Today was the official first day of school for my kids. That means waking up early! Booooo!!!
As much as I didn’t feel like making dinner, I did it. It would have been so easy to stop by and pick up a $5 pizza, but I powered through that urge and went to the grocery store instead.
I’m so happy I did! Not only because I didn’t eat pizza, but also because this cheesy broccoli chicken orzo was delicious!
I’ve said before that I’m a huge fan of rotisserie chickens. It’s a great way to speed up a recipe.
But, there is something else I do when I don’t want to rely on a store bought chicken.
I buy boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or tenders), season them up and bake them. Then I’ll keep the chicken in the fridge for a few days.
It’s great to have on hand. I’ll do a quick chicken salad for lunch or use it for dinner recipes.
That chicken is what I used for this recipe. How easy is that? I seasoned the chicken with garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. It brought much more flavor to the recipe than a rotisserie chicken would have.
There were a few things I did to keep this recipe low in points. One thing is that I didn’t use a lot of butter.
I used 1 teaspoon of butter when cooking the orzo, and one teaspoon of butter for the cheese sauce.
I kept the cheese sauce low in points by using low-fat cheddar cheese and skim milk.
Just a few little tweaks to make this a healthy recipe and you would never know. It’s full of flavor!

Yield: 3 (1 cup) servings – 6 Freestyle points per serving
- 1/2 cup uncooked orzo
- 2 teaspoons butter, divided
- 2 1/2 cups fat-free chicken broth, divided
- 1 cup broccoli, chopped
- 1 cup boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
- 1/4 cup low-fat cheddar cheese, shredded
- 2 tablespoons skim milk
- 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
- salt and pepper, to taste
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Melt 1 teaspoon butter to a preheated frying pan.
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Add the orzo. Cook until the orzo is slightly browned (about 3 minutes) stirring often.
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Add 1/2 cup of chicken broth to the orzo. It should be simmering.
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As the broth evaporates add 1/4 cup of broth. Continue adding the chicken broth and stirring until the orzo is cooked, about 10 minutes.
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When the orzo is almost cooked add the broccoli. Add another 1/4 cup of chicken broth so the broccoli cooks.
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In a small saucepan melt 1 teaspoon of butter and add the milk, cheese and garlic powder. Whisk until it is melted and smooth.
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Add the chicken to the orzo, then add the melted cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste.
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