• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Eat Something Vegan logo

  • About Me
  • Vegan Cookbook
  • All Recipes
    • Dinner
    • Lunch
    • Breakfast
    • Desserts
    • Appetizer
    • Pasta
    • Salad
    • Soup
    • Side Dishes
  • Subscribe
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • About Me
  • Vegan Cookbook
  • All Recipes
    • Dinner
    • Lunch
    • Breakfast
    • Desserts
    • Appetizer
    • Pasta
    • Salad
    • Soup
    • Side Dishes
  • Subscribe
  • Stay in Touch!

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • ×
    Home » Lunch » Creamy Vegan Spinach Orzo

    Creamy Vegan Spinach Orzo

    Jun 10, 2025 by Julia Maz · This post may contain affiliate links

    Sharing is caring!

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    Jump to Recipe Jump to Video

    This Creamy Vegan Spinach Orzo is smooth, satisfying, and delicious. With its tender orzo pasta and flavorful spinach leaves, you can serve it as a side dish or enjoy it all on its own.

    Vegan Spinach Orzo on a wooden spoon

    This Creamy Vegan Spinach Orzo recipe is a great way to change up your pasta routine. This small pasta looks like rice, but it's made of semolina flour from durum wheat, like any other pasta. But its shape makes it ideal for soups, salads, and side dishes, like this one. But you can easily make this orzo recipe your main meal because it's so satisfying and tastes amazing.

    This dish is versatile and also easy. Orzo cooks quite quickly so it won't take long to prepare and serve this to your family. It's also tasty enough that kids hardly notice the healthy serving of spinach on their plates, too. Make this Creamy Vegan Spinach Orzo for dinner or lunch, served with other dishes or all on its own. You're going to love it regardless. Let's look at the ingredients that make it taste so good.

    Video Tutorial

    What you'll need

    • Orzo Pasta. Or another kind of small pasta.
    • Veggie Broth. Use your favorite kind.
    • Oat Milk. I like oat milk best because it's creamy and smooth.
    • Nutritional Yeast. It adds a nice cheesy flavor and a touch of color.
    • Spinach. I like fresh baby spinach best here because there are no hard stems and it has a nice fresh taste.
    • Salt & Pepper. If needed. Depending on how well-seasoned your vegetable broth is, you might need to add just a little bit of salt and pepper, or skip these altogether.

    How to make it

    1. Combine the vegetable broth and oat milk in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.

    bringing milk and broth to a boil

    2. Add the orzo and cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

    adding orzo and cooking it

    3. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, and spinach. Keep cooking for about 3 minutes, until the spinach wilts down.

    adding spinach to the orzo

    4. Taste the orzo. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir, and remove from heat. Serve.

    Vegan Spinach Orzo close up shot

    Tips for the best Creamy Vegan Spinach Orzo

    • Use a non-stick pot. To avoid the orzo pasta sticking to the bottom of the pot if it's not stirred often enough, opt for a non-stick pot. It makes clean-up just a little easier.
    • Adjust seasonings to taste. As the saltiness of your vegetable broth can vary, add salt in the final step, after you have tasted the dish. This way, you will only add as much as you need, and no more.
    • Use fresh ingredients if possible. Fresh herbs and vegetables make all the difference in cooking, so try to use fresh spinach, as well as any other ingredients that are added in.

    Add-ins and Substitutes

    • Substitute different pastas. Any small pasta would work here, such as acini di pepe, midolline, alphabet pasta, anelli, fideo, or pastina.
    • Substitute frozen spinach. Fresh baby spinach works best in my opinion, but you can use frozen spinach if it is all that you have on hand. Just thaw and drain it before use.
    • Add other vegetables. Add asparagus, broccoli, mushrooms, or any other vegetable that you prefer. Depending on the veggie, you may need to parboil it to get it to the right tenderness.
    • Make it gluten-free. You can substitute gluten-free orzo for regular orzo so you can serve this to anyone with a gluten restriction. It's usually found in the pasta aisles at supermarkets, and online.

    How to Store

    Store any leftover Creamy Vegan Spinach Orzo in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will last for up to 4 days. When reheating, you’ll want to do so in a skillet with a little water, oat milk, or veggie broth to prevent the pasta from drying out or becoming gummy.

    How to Serve it

    • On its own. This Creamy Spinach Orzo makes a filling meal, so enjoy it on its own for a light lunch or dinner.
    • With vegetables. Pair this orzo with Simple Vegetable Skewers or Roasted Tomato Pesto Vegetables.
    • As a side dish. This recipe goes well with main dishes like Easy Hummus Wraps, Baked Portobello Mushrooms, and Vegan Black Bean Burgers.
    • With salad. Serve this Spinach Orzo with Creamy Cucumber Radish Salad, Napa Cabbage Salad with Corn, or Tomato and Onion Salad.
    Vegan Spinach Orzo in a bowl

    This Creamy Vegan Spinach Orzo is perfect for family dinners and the leftovers can be enjoyed as a light lunch. It's both convenient and versatile. I hope you'll love the flavors and textures of this creamy pasta dish as much as I do.

    More tasty vegan pasta recipes:

    • Pasta with Roasted Pepper Sauce
    • Mushroom Bolognese Pasta
    • Carrot Pasta Sauce
    • Angel Hair Pasta

    Creamy Vegan Spinach Orzo

    This Creamy Vegan Spinach Orzo is smooth, satisfying, and delicious. With its tender orzo pasta and flavorful spinach leaves, you can serve it as a side dish or enjoy it all on its own.
    4.55 from 20 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Side Dish
    Cuisine: American
    Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 20 minutes minutes
    Servings: 4 servings
    Calories: 212kcal
    Author: Julia Maz

    Ingredients

    • 2 cups veggie broth
    • 1 cup oat milk
    • 1 cup orzo pasta
    • 2 tbsp. nutritional yeast
    • 4 oz. baby spinach, roughly chopped
    • ½ tsp. salt or to taste
    • ¼ tsp. pepper or to taste

    Instructions

    • Combine the vegetable broth and oat milk in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.
    • Add the orzo and cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
    • Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, and spinach. Keep cooking for about 3 minutes, until the spinach wilts down.
    • Taste the orzo. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir, and remove from heat. Serve.

    Video Tutorial

    Notes

    Add-ins and Substitutes

    • Substitute different pastas. Any small pasta would work here, such as acini di pepe, midolline, alphabet pasta, anelli, fideo, or pastina.
    • Substitute frozen spinach. Fresh baby spinach works best in my opinion, but you can use frozen spinach if it is all that you have on hand. Just thaw and drain it before use.
    • Add other vegetables. Add asparagus, broccoli, mushrooms, or any other vegetable that you prefer. Depending on the veggie, you may need to parboil it to get it to the right tenderness.
    • Make it gluten-free. You can substitute gluten-free orzo for regular orzo so you can serve this to anyone with a gluten restriction. It's usually found in the pasta aisles at supermarkets, and online.

    How to Store

    Store any leftover Creamy Vegan Spinach Orzo in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will last for up to 4 days. When reheating, you’ll want to do so in a skillet with a little water, oat milk, or veggie broth to prevent the pasta from drying out or becoming gummy.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 212kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 762mg | Potassium: 423mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 3033IU | Vitamin C: 8mg | Calcium: 124mg | Iron: 2mg

    More Lunch Recipes

    • Broccoli Crunch Salad
    • Vegan Cabbage Rolls
    • Smashed Pickled Cucumbers
    • 🌿Air Fryer Cabbage Steaks

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Vivian says

      April 02, 2025 at 7:10 pm

      5 stars
      Since I don’t usually carry oat milk I used almond and doubled the recipe and it was a winner! Will be making it again!!
      So good
      Thank you!

      Reply
      • Tania Sheff says

        April 10, 2025 at 2:44 pm

        Thank you so much, Vivian!

        Reply
    2. Andrea Smith says

      August 31, 2023 at 7:53 pm

      5 stars
      Absolutely fabulous flavor! I toasted some chickpeas to add on top. This will be on regular rotation here. Thank you!

      Reply
      • Tania Sheff says

        September 12, 2023 at 12:36 pm

        Thank you so much, Andrea!

        Reply
    « Older Comments

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Hi Friend!

    I am glad you are here!

    Welcome to Eat Something Vegan! Here, you'll find a lot of healthy, tasty, and creative vegan recipes. Each recipe is carefully tested to make sure you won't be disappointed!

    Read more ->

    Footer

    ^ back to top

    Privacy

    • Privacy Policy

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2020