Vegan Orzo Recipe (with Sun-Dried Tomatoes)

Vegan Orzo Recipes

When it comes to vegan orzo recipes, it’s not a dish I’ve seen that’s as popular on social media as some viral Tiktok noodle or baked oats are. But we’re changing that! Today we are making a vegan recipe for cheesy, sun-dried tomato orzo!

Now, I bring to you something that’s a first for me. Actually, two things. The first is that I’ve actually never had sundried tomatoes. I’ve heard about them, for sure. I’ve talked the talk, said I’d try them out whenever friends recommended recipes to me, sure.

I would scour through recipe books, screenshotting and storing recipes that I wanted to try, which included those using sundried tomatoes. But did I ever actually get around to using them? NO!

I’m sure there’s a list of maybe 3-5 ingredients that you keep putting on the back burner too? Ingredients that you’ll pass by the shelves at the supermarket, that you’ll see on Instagram, that you’ll pin to your Pinterest board for the ideas – but that you’ll never actually use in a recipe. For me, that meant sundried tomatoes.

In fact, I’m kind of shameful for this. Because sundried tomatoes aren’t just a vegan ingredient, but rather they can also be used in RAW vegan recipes. It feels like I definitely should’ve tried them out by now!

Also a first for ~Orzo~

Pre-Covid, I went to Italy during the summer (for a week). In that week, albeit not a long time, I ate enough to last my stomach until the next trip. I absolutely gorged on all the food – namely, pizza. pasta. noodles. pesto. cheese. gelato. But did I ever find any sundried tomatoes? No. You know what else I never found? Orzo.

Note – it also goes by the name risoni. But knowing that Orzo is an Italian grain, I was surprised that I didn’t notice it on the menu at many restaurants! Maybe I just didn’t look hard enough …

If you aren’t familiar, orzo is like a rice-shaped pasta. It is mainly eaten in soups and salads. The texture is a little thicker and it’s more calorie-dense than white rice though, but it is made from white flour and can also be made whole wheat.

Other vegan orzo recipes I’ve seen are creamy vegan spinach orzo, vegan lemon orzo (don’t knock lemon zest in your pasta until you try it!), vegan orzo risotto or even a vegan orzo soup. There are many different ways to make orzo!

Recipe Creations

For today, I decided to jump in and try out both of these new ingredients I had never used before. I knew how to use the orzo, because I knew how to use rice and pasta. Orzo is just a toss between the two. Somehow, cheesy rice was something that had been floating around in my brain of jumbled-recipe-ideas-to-try for a week or so.

From there, it transitioned into a cheesy, sundried tomato rice. Then I added in the idea to make it orzo, for a change. But that’s not to say this sauce couldn’t be added to noodles, pasta, rice, or any other grain. It can (and should) be used EVERYWHERE. It’s SO FLAVORFUL and CHEESY!

So that week when I went out to the supermarket (well, last week), I picked up both of these items and got cooking! I find that with vegan cooking, you do have to get used to the cheesy taste. When vegan recipes say “cheesy,” it usually means either (a) you have to go out and buy vegan, usually processed and gourmet/more-expensive-than-regular-cheese vegan cheese, or (b) you’ll use nutritional yeast (c) you’ll make your own nutritional yeast free cheese (however, a lot of the vegan cheeses do use this ingredient for its cheesy flavor).

Why You’ll Love This Vegan Orzo Recipe

Meal Prep or Light Lunch?: This creamy vegan orzo can be eaten as a main meal with a side dish (like the salad listed below in the post), as a light lunch or made into meal prep boxes. It’s not as heavy as eating a full noodle or macaroni dish, but just filling enough! A few simple ingredients of cashews, sundried tomatoes and nutritional yeast give this recipe a lot of flavor while keeping it higher in protein (a lot of nuts!)

Substitutions

Cashews: You can try to use pine nuts here. Follow the instructions in the recipe card to boil the cashews in hot water for 30 minutes before using, or soak them in room temperature water overnight! Regular raw cashews will not produce the same creamy result as boiled ones will.

Oat Milk: Use another plant-based, creamy milk. Coconut milk (full-fat, from a can) is one of the creamiest (or even vegan heavy cream, for a rich version). Coconut milk does have a coconut aftertaste, so try substitutes at your own risk.

Sundried Tomatoes: I do not recommend any substitute here.

Sundried Tomatoes Oil: This is the oil in the bottle of sundried tomatoes. Do not substitute.

Orzo: I used regular white orzo. You can also try whole wheat orzo, or for gluten-free options use gluten-free orzo or parboiled rice, which is similar in size and shape. These can be found in the same aisle as pasta in the grocery store. Gluten-free versions can be found in the natural section, at a health food store or you may have to order it from online.

All About Nutritional Yeast

Nutritional Yeast: When using nutritional yeast, it doesn’t taste exactly like cheese. And it really shouldn’t, seeing as cheese made from cow’s milk is not going to exactly mimic anything in nature.

So for those who are adverse to this, you can try to take out the nutritional yeast and add in vegan cheese if you do have a good cheese handy. Rather than adding the cheese to the blender, mix it in by hand after adding in the sauce. That way, you can get the cheesy flavor in a different way.

My opinion though? Nutritional yeast is wonderful and a good source of vegan protein, B vitamins and many other vitamins and minerals. If you’re okay with the taste, keep the recipe as it is. Or add in the extra vegan parmesan cheese to top it off, for a double cheese dish!

Serve This Recipe With

Serve this with a side salad of baby spinach, red bell peppers, kalamata olives and cherry tomatoes tossed with fresh herbs (like fresh basil or parsley), protein like vegan chicken pieces, fresh lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil, Maybe throw in some white wine while you’re at it!

To serve the orzo, add on a dollop of vegan cashew cream (similar to vegan sour cream), which can be found at the grocery store, or top with vegan parmesan cheese!

Vegan Orzo Recipe Notes

• You can cook the orzo in vegetable broth instead, rather than cooking it in water.

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Brown Rice Pizza Crust with Cashew Cheese

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If you make this Vegan Orzo Recipe, then leave a comment and star rating! Don’t forget to tag your photos @peanut_palate on Instagram. Enjoy!