to the prepared baking dish.
- Top with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until bubbly and cheese has melted on top. Serves 6-8.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Beef
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Italian
This recipe is adapted from Let’s Dish Recipes.
