One-Pot Orzo With Shrimp, Tomato and Feta

This dish makes more sense if you add a poached egg on top of each portion. Then it eats like a Shakshuka with shrimp and orzo, which isn’t bad at all!

I made this for a dinner party for 6. Read all other notes and did my own thing. Started with garlic more oil and two chopped sweet onion, added a tin of anchovies and a half can of tomatoe paste with lemon pepper and oregano sprigs. Heirloom grapes tomatoes and diced from can. Olives capers. The secret was a heavy pour of ouzo. Cooked orzo separate with power greens. Outstanding. Season wonderfully. Makes a world of difference

It was fine, but not as great as other recipes. I agree with another note I saw that it was too tomatoey, and the orzo and shrimp were overwhelmed.

Wish I had read the suggestions that people left. Too too much tomato, one 15 Oz can would have been fine.

I made half for myself - dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow. Only change I made was to sauté some onion before adding the cherry tomatoes and upping the garlic based on other reviews. It was good - not mind-blowing, but a perfectly good weeknight meal. The only trick is timing the orzo to not be overdone when the shrimp are fully cooked and that depends entirely on the size of the shrimp (which should be specified in the recipe). I used 26 count and stirred them in so 4 minutes was perfect.

I’ve made this a few times now, using shrimp stock in place of water (made with the shrimp shells). This made a big difference for me. Usually tomato sauces are too acidic for me, but the shrimp stock added some depth that helped cut the straight acidity. Also, adding shallot, white wine, and sliced Kalamata olives to the dish were good reviewer tips!

Once again, New York Times, you give us a great recipe, but the steps don’t make sense. There is no way that the orzo would toast on top of the wet tomatoes. I followed this recipe out the window, but I toasted the orzo in my heavy pot first, and then removed it and continued with the step where I blistered the tomatoes and added the garlic. I also used a small can of fire roasted tomatoes from Trader Joe’s, because that proportion of liquid makes much more sense to me.

It was delicious and easy. But needs to be watched carefully to avoid a saucy starchy mess. From experience I knew not to cook the orzo the full 10 minutes before adding the shrimp. The box says 9-10 minutes for al dente, and the shrimp needs to cook too. Start adding the shrimp around minute 7-8.

Add spinach

I agree with other comments … way too much tomato sauce. I used the whole pint of grape tomatoes but cut the tinned tomatoes in half and used diced tomatoes not crushed. I would recommend larger shrimps for this recipe. It was good even without the feta and parsley 🥲

Largely followed the recipe and didn’t have a problem with soupy-ness, I did cook down the cherry tomatoes for longer period, added a little white wine and also did chicken broth in lieu of water, and, as always, doubled down on the ajo :) DE-vine

Such a hit! Will be making again - thanks to other readers for their notes. I made the following changes: Doubled the garlic and spices Cooked orzo separately in chicken broth, used 1 cup of the starchy brothy cooking water and added it along with the tomato sauce (yes the orzo was a past al dente but I like it that way!) Added only about 1/2 cup of tomato Diced a block of feta, scattered on top, broiled on high until it started browning

Made this for dinner last night. I followed the recipe as written. Next time maybe I would add a little more orzo - like 1/4 cup as well as cut the shrimp into bite sized pieces before cooking but…that’s it. My family and I really enjoyed it.

Tasted great. A couple reviews in here certainly helped. I swapped vegetable broth for the water, put the pot under a broiler with the feta on top at the finish, and doubled the garlic. Also don’t be shy about the salt - it brings out the best in the tomatoes! Also used a toasted baguette to sop up the sauce (if you love carbs as much as my wife and I do).

Oooof - wish I had read the comments before making this! This is basically a dinner of tomato sauce with a bit of orzo and shrimp... It was smelling SO good following the cherry tomatoes/spices part. Wish I had just added the shrimp to the cherry tomatoes (and omitted the crussed tomatoes), cooked the orzo separately, and then mixed together at the end with the feta -- that would have been so good. Regretting the canned tomato sauce.