One Pan French Onion Orzo
Updated Nov 02, 2025, Published on Feb 19, 2023
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This One Pan French Onion Orzo is a flavorful, one pan meal inspired by the rich, comforting taste of French Onion Soup! It’s easy to make and guaranteed to be a crowd-pleaser!
Back in February 2022, I launched an Orzo Recipe Series on TikTok, sharing eight new orzo recipes throughout the month. It quickly became a fan favorite! To celebrate the one-year anniversary of that series, I’m bringing it back with February Orzo Series Part 2!
This One Pan French Onion Orzo is the sixth recipe in the new series, and I can’t wait for you to try it!
Watch how to make it here!
One Pan French Onion Orzo Recipe Inspiration
You might know me from my viral One Pot French Onion Pasta—a cozy, one-pot dish that transforms all the rich, caramelized flavors of You may be familiar with my viral One Pot French Onion Pasta. It's a one pot pasta dish with all of the flavors of French Onion Soup into a comforting pasta meal. This One Pan French Onion Orzo is a spin on that beloved recipe!
After receiving several requests for a French onion orzo, I knew it had to happen. Orzo recipes and my One Pot French Onion Pasta are what I’m best known for, so combining the two just made perfect sense!
Speaking of French Onion Pasta - make sure to check out the new and improved version of my One Pot French Onion Pasta as well!
Recipe Ingredients and Tips
- Sauté Pan - I use my Made In Sauté Pan in almost all of my One Pot/Orzo recipes. It's the perfect size to fit all of your ingredients and it's high-rimmed so it holds all of the liquid in the pan.
- Chef Knife
- Cutting Board
- Wooden Spoon - A wooden spoon is perfect for scraping up all the yummy fond created from caramelizing your onions. This is the key to getting the most flavor!
- Box Grater - I always HIGHLY recommend grating your own cheese. Freshly grated cheese melts so much better into the pasta creating an ultra-creamy result.
See the full list of ingredients with exact quantities on the recipe card below.
Caramelized Onions
- Butter - I love using Kerrygold butter for cooking! It has a lot more flavor than regular butter so it’s a great first ingredient for a flavorful dish.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Yellow Onion - I like using yellow onions the best for caramelizing, but other types of onions work as well if that’s what you have.
- Salt - a generous pinch of salt helps release the water from the onions faster which will speed up the caramelization process.
Other Orzo Ingredients
- Garlic
- Orzo - add your orzo uncooked – super easy! The orzo will toast and then cook in the beef stock, similar to risotto.
- White Wine - I like using a dry white wine such as Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio. You don’t need anything fancy, but I like using a wine that I would actually drink!
- Sherry - I love the flavor sherry adds to this dish. You could also substitute with more white wine, brandy, or dry vermouth.
- Beef Stock - I used unsalted Beef Stock and then added in a little Better Than Bouillon Reduced Sodium Beef Base to control the salt levels and to add flavor as needed.
- Better Than Bouillon Reduced Sodium Beef Base optional - I used unsalted beef stock and added a little of this beef base for extra flavor. Feel free to omit if you use a higher sodium stock.
- Black Pepper
- Fresh Thyme Leaves - remove the leaves from a few sprigs of thyme or use a pinch of dried thyme.
- Worcestershire Sauce - this helps add some extra beefy flavor
- Half and Half - half & half is a mixture of cream and milk that you can buy in the grocery store. It’s a lighter alternative to heavy cream. Feel free to use heavy cream for a richer sauce or omit entirely for a lighter sauce.
- Gruyere Cheese - freshly grated. Gruyere cheese will give this dish that classic French Onion Soup flavor.
How to make this One Pan French Onion Orzo
See full list of instructions on the recipe card below.
Step 1: Caramelize onions
To begin, start by caramelizing your onions. This will take some time, but it’s well worth it for the sweet, savory flavor it adds to the dish. Melt butter and olive oil in a large high-rimmed sauté pan over medium heat.
Add the thinly sliced onions and a generous pinch of salt. Stir to combine, cover with a lid, and cook for 5 minutes. Remove the lid and turn the heat to medium low. Cook for 30-60 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Add a couple splashes of water as needed if the pan starts to burn. The amount of time it takes to caramelize onions will depend on several factors such as the size/amount of onions, temperature level, and the type of pan you're using.
Step 2: Add the garlic, orzo, and deglaze the pan
Once the onions are done caramelizing, move onto the rest of this orzo recipe. Add minced garlic and the uncooked orzo to the same pan. Stir to combine and toast for 1-2 minutes. Pour in white wine and sherry to deglaze the pan. Scrape up any stuck bits with a wooden spoon. Cook for about 2 minutes until the liquid absorbs.
Step 3: Pour in liquids and seasoning
Pour in the beef stock, optional better than bouillon beef base, black pepper, thyme leaves, and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Stir often so the orzo doesn't stick. Add more beef stock as needed if the liquid is absorbing too quickly. It will take around 15 minutes for the orzo to cook.
Step 4: Stir in half & half and cheese
Once the orzo is cooked, turn the heat to low. Add the optional half and half then add the freshly grated gruyere cheese. Stir until the cheese is melted and everything is well combined.
Step 5: Serve
Serve immediately with additional black pepper, thyme leaves, and gruyere cheese as desired.
Did you try this One Pan French Onion Orzo? Leave a Review!
If you try this recipe, I’d love to hear what you think! If you enjoyed it, please consider leaving a rating and review. And don’t forget to tag me on Instagram or TikTok—I love seeing your creations!
Make sure to check out my other recipes from my February Orzo Series Part 2
If you enjoy French Onion recipes, give these recipes a try!
One Pan French Onion Orzo
Equipment
Ingredients
Caramelized Onions
- 1 tablespoon Butter
- 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 3 Yellow Onion, thinly sliced
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt, more to taste
Other Orzo Ingredients
- 3 cloves Garlic, minced
- 1 cup Orzo Pasta, uncooked
- 1/4 cup White Wine, dry such as Sauvignon Blanc
- 1/8 cup Sherry
- 2 cups Beef Stock, I used unsalted; additional as needed
- 1 teaspoon Better Than Bouillon Reduced Sodium Beef Base, optional - I used unsalted beef stock and added for extra flavor
- 1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper, more to taste and serve
- 3 sprigs Fresh Thyme, or about 1/4 tsp dried thyme; more to serve
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
- 1/4 cup Half and Half, optional; can also use heavy cream
- 4 oz Gruyère Cheese, freshly grated; additional to serve
Instructions
Caramelized Onions
- Melt butter and olive oil in a large high-rimmed sauté pan over medium heat. Add the thinly sliced onions and a generous pinch of Kosher salt. Stir to combine. Cover with a lid and cook for 5 minutes.
- Remove the lid and turn the heat to medium low. Cook for 30-60 minutes or as long as it takes for the onions to caramelize. Stir occasionally to prevent burning. Add a couple splashes of water as needed if the pan starts to burn.
Orzo Instructions
- Once the onions are caramelized, add the minced garlic and uncooked orzo to the same pan. Stir to combine and toast for 1-2 minutes.
- Pour in the white wine and sherry to deglaze the pan. Scrape up any stuck bits with a wooden spoon. Cook for about 2 minutes until the liquid absorbs.
- Pour in the beef stock, optional better than bouillon beef base, black pepper, thyme leaves, and Worcestershire sauce.
- Bring to a boil then lower to a simmer. Stir often so the orzo doesn't stick. Add more beef stock as needed if the liquid is absorbing too quickly. I ended up adding about 1/2 cup-1 cup extra stock. It will take around 15 minutes for the orzo to cook.
- Once the orzo is cooked, turn the heat to low. Add the optional half and half then add the freshly grated gruyere cheese. Stir until the cheese is melted and everything is well combined.
- Serve immediately with additional black pepper, thyme leaves, and gruyere cheese as desired.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This was so good! I’ve made it twice in a week!! Doubled the batch and substituted port wine for the sherry!
One of the best things I’ve ever cooked!