I Made Ina Garten’s Easy Weeknight Dinner Recipe for Shrimp Orzo

To make Garten’s roasted shrimp and orzo recipe, which serves six, I grabbed:

• Kosher salt
• Olive oil
• ¾ pound of orzo pasta
• ½ cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 pounds of shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 cup of minced scallions
• 1 cup of chopped fresh dill
• 1 cup of chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• One cucumber
• ½ cup of diced red onion
• ¾ pound of feta cheese

After gathering my ingredients, I realized I forgot to buy a lemon, so I substituted it with white wine vinegar.

I used frozen shrimp for convenience, and let them defrost in the fridge for a few hours before cooking. Once I took them out, I patted them dry and tossed them in olive oil, salt, and pepper.

I spread them out on a pan with foil and roasted them in my toaster oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. The recipe says to do this for six minutes, but I did it just a little bit longer.

I cooked the orzo according to the package directions, drained it, and sprayed it lightly with olive oil to prevent it from sticking together.

While that was cooking, I chopped the red onion, cucumber, parsley, dill, and green onion.

To make this super simple dressing, I mixed white wine vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper together.

I piled the orzo, shrimp, veggies, feta, and herbs on top of the dressing and tossed them all together.

I often make this recipe the day I eat it, and it tastes amazing when it’s warm and freshly mixed. However, it’s also fantastic once the flavors have had a little while to marinate, so sometimes, I let it sit in the fridge overnight.

One of my favorite things about this recipe is that it can easily be modified. As a mom, I’ve changed the recipe up to suit the tastes of my toddler and preschooler.

For example, if I want them to eat more veggies, I’ll toss in whatever I have on hand — like red peppers or tomatoes.

And, I usually pile a scoop of this over spinach or arugula for myself, for an easy boost of greens.

Overall, this recipe is such a solid base to work from — and one of the easiest ways to get a filling, nutritious weeknight meal on the table that my kids will enjoy.