A perfect 20-minute dinner! Chickpeas and orzo in a luscious, creamy, max-flavor tomato sauce.
Marry Me Chickpeas and Orzo
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So good and easy! The kids asked for seconds!
Sarah D
This recipe is sponsored by DeLallo! ♡
Marry Me Orzo Is So Good.
The last time I made this, I think I ate half of the batch by myself.
Here’s what makes this so good, for me:
- The flavors of shallot, garlic, thyme. Mic drop.
- A tomato cream sauce.
- Little chewy, carby, textured bits that are delightfully all the same size – the orzo and the chickpeas just WANT to be together.
The way it clings together, the luscious creaminess, max flavor with the shallot, garlic, and fresh thyme. UGH.
We use DeLallo products all over the place in this kitchen – I always love their orzo (and my friend swears by their GF orzo) and their Castelvetrano olive oil in the squeeze bottle. But for this recipe I also really love all their little jarred tomato products as an add-in – the sun-dried tomatoes if you want to keep it classic to the Marry Me flavor profile, but also the fresh tomato bruschetta (personal fave), the calabrian chiles for something different, or the roasted tomatoes for a chunkier option.
Guys, a bonus that deserves mention: this comes together in practically 20 minutes. Maybe 30, tops. It’s easy, minimal cutting board activity, but still plenty of veg and protein in there. This girl is a teeny bit fancy but she’s also weeknight-ready.
Hope you love it.
(If you want an option with another protein – like chicken – the original Marry Me Chicken is here for you!)
Watch Me Make This Recipe
Marry Me Chickpeas and Orzo
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
Description
A perfect 20-minute dinner! Chickpeas and orzo in a luscious, creamy, max-flavor tomato sauce.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Marry Me Orzo
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (this is the one I use)
- 1 shallot, thinly sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas, drained
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup orzo (love this DeLallo orzo!)
- 3 cups chicken broth (I use 3 cups water + 3 teaspoons Better Than Bouillon)
- a small bundle of fresh thyme
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
Optional Add-Ins and Toppings
- 1/4 cup jarred sun-dried tomatoes, tomato bruschetta (my favorite!), Calabrian chiles, or similar
- 1–2 cups fresh spinach, torn into pieces
- parmesan, red pepper flakes, and more thyme for topping
Instructions
- Aromatics and Chickpeas: Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the shallot and the garlic; sauté for 2-3 minutes until soft and fragrant. Add the chickpeas and tomato paste; sauté for another 2-3 minutes until it has developed a deeper red color.
- Cook Orzo: Add the orzo, chicken broth, and thyme sprigs; bring to a low simmer. Cover and cook for 7-9 minutes.
- Finish Sauce: Remove the thyme sprigs. Keep the heat on low. Stir in the cream and simmer for 2-3 more minutes, until it’s totally luscious and creamy. Taste and adjust seasonings, adding more cream if you want.
- Add-Ins: Add your sun dried or fresh tomatoes and spinach, and stir them in until the spinach is wilted. Serve sprinkled with fresh herbs (I like thyme) and Parmesan.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Keywords: marry me pasta, marry me orzo, vegetarian marry me recipe
More Delightful Orzo Recipes
Thanks to DeLallo for sponsoring this recipe!
Filed Under: All Recipes Dinner Kid-Friendly Legume Pasta Quick and Easy Recipes Stovetop Tomato Vegetarian
July 22, 2025
Nice to meet you!
I’m Lindsay and I ♡ FOOD. I used to be a teacher, and now making food and writing about it online is my full-time job. I love talking with people about food, and I'm so glad you're here.
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This sounds delicious, but can I make a vegan version? Vegetable broth for sure, but what would substitute best for the heavy cream? Would love to try this in a vegan version.
Hello! I just bought some dairy-free heavy cream this past weekend at Fresh Market! Califia Farms brand. I usually just use coconut milk for any recipe that calls for heavy cream, and it works great! You can also get unsweetened coconut cream.
Very good I replaced heavy cream with coconut milk (canned) mixed with 3/4 tbsp corn starch. Added 2 cups chopped spinach.
I just wanted to share that i just made this subbing your good friends scape pesto recipe in and it was SO good! I know it’s a monster change but I used your method!
So glad to hear it, Yvette!
Made this tonight and it was a huge hit! All 4 kids enjoyed it and asked for more.
Excellent!!!
Hi! What size can of chickpeas do you use? Thanks.
A 15 ounce can!
So delicious! I did add about a pint of cherry tomatoes in after sauteeing the garlic and onion and reduced my broth by 1 cup because of the liquid they released. I also added 2 really thinly sliced zucchini when I added the cream, and went with chopped Calabrian chilies along with loads of spinach (My boyfriend said he wanted something with a lot of vegetables). He said it was possibly the best vegetarian meal he’s ever had! Doesn’t get much better than that. Thank you!
That sounds so good! Thanks for making the recipe, Madi.
I made this for dinner last night and it was a victory! Simple, tasty, filling – it hit lots of the right tones. I did sub farro for the orzo because that’s what I had on hand. It worked beautifully. It needed another cup of water. Topped with approx. 1/2 cup of Parmesan at the end. Microgreens on top for some crunchy green contrast, lovely.
Thanks for the notes and making the recipe!
Loved how easy this was, but the chickpeas didn’t take on the flavor as well as they do in Indian and Thai curries.
If I make this again, I might replace the chickpeas with white beans, as well as add Parmesan, as suggested in the extras.
Oh my goodness this is SOOO yummy!! I made it last night thinking we would have enough for leftovers, and we would have if we didn’t each have a second full helping! I couldn’t find fresh thyme at my grocery store, so I used a little sprinkle of dried thyme and that worked just fine. This will definitely be a regular for us!!
Thanks for making the recipe, Kristen!
I never comment on recipes but had to because this dish was SO GOOD. My husband and 13 year old son made up a song about how much they loved it. I didn’t have any chickpeas so used a can of cannellini beans, it was so good not sure I’ll ever make it with chickpeas. Thanks for this super simple and delicious recipe.
Oh my gosh, a song – love it! So glad the recipe was enjoyed.
So good and easy! The kids asked for seconds!
One of my children is vegetarian, and it’s been a challenge to find recipes that are vegetarian that everyone will eat. This one was a winner in our house! We used vegetable stock instead of chicken stock. Everyone loved it. I should have doubled the recipe so we could have leftovers, but now I know for next time. Thank you for the your inspiration and lovely family friendly recipes!
So glad it was enjoyed!
Wonderful!!!! I added sun dried tomatoes and used Gulf shrimp instead of chickpeas, fresh oregano and fresh basil, parm cheese.
Oh, sounds so good with shrimp!
This recipe is a good foundation. Here are a few suggestions for improvement.
– The heavy cream needs some acidity to balance it out. I squeezed half a lemon onto it just before serving. Side-by-side taste test shows that that’s the winner. A splash of white wine when you’re simmering could do the same thing.
– This is a good pantry, staple kind of a meal… Except for the bundle of fresh thyme. Who has that sitting around their house? A tablespoon or so of dried Italian herbs or maybe half tablespoon of dried thyme, is an OK substitute.
– 2 tablespoons of tomato paste is an annoying amount. I use an entire 4 ounce can and that was fine. It’s a dragged to have a third of a can of tomato paste sitting around your fridge waiting for the next recipe.
I used all of the optional add-ins – Grated pecorino, sun-dried tomatoes, and an entire bunch of spinach. They all added some needed color, texture, and flavor.
Make the changes to your recipe and post on your own blog.
This is great! My second batch was better – used more tomato paste than called for (about 3 T of double-concentrated), and 2.5 cups broth so the orzo stays al dente. Otherwise followed the recipe as written – its a keeper!