One Pot Greek Chicken and Rice with roasted lemon halves is a quick weeknight meal with super flavorful seasoned pilaf. Try this today!
One-pot Greek Chicken and Rice is an easy dish to make for a weeknight meal or when guests come over for dinner. This 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 had put it away! I figured I would make a hybrid of the recipe with my Baked Chicken Brown Rice Vegetable Casserole. So a quick series of adjustments and dinner was on the table in no time. My family absolutely loved it.
Want to make it with white meat?
From a reader, Bryce, who made the recipe with boneless chicken breasts:
Just FYI for anyone in the future wondering if you could make this with boneless Chicken Breast–You absolutely can, and it is delicious! 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!
Ingredients
- 4-6 chicken thighs , bone in and skin on
- 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)
- kosher salt , to taste
- course ground black pepper , to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Heat the cast iron skillet on high heat.
- Season your chicken to taste with 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
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Delicious! And the pan was so easy to clean. I used boneless chicken breast and followed your recipe instructions for chicken breast. Only thing extra is I salted the rice before putting into the oven to cook. Great new easy recipe that the family all loved.
Thanks Monique! Glad you enjoyed the recipe and really glad the pan was easy to clean. I love easy clean up.
This turned out amazing!! Definitely adding it to our favorites menu.
Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for the five star review!
As good as the chicken is in this dish, the rice is even better. A 5 star meal.
Oh wow! The rice was better! Good to hear Raymond and thanks for the five star review!
Good taste! Easy weekday recipe that changes it up. I used chicken tenders therefore I omitted oven cooking. Also I always second guess directions when I see rice using more liquid than 2:1. I followed the directions regarding the liquid/rice ratio and had very mushy rice. Next time I’ll stick to 2:1 and try basmati rice. Definitely I will try again!
Absolutely lovely! So zesty and the rice is a beautiful consistency, definitely would recommend
Can you make any of these chicken and rice one pot meals using brown rice?
Yes you can Vickie! Let us know how your chicken and rice turns out!
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!
?
I’m sorry, I’m just seeing your comment. Hope your recipe turned out great!
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!)
Sounds yummy! Thanks for the 5 stars!
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!!
Thanks Alex!
This is probably one of my favorite meals now! It’s easy and delicious ?
For the rice, should it be long grain?
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.
My rice seems still wet. Can I leave in oven uncovered to dry the rice out?
My rice seems still wet. Can I leave in over und covers for awhile?
Can I use cauliflower rice for this recipe? How would cook it.cauliflower rice doesn’t take long to cook.
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.
Hi – I am wondering if I used wild rice instead of white or brown rice if it would still turn out the same?
Tried the one pot Greek rice and chicken dish.my family loved it.
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!
Sure!!
This recipe was AMAZING!!!! I doubled all the spices including the garlic. I will definitely make this again. So flavorful.
Thanks, Talisa.
Made this dish this evening it was a hit
It was really tasty
Thanks for sharing
You’re welcome, Sharon.
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.
I wash my rice til clear before use.. That may help your texture?? I make this often just a different variation and love it..
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!
Made this last night. Did not care for it. Too lemony. Rice was mush.
I don’t get it, you’re cooking the rice for one minute, then what?
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!
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.
can I make this in a Dutch oven?
Yes 🙂
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!
Thanks, Debbie.
Really good flavor, but the rice came out very soupy, despite following directions.
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!
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.