Excerpted from TikTok dietitian Steph Grasso’s upcoming cookbook, Crave, Cook, Nourish (out Feb. 24, 2026)
Looking for a new family favorite? This light and lemony, chock-full of flavor, color, vitamins, and minerals dish is for you. It’s so good that even Katie Couric loves it and loves talking about it. Added bonus: It’s perfectly balanced with carbs, protein, healthy fats, and veggies.
What makes this dish shine even brighter is the fact that even though the flavors are layered and complex, like something you’d expect from a fancy pants restaurant, it’s one of the easiest dishes to make in the book. I love that.
Steph Grasso's Lemony Orzo
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 1½ cups orzo
- 3½ cups chicken broth (or preferred broth)
- 4 filets salmon (6 ounces each)
- ½ tsp kosher salt divided
- 2½ cups lightly packed spinach chopped
- 1½ cups frozen peas
- 5 tbsp fresh dill minced and divided
- ¼ cup lemon juice fresh (about 1 lemon)
- ½ cup feta cheese crumbled
- Freshly ground black pepper (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450°F.
- In a large pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat until hot. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until it begins to soften, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the orzo and cook, stirring occasionally, until it is lightly toasted, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer until the orzo is tender and has absorbed most of the broth, about 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, line a sheet pan with aluminum foil extending it a few extra inches on both ends. Place the salmon (skin-side down if there is skin) on the foil and sprinkle with ¼ teaspoon of the salt. Pull up the ends of the foil and lightly crimp and close the foil over the fillets so they are covered but with some gaps for steam to escape. Bake until it is fully cooked (check the middle) and flakes easily, 12 to 14 minutes. Set aside.
- Once the orzo is cooked, add the spinach, peas, ¼ cup of the dill, lemon juice, and the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt to the pan and stir well to combine. Cook, nudging everything around in the pan, until the spinach has wilted and the peas are cooked, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Use a spoon or spatula to create small wells in the orzo for the salmon fillets. Place the fillets into the wells. Sprinkle the feta evenly over everything. Cover the pan for 1 to 2 minutes so the feta slightly melts and the salmon warms. Garnish with the remaining 1 tablespoon of dill, black pepper, if desired, and serve immediately.
- Once cooled, store airtight in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. To reheat, warm in a pan over medium heat until heated through, or microwave.
Steph Grasso
Steph Grasso is a registered dietitian, content creator, and the author of Crave, Cook, Nourish. She helps people eat what they crave while nourishing their bodies with what they need—without guilt, restriction, or boring food. She began her career as a hospital dietitian during the pandemic, where she saw firsthand how deeply nutrition impacts energy, healing, and resilience. She also witnessed how confusing and overwhelming wellness advice can be. That experience led her to bring her evidence-based approach to social media, with the goal of making healthy eating simple, craveable, and genuinely enjoyable. Today, Steph creates viral nutrition content for a community of more than 2 million followers, breaking down science-backed concepts into bite-sized, fiber-maxxed, protein-packed tips. From high-flavor 20-minute meals to gut-loving snack boards and wellness myth-busting, she blends the expertise of a dietitian with the perspective of an everyday home cook. Her debut cookbook, Crave, Cook, Nourish, is a love letter to balanced eating—a practical toolkit of fiber-forward recipes, nutrition sidebars, and a fresh, empowering mindset around food that celebrates cravings, energy, and satisfaction. When she’s not in the kitchen or behind the camera, Steph can be found walking her golden retriever, Bentley, planning her wedding, or nerding out on gut health, culinary trends, and curating affiliate finds she truly uses.
