> Skip to content

Recipe  •  8 April 2025

 

High-Protein Prawn and Chorizo Orzo

This tasty pasta dish from The Good Bite is packed with 28.9g of protein and is well under 500 calories. With plump prawns, smoky chorizo and creamy orzo, it's winner of a healthy midweek dinner.

This an amazing quick-and-easy, one-pan recipe. The orzo cooks in that rich and creamy chorizo sauce, just like a risotto, with smoky paprika and gentle heat. We chuck in prawns just before serving, reminding me almost of a paella.

SERVES: 2
PREP: 15 minutes
COOK: 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS

  • low-carolie cooking spray
  • 35g chorizo, finely chopped
  • 1 shallot, thinly sliced
  • 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • 150gr orzo
  • A pinch of chilli flakes
  • ½ tsp smoked paprika
  • 150ml chicken stock
  • 200ml skimmed milk
  • 100gr raw king prawns, peeled
  • A handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped
  • 15gr parmesan, grated, plus a little extra for garnishing
  • 2 wedges of lemon

METHOD

  1. Heat a few sprays of low-calorie cooking spray in a large, non-stick pan and cook the chorizo on low-medium heat for 4–5 minutes, until the chorizo has released its oils and is crispy. Remove and set aside.

  2. Sauté the shallot and garlic in the chorizo oil for 3–4 minutes over a medium heat until soft, then add the orzo, chilli flakes and smoked paprika. Increase the heat to high and toast the orzo and spices for 2 minutes before adding the chicken stock, milk and cooked chorizo (reserving 2 tablespoons of chorizo for garnishing) to the pan.

  3. Bring the pan to a low simmer and cook the orzo risotto-style over a medium heat for 10–15 minutes – you want it gently simmering but not bubbling aggressively. If the sauce reduces too quickly before the orzo is cooked, add a splash of boiling water and repeat this until the orzo is cooked and you are left with a creamy sauce.

  4. Roughly 2 minutes before the orzo is fully cooked, stir in the prawns, parsley and Parmesan and cook over a low heat for 2–3 minutes, until the prawns are pink, then remove the pan from the heat. Serve immediately, garnishing with the remaining chorizo and Parmesan and serving with a wedge of lemon.

Cals: 451
Carbs: 58.6g
Protein: 28.9g
Fat: 11.1g

Feature Title

The Good Bite Lite
Keep eating what you love with 80 indulgent and delicious high protein recipes, all under 500 calories
Read more

More features

See all recipes
Recipe
Apple Breakfast Crumble

A healthy, easy breakfast crumble from Filling Meals by Lindsay Wilson.

Recipe
Rick Stein’s Glazed Christmas Ham

Roasted in a sweet mustard glaze and served with a buttery gravy, Rick Stein‘s ham is a classic Christmas crowd-pleaser.

Recipe
Spumoni ice cream cake

Spumoni is a molded Italian dessert made with pistachio, cherry, and either chocolate or vanilla gelato. The colors are beautiful, and the flavor is buonissimo.

Recipe
Oi Muchim

Spicy Cucumber Salad

Recipe
Pavlova Vintage Cakes

Pavlovas disguised as mini vintage cakes!?

Recipe
Lemon Tahini Chicken & Grains

Here we’re jazzing up a handy grain packet, meaning you get big flavour, fast.

Recipe
Verena’s potato salad

Growing up in Germany, Verena remembers two camps when it came to potato salad: camp mayo and camp oil/broth.

Recipe
Chicken and veg kebabs

One of my guilty go-to takeaways, perfect with a homemade flatbread and a yogurt dip. It’s so moreish and a lot cheaper than ordering in.

Recipe
Courgette & leek ijeh (Arabic frittata)

What better way to welcome the weekend than with the smell and sound of frying herb-loaded ijeh?

Recipe
Samkeh Harra (fish with tahini sauce and nuts)

‘Fish doesn’t have to be boring—my mother taught me that. Samkeh harra translates to “spicy fish,” though it’s more about a gentle kick than true heat. It’s a perfect balance of creamy, nutty tahini and the crunch of golden, roasted nuts. Oh, I do love nuts! I usually overload my plate so you almost can’t see the fish anymore, but that’s me. The nuts bring a deep, toasty richness that elevates the dish into something truly irresistible.’

Recipe
Rick Stein’s hazelnut pavlovas with white chocolate and dark berry sauce

These festive pavlovas are dipped in white chocolate and topped with toasted hazelnuts, cream and berry sauce to make an impressive dessert.

Recipe
Portuguese Chicken and Fries

Think of this as exactly what Nando’s wishes it was: vibrant spicy chicken with crispy skin served with crunchy fries and a spicy dipping sauce. Piri piri chillies aren’t widely available in Australia, unless you grow them yourself, but bird’s-eye chillies are easy to find and they do the trick.

Looking for more recipes?

See all recipes
penguin pop image
penguin pop image