This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Hillshire Farm, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #nohasslesavorymeal http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV
Sausage and Creamy Cajun Orzo Skillet - Make dinner a breeze with a meal all made in one skillet in only 20 minutes! So creamy and delicious. Makes for a great meal or a flavorful side-dish!
I am so excited for this recipe today. It's to the point where I want to stand and shout, "This is one of the easiest meals ever and it's made all in one skillet! You and your family will love it and I recommend making it today!" That about sums out how I feel about this sausage and Cajun orzo skillet.
This meal all in one skillet (I have to let you know again how easy it is) makes dinnertime a breeze on a busy weeknight. It's no fuss, and absolutely everything is cooked in this skillet and only this skillet. Makes clean-up even easier, the part everyone seems to love!
Let's chat about what makes this meal incredibly easy and quick. The main star of this skillet is the sausage. Now it's not just sausage; it's smoked sausage already cooked and ready to be sliced from Hillshire Farm. Takes about 2-3 minutes of prep to be ready to add to the skillet.
If you are on a tight budget, like us, we stocked up at our local Kroger banner store and picked up two packages for dinner this week and next for only $5.00 until 4/19/2016 while supplies last! Check to see if your Kroger banner store is participating! Can't beat that! If so, here are even more recipes to check out.
The secondary ingredients are the orzo and cajun seasonings. If you are familiar with my blog, you may have noticed our favorite baked cajun chicken breasts; we used the same seasoning blend for this creamy cajun orzo. We did omit the garlic and onion powder since we added fresh minced garlic and diced onions to the pan. Do not have any fresh garlic or onions? Just add the garlic and onion powder for a great substitute!
Sausage and Creamy Cajun Orzo Skillet - Make dinner a breeze with a meal all made in one skillet in only 20 minutes! So creamy and delicious. Makes for a great meal or a flavorful side-dish!
- 1 tbsp oil
- 14 oz Hillshire Farm Smoked Sausage sliced into ¼" slices
- ½ cup diced onions
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- cajun seasoning, to taste
- ½ tsp dark chili powder
- 3½ cups chicken stock
- 1½ cups orzo
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- scallions, to garnish (optional)
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Place the oil, smoked sausage, onions, green pepper, and garlic into a large skillet and sauté until the onions are translucent and fragrant, approximately 5 minutes over medium-to-low heat.
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Add in the Cajun seasoning and dark chili powder and mix until the sausage, mini sweet peppers, and onions are coated.
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Stir in the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add the orzo and stir until combined. Simmer uncovered for 12 minutes or until the orzo is tender.
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Stir in the heavy cream.
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Garnish with diced scallions and serve.
Nutrition estimated is based upon the brands I used. Yours may vary depending on brands.
This looks amazing! I have made a similar recipe but no cream. That sounds so yummy!
Thanks for posting! The pictures are great!
Yum!
Made this tonight! It was delicious but WAY too spicy for our likes! And we like heat! Our poor children couldn't eat it. I'd recommend cutting the cayenne pepper in half. We'd make this again! Thanks for sharing
So sorry, Bri! I would recommend cutting the cayenne pepper in half or even omitting it if you aren't a fan of spicy foods.
LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! Super big hit with my family.
So glad to hear that, Brandy! 🙂
This was delicious! Used turkey sausage and plant-based half & half instead of cream and it was amazing. Thanks for the recipe!
Hubby loves orzo, & Cajun, & sausage, so this sounded perfect & it was. Used kielbasa for some kick, followed your spice recipe (I even measured). It was fabulous, there are only 2 of us & he asked why I didn’t make more, there was only about 1 generous serving left. I’m told it has to in the regular rotation, & has dethroned what we call “enchielbasta” a skillet pasta with kielbasa & enchilada sauce.
So happy to hear that, Lara. It's so delicious and easy for a quick weeknight meal!
This turned out amazing. Great recipe, and my husband said the seasoning was perfect! Thank you!!
Made this last night. Excellent spicy and delish. I would have taken a photo, however it was devored. Love, love, love the cajun spice mix. Will make again very soon! Thanks for this great recipe !
I just made this dish and it was phenomenal! Thank you for sharing the recipe! 10/10 would recommend.
Yay! So happy you enjoyed it, Audrey. It's one of my favorites and thank you for reminding me that I need to make it again! 🙂
So delicious and so easy! This was the first dish for my 2 year old where we actually kept the spice in (halved the cayenne) and she ate a ton! I thought it had a decent kick still. I would love to try it with other meats too. As it’s cajun, my husband wants shrimp, sausage, and chicken like in jambalaya.
So glad you and your family enjoyed it, Alison! <3
Made this dish last night and loved it. Had to use rice instead of orzo due to my grocery store being sold out but cooked great using same directions as orzo in the recipe. I had to use less of the spices and it was still very spicy but it was still delicious! I will definitely be adding this recipe into my rotation!
I used hot italian sausage and used the broth from cooking the sausage instead of chicken broth. Came out delicious!!
This was amazing!! I've had bad experiences in the past with liquid to dry ratios in recipes similar to this one. Have no fear, this recipe is on point! Highly recommend it!
It's was AWESOME. My husband helped me make this since I'm not very good at cooking pasta. We will DEFINITELY make this often.
Glad you enjoyed it, Yolannda!
This was so good!! I only used half the amount of sausage (cut into smaller quarters) and it was perfect 🤌🏻
This is awesome and a regular in our house, I just normally use half the amount of sausage and it’s plenty for us
Excellent! We loved it. Thanks for sharing.
Anyone try ricotta cheese instead of heavy cream?
Tried this for dinner tonight. It was quick and easy! It was excellent! Loved the spices! Made one slight change and added 1/2 jar of Goya Sofrito tomato base. Will definitely make again. Thank you for a great recipe! Saved to favorites! 😋
This was super fast and easy. I made a fortunate mistake to boil the orzo in the broth in a separate pot while the veg and sausage were being sauteed. That way when I stirred in the orzo, it was already cooked. I also added 4 ribs of celery for the Cajun trinity which helped to veg it up. I had 1/2 and 1/2 instead of heavy cream and I think it didn't hurt it much. Would be great with a bit of fresh tomato diced on top with the scallions. What a time saver and family pleaser!!! Thanks!