One Pot Greek Chicken and Rice

4
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

One Pot Greek Chicken and Rice is a quick weeknight meal with garlic, lemon, and super flavorful seasoned rice pilaf.

One Pot Greek Chicken and Rice with roasted lemon halves is a quick weeknight meal with garlic, lemon, and super flavorful seasoned rice pilaf.One Pot Greek Chicken and Rice is an easy dish you can make for an easy weeknight meal or guests coming over for dinner.

This One Pot Greek Chicken and Rice dish was the product of a mix of two recipes I love.

I’d been craving the dish and meant to pull out my rice cooker but I had literally no idea where my husband put it away (that drives me nuts by the way).

Want to make with Greek Chicken with white meat?

From a reader, Bryce, who made the recipe with boneless chicken breasts:

Just FYI for anyone in the future who was wondering if you could make this with boneless Chicken Breast–You absolutely can and it is deeeelicious! I followed the pan searing directions for the chicken but after removing them, I set them aside until 25 minutes into cooking the rice portion in the oven. After 25 minutes I added the chicken breast on top and continued cooking it for another 25 minutes. I made it for my neighbors in need, but also made it for us. We loved it and they did too! Thank you!

One Pot Greek Chicken and Rice is an easy dish you can make for an easy weeknight meal or guests coming over for dinner. So I figured I would make a hybrid of the recipe with my Baked Chicken Brown Rice Vegetable Casserole, kind of like my Spanish Olives Chicken and Rice (One Pan!). So a quick series of adjustments and dinner was on the table in no time. Absolutely LOVED it.

With such an easy method, I plan on making a few different flavor variations of this recipe as we go into the fall season:

  • One Pot Italian Chicken and Rice with tomato wedges, garlic, parmesan and basil.
  • One Pot Teriyaki Chicken and Rice with snow peas and carrots.
  • One Pot Jerk Chicken with Dirty Beans and Rice

One Pot Greek Chicken and Rice with AMAZING crispy and creamy lemony rice!Tools Used in the making of this One Pot Greek Chicken and Rice Recipe:
Better Than Bouillon: I almost never buy boxes of broth because I keep the beef, chicken and vegetable version of this Better Than Bouillon.
Cast Iron Skillet: This is my most used pan in my kitchen, heavy, keeps heat well and gives the BEST sear ever.
Chef’s Knife: This knife is one of the three most used tools in my kitchen (tongs and my pig tail flipper are the other two). I love it, I’ve had it for almost 10 years and it is as sharp today as the day I got it. (left column, second from the top). Mind you I love it this much even though I have a ridiculously expense knife set as well.

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One Pot Greek Chicken and Rice

One Pot Greek Chicken and Rice with roasted lemon halves is a quick weeknight meal with garlic, lemon, and super flavorful seasoned rice pilaf.
Yield 4
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Greek
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients
 

  • 4-6 chicken thighs , bone in and skin on
  • Kosher salt and pepper , to taste
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 yellow onion , diced
  • 1 cups white rice , uncooked
  • 1 tablespoon garlic , minced
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 2 lemons , zested and juiced
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • parsley , minced for garnish (optional)

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
  • Heat the cast iron skillet on high heat.
  • Season your chicken to taste with Kosher salt and black pepper.
  • Add the chicken, skin side down and cook until browned, 4-5 minutes.
  • Flip and cook an additional 3-4 minutes.
  • Push the chicken to the side (or onto a plate).
  • Add the olive oil to your cast iron skillet and heat on medium-high.
  • Add in the onions and start to cook for 3-4 minutes.
  • Once the onions are mostly melted add in the lemon zest and garlic cloves. Cook for 30 seconds while stirring.
  • Add in the uncooked rice and cook for a minute.
  • Pour in the chicken stock and lemon juice, add in the oregano and put the chicken back in skin side up.
  • Bake covered with foil for 45-50 minutes.
  • Serve with additional lemons on the side in case people want more lemon flavor.

Nutrition

Calories: 439kcal | Carbohydrates: 50g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 111mg | Sodium: 277mg | Potassium: 571mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 25IU | Vitamin C: 31.5mg | Calcium: 59mg | Iron: 2.1mg
Keyword: greek, mediterranean food, One Pot Greek Mediterranean Chicken and Rice

1 pot greek chicken & rice collage

One Pot Greek Chicken and Rice with roasted lemon halves is a quick weeknight meal with garlic, lemon, and super flavorful seasoned rice pilaf.
One Pot Greek Chicken and Rice with AMAZING crispy and creamy lemony rice!

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

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Comments

  1. Sabrina,
    Happy New Year! I made this dish in November (turned out to PERFECTION!) But I had to freeze some of the sauce since I only had a 3 chicken thighs & I was at the end of my basmati rice supply at the time ?. I have 4-5 thighs and would like to have this for dinner tonight. Do you think I should prep the chicken per the recipe & use my crockpot to (on low) finish it off? Or maybe I’ll just try “an experiment”. In any case I’m looking forward to your recipes this year!
    ?

  2. Really delicious. I gave it five stars even though my chicken was dry–totally my fault because all I had was boneless breasts. I can’t wait to make this with bone in thighs, I knew it will be so much better. I was considering adding capers and/or spinach too….But honestly, the flavors were out of this world just as is! (Oh, I used jasmine rice and only added 1 1/2 cups of broth. Cooked it for 35 minutes, let it stand for 5 minutes and it was perfection!)

  3. Turned out really yummy and was a nice change up! Very lemony but I’m expecting it to taste even better second day. I used chicken thighs that were boneless and skinless, I fried everything in the same pan but then transferred to a casserole dish with a lid. I also had really big lemons, and after reading the comments, instead of doing lemon juice + two cups of broth, I just added the juice in my measuring cup and then topped up so together it was 2 cups of liquid. I also made sure to add all the chicken juice that released while the meat was sitting. Very easy and will make again!!

    1. This recipe calls for white rice. If you prefer long grain rice, the rice will cook up light, fluffy and separate when cooked rather than clumping together. Medium grain rice tends to cook up moist and tender while short grain rice tends to clump together when cooked and forms what is called glutinous rice.

  4. A family favorite. I use either breast or thighs. If using breasts, take them a bit before the rice is fully cooked, otherwise they become too dry and overcooked. We are liberal with lemon juice so it permeates the dish. Using fresh oregano makes a big difference, as does sprinkling in chopped fresh parsley at the end. I suggest making the dish a couple times, so you can gauge the proper amount of liquid to achieve your preferred texture for the rice.

  5. Hi Sabrina,

    I can already tell this will be a great recipe. With the cast iron, what size have you got?
    If I don’t have a cast iron, can I do it with dutch oven?

    Thank you very much!

  6. This recipe was AMAZING!!!! I doubled all the spices including the garlic. I will definitely make this again. So flavorful.

  7. This came out OK. Because of all of the comments about too much liquid, I added more rice but I have to agree that the rice does kind of come out greasy and gummy. I had no idea how much salt to put in it so I under-salted and even with the extra lemon and oregano, it was bland. I didn’t put olive oil because of all of the chicken fat that melted, there was plenty for sautéing the onions. I’m not sure what I’d do different other than more salt a lot more seasoning.

    1. I wash my rice til clear before use.. That may help your texture?? I make this often just a different variation and love it..

  8. I made this tonight and it was delicious! I followed the recommendations for chicken breasts and also did 1 & 3/4 cups chicken stock instead and the rice was perfect. Will make this again!

    1. The rice cooks for one minute to help prevent it from sticking and getting gluey in the oven. It’s going to have plenty of broth and time in the oven to cook through. Congrats on the paternity leave and happy Thanksgiving!

  9. Made this for dinner tonight. It was delicious. I used brown rice & added 1/2 cup more broth. The rice was very creamy & done just right. Will definitely make again.

      1. I’ve been making this for nearly a year and husband and I love it! Only difference is I use one lemon instead of two and use basmati rice.
        My daughter is vegetarian, so she uses veggie stock and uses vegetarian chicken pieces (puts them in the last 15 minutes of cooking) and both she and her boyfriend enjoy it very much!
        Great recipe!

  10. Definitely one of the most delicious dinner recipes I’ve ever made! I didn’t have any white rice on hand (I know, right?) so I used Basmati and it was SO amazing- such a great texture. I didn’t change the liquid volumes at all to accommodate the basmati, I made it exactly as written otherwise. Served with a Greek salad on the side and made for a fantastic Sunday dinner!

    1. Made this recipe with no deviations. The flavor was fantastic. Like others commented, the rice was very creamy, which my fiancé enjoyed. I will try to make the rice a little more fluffy the next time I make this by doing the following- rinsing rice thoroughly to remove starches and decrease chicken stock by 1/2 cup.