1-Pot Baked Fish With Lemon And Orzo Recipe

This 1-pot baked fish with lemon and orzo recipe captures the flavors of the Greek kitchen in an easy dish that is worthy of an entry in your weeknight rotation. Orzo, which is a rice-shaped pasta, is cooked in a Dutch oven along with firm, meaty white fish and seasoned with lemon, feta, oregano, and parsley. Orzo is the perfect mild-mannered base for intense flavors like briny Kalamata olives, zesty lemon, and salty feta. The cod is cooked till tender and flaky as it absorbs the bright, balanced flavors of the broth. The best part of this meal is that you prep it all in one pot and let the oven do the cooking.

According to Ksenia Prints, the food blogger behind Thermocookery, there's something so comforting about 1-pot meals. Not only do all the flavors meld together perfectly, but the act of making the dish is a testament to the cooking traditions of our parents and grandparents and many before them: throw everything in one bowl and hope for the best. In this creamy, vibrant, and satisfying recipe, the best is very good indeed. 

To make this easy one-pot dish, you'll need olive oil for sauteing, garlic cloves, dried oregano, low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth, fresh lemon juice from about 1-2 lemons, Kalamata olives, and orzo, along with salt and black pepper for flavoring. For the fish, we used cod fillets, though you can also use halibut or haddock. To complete the garnish and add some freshness, we'll need lemon, fresh parsley, and crumbled feta.

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

Heat the olive oil to a large oven-safe skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat.

Add the garlic and oregano and cook for 1 minute.

Stir in the orzo, then add the broth, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Bring to a simmer.

Stir in the olives.

Place the fish fillets over the orzo, cover with lemon slices, and season with more salt and pepper.

Cover with a lid or tinfoil and bake for 20 minutes until the orzo is tender and the fish flakes.

Remove the lid and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

Remove from the oven and sprinkle with parsley and feta.

Serve from the pot.

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This recipe was developed around the idea of cooking a firm, mild-flavored white fish in the same broth (and pot) as its starchy accompaniment. We went with cod, which does really well in Mediterranean preparations, but we know that not everyone loves its sweeter taste.

If you prefer another fish, we strongly recommend haddock or halibut. Their delicate flavor will go really well with the bright, citrusy, and herbaceous Greek-inspired seasonings of this recipe. Like cod, they also have a flaky texture that will cook evenly alongside the orzo, and which will flake nicely when you go into the dish with a fork. 

Haddock will remain a bit firmer than cod and has a stronger flavor, though it can be harder to source fresh. Halibut, the meatiest of the three, has a rich, almost buttery taste, and would be the prime choice — but it can be more expensive than the other two.

If you want to add a different spin to this recipe, the good news is that nothing could be easier. You can easily swap the orzo with a different small shape of pasta or another grain, though you may need to adjust the cooking time. The natural substitution for orzo in terms of size and shape is white rice. Long-grain white rice would be the closest, though starchy short-grain rice would make the dish even creamier. Just make sure to taste the dish after the indicated cooking time, as you may need another 10 minutes to finish cooking the rice. Farro is another option, which would add a firmer texture as well as its pleasant nutty flavor.

In keeping with the Greek inspiration of this recipe, yellow peeled potatoes would make for another great option. Go for waxy varieties like Yukon Gold or even fingerling potatoes, which will keep their shape well and soak up the flavors. If you want to go with potatoes, you can amp up the lemon flavors by adding the juice of another half a lemon to make the dish reminiscent of Greek lemon potatoes.

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