Welcome to another episode of “How can so few ingredients make such a delicious meal?!” One-pot meals are a miracle, my friends, and this Lemon Pepper Chicken with Orzo is the perfect example. This dish is packed with flavor thanks to a hefty dose of lemon pepper, chicken broth, juicy chicken thighs, and a pop of feta at the end. Plus, it’s fast, easy, and barely anything to clean up afterward. :)
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What’s in Lemon Pepper Chicken with Orzo
For this skillet meal, I liberally seasoned some bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs with lemon pepper, then combined it with some orzo, chicken broth, and parsley. Everything gets cooked together in one pot so that orzo soaks up all the flavor from both the chicken thighs and the broth, and not a drop of flavor is lost. It’s so simple, yet so good. Add a quick little side salad with fresh greens and you’ve got a five-star dinner (and very few dishes to clean). Victory!
Can I Use Boneless Chicken?
I used bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs for this recipe, but you can use boneless thighs or breasts if you prefer. The chicken will cook a little faster if you use boneless and you might miss out on a little bit of the flavor that comes with bone-in chicken. Also, be aware that chicken breasts do tend to dry out faster than chicken thighs, so the end product won’t be quite as juicy.
Tips for Cooking One Pot Pasta
Getting one pot pasta meals to cook just right can take a little practice, but here are a few tips to make sure your pasta cooks evenly and all the way through without leaving too much liquid behind:
- Use a heavy or thick-bottomed piece of cookware. Thin cookware doesn’t cook evenly and can leave some pasta undercooked and some pasta overcooked. A deep skillet or Dutch Oven will work well for this recipe.
- Use a burner that is close in size to the bottom of your pot or pan. If the burner is a lot smaller than the width of the pan, you may have trouble getting the outside edges to cook evenly.
- Make sure the broth is simmering the whole time. Heat settings on ranges can vary, so you may need to adjust the heat up or down slightly to maintain a simmer in the broth.
One Pot Lemon Pepper Chicken with Orzo
Servings 4Ingredients
- 4 chicken thighs* ($3.74)
- 2 Tbsp lemon pepper seasoning ($0.60)
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.04)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 2 cups chicken broth ($0.26)
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley ($0.20)
- 1.5 cups orzo ($1.29)
- 2 oz. feta, crumbled ($1.25)
Instructions
- Blot the chicken thighs dry with a paper towel, then season both sides liberally with lemon pepper seasoning (about 2 Tbsp lemon pepper total).
- Heat a large deep skillet over medium. Once hot, add the cooking oil. Add the seasoned chicken thighs, skin side down, and let them cook undisturbed until browned (about 6-8 minutes for bone-in skin-on thighs). Flip the chicken thighs and cook until browned on the second side. The chicken will be cooked most of the way through at this point but will finish cooking when simmered with the orzo. Remove the chicken to a clean plate.
- While the chicken is browning, roughly chop about 1/4 bunch of parsley and mince two cloves of garlic. After removing the chicken from the skillet, turn the heat down to low, add the minced garlic, and sauté the garlic in the residual fat for about a minute.
- Add 2 cups of chicken broth to the skillet and stir to dissolve the crispy browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Add the orzo and half of the chopped parsley. Stir to combine. Finally, return the chicken to the skillet, skin side up.
- Place a lid on the skillet, turn the heat up to high, and let the broth come to a full boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low. Let the skillet simmer on low for about 15 minutes, or until most of the broth has been absorbed. Make sure it’s simmering the whole time. If it stops simmering, increase the heat slightly until it just starts to simmer again.
- After about 15 minutes the orzo should be tender and most of the broth absorbed but there will still be a little sauce in the skillet.
- Fluff the orzo around the chicken a bit with a fork, then top with the remaining parsley and the crumbled feta. Serve and enjoy!
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Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make One Pot Chicken and Orzo – Step by Step Photos
Start by blotting four chicken thighs dry with a paper towel. Drying them helps the seasoning stick and helps them brown better in the skillet. I used bone-in thighs with skin, but you could use boneless, skinless if desired. Just keep in mind that boneless and skinless thighs are usually a bit more expensive and will cook faster. Season both sides of each thigh liberally with lemon pepper seasoning (about 2 Tbsp total).
Heat a large deep skillet over medium. Once hot, add 1 Tbsp cooking oil. Add the seasoned chicken thighs, skin side down, and let them cook undisturbed until browned (about 6-8 minutes for bone-in skin-on thighs). Flip the chicken thighs and cook until browned on the second side. The chicken will be cooked most of the way through at this point but will finish cooking when simmered with the orzo. Remove the chicken to a clean plate.
While the chicken is browning, roughly chop about 1/4 bunch of parsley and mince two cloves of garlic. Turn the heat down to low, add the minced garlic, and sauté the garlic in the residual fat for about a minute.
Add 2 cups of chicken broth to the skillet and stir to dissolve the crispy browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
The broth will turn a deep brown color as the drippings are dissolved into the mixture.
Add about half of the chopped parsley and 1.5 cups of orzo. Stir to combine.
Finally, return the chicken to the skillet, skin side up. Place a lid on the skillet, turn the heat up to high, and let the broth come to a full boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low. Let the skillet simmer on low for about 15 minutes, or until most of the broth has been absorbed. Make sure it’s simmering the whole time. If it stops simmering, increase the heat slightly until it just starts to simmer again.
After about 15 minutes the orzo should be tender and most of the broth absorbed but there will still be a little sauce in the skillet.
Fluff the orzo around the chicken a bit with a fork, then top with the remaining parsley and the crumbled feta. And that’s all it takes to make this simple Lemon Pepper Chicken with Orzo. I could seriously eat this orzo all day long. ALL. DAY. LONG.
I’m really interested to try this but wondering if you think subbing shredded chicken could work?
I think you could definitely do that! I would still add the seasoning to the dish that you’d use to season the raw chicken.
Question, could i stir in some cream cheese at the end to go it a bit of a cream sauce?
for sure!
Love this recipe! It is a staple at our house. Even my picky 4 year old who mostly lives off of grilled cheese and oranges loves this.
I really enjoyed this! It was so flavorful and came together so easy.
Wow yum!
This is the first recipe I tried from this site & I LOVE it. It got me hooked on the site. We cook this a couple of times a month. So delicious and easy to make!
I am just loving this website. So many delicious and simple recipes. I made this dish just now but substituted arborio rice as I did not have any orzo on hand (and a quick internet search said that arborio was a good sub). I also added some baby spinach into the mix for some added goodness. Could also have added in grated carrot…next time! I just love lemon (as does my hubby), so also added the zest of a lemon as well as a good squeeze of the lemon juice. The arborio did need a cup more chicken broth but that was an easy addition. Recipes like these really make my day (and use up items that I have in the pantry!)
My husband is going back for thirds! I only wish I’d taken it off of heat a little early because the orzo is slightly dry, but that’s easily remedied by adding a little more broth.
Can’t wait to try more recipes!
My partner doesn’t love lemon, but loved this! Big hit and thought I would need to make less for the two of us but this was the perfect amount. Budget bytes never does me wrong!
I love this recipe, I change up the seasoning sometimes but it always turn out great. One of the recipes I can always make and no one complains.
I add artichokes and a little fresh lemon juice to this 💯
Thank you for this recipe! It turned out super flavorful and pretty just like the picture. My friend was super impressed.
What other herb/spice mix might be good here instead of lemon pepper? I *LOVE* this recipe as-is, but I’ve been making lemon pepper recipes constantly lately. I love this dish so much and just wonder if it could be tweaked 🥹
They have a very similar recipe with a couple tweaks and different spices and it’s very good! https://www.budgetbytes.com/creamy-chicken-and-orzo-skillet/
If I half this recipe, will that affect the timing?
While it may come up to a simmer faster, you will need to simmer everything for the same amount of time (15 minutes).
Delicious and easy! Will definitely make it again. Daughter bought thin-sliced chicken breasts and those worked out fine.
Great dish! I used boneless, skinless thighs, chopped into bite size chunks, and they worked out well. I also added some broccoli when there was about 5 minutes left in the recipe, and it steamed perfectly. I love getting just a bit more veg into every meal.
This recipe was amazing and so easy! I added some chopped broccoli at the same time I put the chicken back in the pot just to get some vegetables in there, and it came out great! Definitely adding this to my regular dinner rotation
Tasty! I inaugurated our kitchen remodel by making this the first thing I cooked in it, and it was a successful first effort. I didn’t have enough orzo and the grocery store didn’t have it available, so I got ditalini instead. I simmered it about 20 minutes–at 15 minutes the ditalini still had juuust a little too much bite. The parsley is a nice, bright flavor. I’ll use slightly less lemon pepper next time; the one I have is pretty bold and could have stood to be a little less front-and-center. But overall, quite a yummy dinner!
So GOOD! Very flavorful. Super easy, not a bunch of ingredients, my kind of recipe. Adding to my recipe file.
This was so good! I forgot to sprinkle on the feta and no one knew the difference. Will be adding this to our rotation – delicious, quick and easy!
Delicious! Is my fam’s favorite, reheats well for lunch the next day. Main warning is it makes SOOOO MUCH orzo.I cut the orzo to 1 cup and decrease the broth a bit if using the called for amount of chicken or use much more chicken to make more servings. We have cups of orzo left over otherwise. Love the website, we use many of their recipes.
How well does this recipe scale? I’m looking to cook this for a group larger than 4, so would the auto-calculation on the website be OK to follow? Or are there any potential pitfalls to doing so? Thanks!!
Hi, there! It really depends on how much you want to scale it up. You just want to make sure the skillet you use is large enough (maybe consider a 12″ cast iron or a 6-7 qt. dutch oven), sear the chicken in batches, and make sure they all have enough space when nestled back into the pot to stay crispy on top. If your group is too large for this one-pot method, I would suggest searing off the chicken in the skillet you use to cook the orzo (to get the skin crispy and add fond to the pot to flavor the orzo), and then transfer them to a baking dish and finish them in the oven. Use this other recipe as a reference point: https://www.budgetbytes.com/garlic-butter-baked-chicken-thighs/. You may need to cook them a little less than the linked recipe recommends in order to compensate for browning in the skillet. Chicken thighs are fully cooked when they are 180-185*F in the thickest part. ~Marion :)
I made this recipe for the first time shortly after it was first posted and it’s been a regular rotation ever since! Delicious and easy. Sometimes I use goat cheese instead of feta and that works great too.
Made this last night and it was wonderful!!
Seriously SOOOO yummy! I hadn’t tried lemon pepper seasoning before but this is incredible! Definitely getting added to my list of favorite recipes
I made this again tonight. It’s so simple, yet flavorful and delicious. It’s hard to not overeat. I guiltily helped myself to seconds. I added zucchini because I wanted more veggies and added diced red bell for color.
Delicious and easy!!!! Will definitely be in heavy rotation at our house.
Excellent and easy. Swapped the feta for goat because it’s what I already had and finished with fresh lemon. Great recipe for an easy and tasty dinner!
This dinner is amazing. I make it often!!! One recommendation I have is to use low sodium chicken broth. It had a better flavor for me. Thanks for sharing this recipe. One pot/pan dinners are amazing!!
This recipe turned out perfect for us. I had a zucchini that I needed to use up so I sliced it up and added it to the orzo. I will definitely make this dish again!
Very easy! I used skinless and boneless thighs. I used 1.5 tbsp of the seasoning , but next time I would use less as the seasoning we had was a bit overpowering.
The grocery didn’t have any parsley. I chopped baby spinach up, and threw that in near the end of simmering the orzo, and it was a nice addition.
Definitely recommend!
Definitely will be making this again!
I didn’t have any lemon pepper seasoning, so I made a lemon pepper marinade to use beforehand, and then seasoned with black pepper, a bit of salt, garlic powder, and lemon zest. It still didn’t end up having the punch of lemon pepper that I was intending on, so I’ll probably be picking up a pre-made seasoning blend the next time. Regardless, my partner & I still thought it was delicious! Can’t wait to try it again!
This was stellar!! 💫
Made the recipe as written. Had to add some salt at the end but my lemon pepper has no salt in it so I should have know to add some salt. Also add the juice of one lemon at the end just to make the lemon flavor pop because I love lemon. Really easy and delicious!
This is easy to make and absolutely delicious. My boyfriend and I loved it – tastes great as leftovers as well. Cooking the orzo in chicken broth with all the residual flavors from the chicken thighs made it pop off. Also never realized how well lemon pepper and feta go together. Bravo!
Delicious! This went in my and my husband’s “make again” list. Had some issues with orzo sticking to the bottom of the pot, but the flavors were fantastic and it was a great way to use some of the cheapest chicken we can buy.
This was a good recipe- I used boneless skinless thighs. I definitely think it requires a bit of tweaking to fit your own flavor preferences, but definitely not bad. I added spinach.
Loved this recipe. It was super easy and flavorful. The feta was a great addition. This worked really well for meal prep for lunches and will become a part of my rotation. I used boneless chicken thighs for the recipe and it turned out great.
I don’t know if it was us or the recipe, but it was inedible. We cook a lot of one-pot orzo meals, but this one didn’t turn out. The orzo stuck to the pan, the skin-on chicken thighs left a lot of grease in the final product, and the whole thing was quite bland. We did use salt-free lemon pepper seasoning so we could control the amount of salt we added, so maybe that was the problem? Really just a greasy, bland mess that we had to toss. If I were going to try again, I’d use a different seasoning blend and skinless chicken thighs
I made this this week and it turned out great! I may try adding some frozen peas or some other veg next time for a full one-pot meal. :) Another winner!
Yum yum yum yum yum. We have made this a bunch now. I added a bag of frozen green beans tonight and it came out perfectly.
This was delicious. I used boneless skinless chicken breast. Everyone enjoyed it. Didn’t change anything other than that. Fast and easy recipe.
Really easy and very tasty! The only changes I made were to add baby spinach at the end, and use chicken tenders instead of thighs.
This dish is excellent! So good, I made it twice this week. Made one for meal prep, it rehearsal very well. Stir the orzo half way while reheating
Absolutely wonderful! Only thing I will do differently next time is to use low sodium stock because my lemon pepper already has some salt. Really delicious, thank you!
I wasn’t sure how the feta would taste in this dish but I’m really glad I followed the recipe as written. The feta compliments the lemon pepper seasonings and really makes the dish sing! I’ll be making this easy dish again!
Great recipe. One of the simplest recipes I’ve done that tasted so good! I didn’t change a thing.
How would you replace the lemon pepper if it can’t be bought?
Use the zest of one lemon and add salt and pepper to taste. XOXO -Monti
Can I substitute the feta for something else if I don’t have it on hand?
Absolutely!! Use what you have! XOXO -Monti
I just made this with chicken breast and it was great! A great way to use up leftover parsley.
Any tips on how to prevent the orzo from sticking to the bottom of the pan? I feel like I lost maybe 25% of the orzo because I wasn’t able to scrape it up. I used a high quality enameled cast iron pan, and let it simmer (or so I thought). Maybe the heat was too high.
Amazing! I used skinless chicken breast because that’s what I had. I worried it would be dry, but I was SO WRONG. The chicken was tender and moist inside with a delicious browning on the outside. The whole dish is so flavorful and delicious. It’s restaurant quality in my opinion. Will absolutely make it again!
Going to try this out today. I noticed there’s no salt in the recipe. Will the chicken broth be enough to salt everything? If I salt my chicken before cooking will it overpower the dish?
I would follow the recipe as is, as the broth will flavor the chicken considerably. If you want to salt beforehand, use low sodium or no sodium chicken broth. XOXO -Monti
Lemon pepper seasoning already has salt in it! It really doesn’t need more, the flavor was perfect as written.
This is such a great, easy, weeknight meal! We made it with boneless, skinless chicken thighs and added some fresh lemon juice at the end (since we had a lemon on hand that needed to be used). Super tasty and very easy!
Oh my! This was sooo good! Even my picky 6 year old dug in. This is definitely going into the dinner rotation.
Also, Aldi doesn’t sell uncooked orzo, so any suggestions for a substitute? Thank you!
Great subs for orzo include arborio rice, small elbow macaroni, and couscous. XOXO -Monti
Could you make this in the instant pot? How would you adjust? Thank you!
Hi, we have not tested this in a pressure cooker and cannot comment on how to recreate the recipe in one. XOXO -Monti
What grain could I use in place of the orzo that is gluten free?
Any rice. XOXO -Monti
I followed the recipe exactly as written (using boneless skinless thighs) and it was absolutely delicious. The whole thing probably took the 40 minutes it said it would, start to finish, maybe even a few minutes less. I had a withering lemon in my fridge, so I squeezed some fresh juice on top and the end and it was *chef’s kiss* This and a bag of whatever frozen steam-in-bag veggies I had on hand made a perfect weeknight dinner!
I agree with everyone else – simple and delicious.
I LOVE this recipe. It’s one of my go-to’s for a quick and delicious dinner. One question- any tricks on preventing the skin from sticking to the pan when browning the chicken?
You’re always going to have at least a little bit of sticking, but if you let the pan get hot and pat the chicken dry before you add it to the pan, that should help. Once you put it in the pan, leave it alone until it browns, at which point it should mostly de-stick itself.
Yum!! Made this but added potatoes, spinach and cream cheese instead of feta and it was awesome! Will be making again
Can you substitute any grains for the pasta? I’m on a low carb diet.
You could potentially do something like that, but the cooking time and liquid amount will need to adjust according to the grain you’re using and the flavor of the grain may affect the overall flavor of the dish.
Have been making this recipe for years and it’s an all-time favorite! So easy, so flavorful. It’s one of the first recipes that gave me confidence that I could cook. Just ate some leftovers of this meal for lunch and had to post a review. Go make this now! It’s sure to impress and is seriously so easy to make.
Amazing!! First time cooking with orzo and I was thoroughly impressed.
This tastes like something from a restaurant, amazing flavor from the “fond”. :) I calculated about 550 calories per serving with skinless thighs.
I served with the honey balsamic glazed carrots and the flavors went together pretty well. I will definitely make this again.
This recipe is so easy to follow and comes out almost as good as the recipe photos! It’s so flavorful and cooked with simple ingredients, all in one pot. It is definitely in our regular meal rotation! :)
I made this last night for dinner. I used what I had on hand – boneless, skinless chicken thighs and dried parsley – and not only was it super easy to throw together, but it was delicious! Took maybe 20 minutes start to finish: I did 3 mins/side for the chicken, then 12 mins with the orzo. Big hit at the dinner table, with and without the feta. This recipe will definitely be added to our rotation. Thank you for another great recipe!
We thought this was really good, and I love one skillet meals. Plus, I had everything except the feta on hand…winner, winner, chicken dinner!
My husband is picky about food, and he really liked it too.
The only thing I did different, was add garlic and onion powder to the lemon pepper.
This was a delicious recipe that is going into regular rotation now! I had no idea lemon pepper seasoning could taste so good with chicken. Thank you!
Hi, I tried this and it was tasty and kids loved it. However A lot of the orzo stuck to the pan. Was it because I did not stir it often enough when I added it? As well is it ok if the fond leaves black bits and pieces or should it all dissolve after adding the broth?
Thanks!
Those bits are definitely okay and when you add the broth it’s okay to scrape the pan a bit with a spatula as it adds great flavor! You can stir it a little bit here and there, but your temp may have just been a little high.
Can I use chicken breasts for this recipe?
You certainly can!
I have made this at least ten times now – I love it so much!! It’s quick and easy, inexpensive and is just so yummy! We love the saltiness along with the tang of the lemon pepper! Plus, hardly any dishes to clean! Seriously in love! I think next time I might add some chopped spinach.
Happy to hear it Katie! Thanks for sharing.
This is a really good recipe with a lot of room for improvisation. My grocery store didn’t have orzo, so I used brown rice. Since hearty rice takes more like ~45 minutes to simmer, I started it simmering and then at around minute 35 I added my cooked chicken thighs, as well as a drained can of black beans. I also used some paprika and cayenne pepper since I like my rice/beans mixtures to be spicy. Amazing!! No extra salt necessary haha, it all comes from the chicken broth and feta.
This is fantastic to know for those who want to maybe use what they have on hand! Thank you for sharing Lauren.
On the app there is a crazy glitch that requires 20x the amount of the lemon pepper seasoning which destroyed my meal, please fix!
Oh no! I’m so very sorry to hear this. We’ll get this corrected right away.
Love the recipe, but I think the prices are a little out dated.
Delicious! My thighs were pretty big so I fried them an additional 5 min. And I cooked another 10 min longer at the end with lid off. I didn’t use the feta cheese bc I didn’t have any on hand. The dish came out perfect. ❤️
Been making this recipe since you posted it and while I use less lemon pepper to account for personal preference, it’s great and simply.
On a technical note, though, you don’t seem to have this recipe on the ingredient index page for orzo.
Thanks for catching that! Fixing now. :)
I left a review in the BudgetBytes app but I don’t think those transfer over to the website. So I’ll make it short and sweet: This recipe was phenomenal! Very easy, fast, and cheap! Thanks Beth! Love your website!
Thank you!!
Have tried this dish, and we LOVE it !!! Beth you are the BOMB ! We’ve tried several of your recipes, and all of them have been great. I’m an older lady who has stuck to the same’o recipes, now I try to make a new recipe from your collection at least 3 times a week. Appreciate you, and keep them coming!
Thank you!
I’m not sure what kind of chicken broth to use, I went with my usual Better Than Bouillon nut maybe I used too much because my end result was pretty salty. I used the same lemon pepper seasoning as the example above, so I’m thinking it had to be the broth.
It was super easy though and I will definitely give it another shot.
I used better than bouillon too and found that it was just a little too salty. I wish BTB came in a low sodium version!
I followed the recipe exactly, but the chicken was still pink in the middle, and the whole dish turned out very greasy. The flavors were good though. If I make it again, I would use boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
This was absolutely delicious and came together in no time at all. This meal has all my favorite flavors, and I love recipes with just a few ingredients that taste elegant & special. I’ll definitely be making this regularly – as a long-time reader I’m actually shocked I haven’t tried this one yet. Thank you!
I made this last night for my boyfriend and I and we both loved it. I used salt-free lemon pepper, so I salt bae’d those boneless chicken thighs with a good bit of kosher salt and they were delicious. Eating leftovers for lunch! If I were to tweak, I’d probably marinate my chicken in a bit of lemon juice to really drive home that lemony taste.
This is amazing! I thought I had orzo but I didn’t. I wound up using very small shells like the kind you would use in soup. When the it was done, the shells held a nice amount of the thick sauce.
I will be making this again on a regular basis.
Great recipe Beth! Thanks for posting it.
Delicious!!! My family loved it and I will definitely make this again!
This is a winner! Thank you— my whole family loved it. Delicious flavor! I had a box of ditallini pasta that I needed to use up so I subbed that in place of the orzo. It worked!
We have been eating this for months and is one of our favorite meals. At the last 3 minutes we throw in baby spinach leaves and grape tomatoes and it makes it even tastier!
Thanks for the idea! I was planning on cooking a veggie for the side but this makes it even easier!
I made this tonight and it was a delicious! I did not change a thing, except my lemon pepper season was from Trader Joe’s! (New to me to use in this recipe!!) I have more of your recipes & ingredients ready to go for the week. I am a teacher and school starts soon – I will use your recipes to meal prep many of my meals this year. I am glad I found your site for easy, delicious recipes that don’t break the bank.
Thank you!
I am in Canada and i used to but that exact lemon pepper seasoning for my chicken until they no longer sold it here. I have tried numerous others and there is no comparison. Are you still able to purchase it where you are?
Yes, luckily it’s still available here.
This was really good and easy to make! I added a tablespoon of butter but changes nothing else and it was cooked perfectly and looks exactly like the photos!
This was so good! I cut a couple of corners – used dried parsley flakes and used water to make up for the missing amount of chicken broth. It still tasted like heaven and I’d definitely make it again! :)
Hey. Can you use quinoa instead of orzo?
You would need to experiment with the liquid to quinoa ratio to get it right. I don’t think it would be a 1:1 substitution for the orzo.
Tasted delicious, but the chicken was NOT done after just browning it and letting it simmer. Had to finish the chicken in the oven.
This is the first recipe I made from this site, and it came out great! Right after adding the chicken broth, I realized I didn’t have any orzo, so I used elbow macaroni. I can’t wait to try it again with the orzo! Next time I might try adding a vegetable – like broccoli or zucchini – to make it a complete meal.
This was amazing! I’m making my second batch in under a week, because I’ve been craving it since we scarfed the first batch. I definitely recommend what others have said – check your lemon pepper seasoning and make sure salt is NOT the first ingredient. The feta also really makes the flavors pop, so I would recommend trying a batch with the feta before doing without.
This was delicious. It had a lingering peppery heat to it that was nice on a wintery day. The orzo was delicious—wish we had more leftover!
I like to add some onions and lemon juice, but it was delicious even without those. Definitely one of my favourites.
Very good! I didn’t have lemon pepper, so I seasoned with plain salt and ground black pepper. Added a little chopped spinach just for the last 2 minutes of simmer (trying to clean up the fridge),added a little bit more cook time for excess water.
Very tasty and easy to do. Pack it for lunch!
I have been a long time lurker of the site and have yet to make anything. I have been looking at this particular recipe for a month and finally decided to try it out last night. Y U M!!!!! This is hands down one of the best recipes I have ever tried from an online site! So easy to make and can easily substitute ingredients. I added onion to mine for a little extra flavour and it was incredible both fresh and as left overs. Will 100% make this a staple. 10009489282828/10
Could this recipe be adapted for the oven? I’ve seven people in the house, and no skillet big enough to double the recipe.
Hmm, it’s hard to say. I’d need to do quite a bit of experimenting to see if I could do it.
Came back to this recipe since I’m going to try it w/ chickpeas (went mostly vegetarian since I reviewed this using chicken back in 2015). But I like making large amounts of food and used to bake the chicken. I have a huge pot (not skillet) that I put the chicken in after baking it (see below). As long as you have a big pot, you could increase this even more.
-28 oz boneless skinless chicken thighs
-1 lb orzo
-chopped onion (added with the garlic)
I used 2 cups broth and added about 1.5 cups water (maybe just under) with a little salt for this amount of food. I also prefer to bake chicken because then I don’t have to watch it, so I generously rubbed the chicken with olive oil and spices and cooked at 425 for 20 minutes. Added the chicken to the pot before simmering. Cooked perfectly! Definitely will make again and am considering upping the ingredient amounts again!
I have everything on hand to make this tonight except parsley. Would dried parsley work? How much would you recommend? Thank you! My family loves your crispy tofu and garlic noodles!
I made this tonight for dinner and let me tell you this is by far my favorite recipe on this site! It is full of flavor and has so many great textures. I’ve never actually had orzo before but I loved it in this dish. Thank you for an awesome recipe!!
Another winner. (I’ve become obsessed with lemon pepper seasoning thanks to this site). I wanted to make 8 thighs instead of 4 so i browned them in batches and ended up finishing them in the oven and cooking the orzo separate in the browning pan. I also used whole wheat orzo with some baby spinach thrown in instead of parsley- worked great!
I had to sub a few things as I was running late.
Couldn’t find orzo, so I used Turkish bulgur. Worked perfect! No lemon pepper, so I just used pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice from those squirt bottles. Also great! I do always fear that the chicken will not be done so I fried it slightly longer. Everything turned out great and the feta really complements everything in the dish. I also added peas to it for extra veg.
Really liking how simple this one is. I added a few extras to make this a little more “Greek”. A little Dill, A little Cavender’s greek seasoning, fresh Spinach and some cherry Tomatoes sliced in half. It turned out wonderful! You just made a new fan. I’ll be checking out your recipes ;-) Great work, Beth!
Great recipe and instructions! I subbed the lemon pepper rub for real lemon zest and a touch of ground black pepper (as my wife does not deal well with a lot of pepper).
Definitely go with the bone in, skin on thighs.
I also subbed fresh parsley for dried parsley as I usually only cook for two…just as good.
Suggest using a pan that is not teflon coated as you want to take advantage of the chicken bits (Fond) left behind for your orzo reduction
Just made this for the second time. Even my picky husband likes it. This is now a regular in our dinner rotation. Thanks for a great recipe! (Picky husband leaves off the feta and uses mozzarella…more feta for ME!!)
Great recipe. For those concerned about the salt content, I made this tonight using Mrs. Dash salt-free lemon pepper seasoning. I didn’t use anywhere near the amount called for in the recipe, just sprinkled as much as I thought was right for the chicken, and then I sprinkled a bit of salt onto the chicken when I browned it. I also used boneless, skinless chicken thighs. With the 2.5 cups of chicken broth and feta cheese, it seemed plenty flavorful to us. My boyfriend and I liked it very much.
Delicious and soooo fast and easy!
what kind of chicken is best for this dish ” bone in or boneless” thank you.
I used bone-in, but you can also do this with boneless.
This recipe was very easy to assemble and looked and smelled delicious. I was worried about it being salty, so I used low-sodium chicken broth. I should have checked the ingredients on the jar of lemon pepper seasoning – salt was the main ingredient! (Darned store brand!) The chicken was tasty, but the pasta was overly salty to the point of being inedible. We were very disappointed! Next time, I’ll use lemon zest and ground black pepper…and a different kind of pasta so my family thinks it’s an entirely different dish!
Live and learn – the main ingredient of the lemon pepper seasoning that I bought was SALT! I love lemon pepper, so I used more than the recipe called for. Oh, my. Well…I ruined it this time around. I’ll know better next time! The recipe was easy to make. I hate cutting meat, so I love reopens where I don’t have to prep or trim. Definitely a keeper. My jar of lemon pepper isn’t!
This was tasty. I did change it up a lot since I didn’t have many of the ingredients. For instance, I was out of chicken broth and didn’t want to just use plain water. I had a pouch of sauce that is supposed to be made into a mushroom stroganoff but I used it along with water instead of the chicken broth. It gave the orzo a tasty, meaty flavor. I also didn’t feel that lemon pepper would go well with that so I seasoned the chicken with garlic salt and pepper. I also skipped the feta. This recipe is really versatile and can be made into various dishes according to taste. Thanks for the recipe!
Just made this, its absolutely incredible. Feels very fancy all though it took no time at all, and very little prep! Thank you so much!
Perfect, as usual!! Yet another recipe from this site that hits a home run, my god, how do you do it? I ate way too many pieces of chicken tonight, way too much orzo but oh my goodness, sooo good! Thank you and keep em coming please :)
Does anyone know if quinoa would work as a substitute for the orzo?
Yes, I have done that before with this recipe when out of orzo. I substitute in equal measure, 1.5 cups of quinoa, and have found that it tends to absorb all the liquid nicely. It took a little bit longer than the 10-12 minutes suggested by this recipe. You should also be aware that quinoa seems to expand significantly more than orzo so plan your pot size accordingly!
I have done this recipe multiple times, both as written and with substitutions and it never lets me down.
OMG I made it tonight and it was so easy, and soooooo yummy! Even my picky teenager loved it, it’s a keeper!!
I’m going to try this tonight! Looks absolutely delicious! Thanks for sharing~
Hi Beth! Still trying to dodge the soft cheeses like feta until we deliver our little girl, (ONE WEEK!!) so what cheese can I sub? Thanks!!
Hmm, I guess Parmesan wouldn’t be too bad. :)
As long as the cheese is pasteurized it’s fine while pregnant.
Just leave it out!!
Making broth with bouillon base made this, as written, WAY too salty. Next time will use my homemade broth and add salt. Seemed like it had potential to be goo, but couldn’t get past the salt. All the other recipes off this site have been great.
This looks so good! Have you tried making it with any whole grains instead of orzo? Just wondering which grain might work best.
I haven’t, but if you decide to experiment with it please share your results with us. :)
I made it with farro and adjusted the liquid and cooking time a little based on the farro cooking instructions (package said 30 mins cooking time). I ended up with too much liquid, so I just poured some off. The end results were still pretty delicious.
Just made this tonight for dinner, and it was amazing! Trying to cook more instead of eating convenience foods, and even my husband, a self-confessed fast food junkie, went back for seconds of this. I even used garlic powder instead of fresh, and the flavor was still amazing. Steamed some fresh spinach as a side and put some feta in it too- so good!
I’m trying to clean out our fridge/freezer/pantry, and found some chicken and a third of a box of orzo. A quick Google search led me to your site. I tried this last night using fresh lemons + pepper (didn’t have any lemon pepper seasoning), dried parsley, and omitted the feta (didn’t have any, and we’re trying not to spend much $ for the rest of the month), and my husband and I loved this simple and easy dish! Thank you so much for posting- we will definitely be making this again!
Just made this last night—it was fantastic! Definitely a new favorite meal in our house. I briefly considered leaving out the feta, but decided to add it since I try to make recipes “by the book” the first time I make them, and I’m SO glad I went with it–the feta added a perfect pop of flavor at the end!
This was amazing. Chicken leg quarters were on sale at my market-used those, broiled instead of sautéed and added spinach as several reviewers recommended. Delicious!
Definitely one of my favorites. Very delicious, quick, and easy!
SOOO good, and I love the one pot cleanup. One question though-how well does it freeze? I’m 8 months pregnant and trying to find a few good recipes (that are not a variation on lasagna or red-sauce pasta) to make ahead and freeze.
This one freezes just so-so. I find it slightly more difficult to reheat meat that is on the bone. If you let it thaw in the refrigerator over night, it will be easy to reheat in the microwave, but it’s more difficult to do straight from the freezer.
Love it! Going to make it again tomorrow. So good. Big fan!
Very quick and easy, but so rich in flavor! Thank you :)
Very peppery, would recommend to not add the extra teaspoon to the broth. Super easy and looks great but heavy on the pepper.
YUMMY!!! just made this tonight,it’s so good! love the one pan clean up too! I will probably do with breasts next only because that’s what we prefer. Thanks for another great and affordable recipe. :D
This was, in a word, SUPERB. I added a diced shallot to the garlic and brown bits along with some sliced cherry tomatoes that I had in the fridge. This was seriously easy, and seriously full of flavor. My husband and I devoured ours– I cannot wait to make this again. I have been a long-time fan/lurker of your site, but I have actually never made your food. You just made me a believer! Thank you!!
Beth, this is awesome! It’s a family favorite for all 5 of us.
My only question is how do you do this without the orzo sticking to the pan? I swear I lost half the orzo because it stuck to the pan. Sad faces from everyone at the table!
Should I use more liquid? I simmered for 10 min. What’d I do wrong?
I think there are three things that really affect whether or not the orzo (or rice, when using the same technique) sticks. 1) Using a thick bottomed pan really helps because it evens out the heat. 2) Finding that sweet spot with the heat. You want the heat to be at the lowest setting possible that keeps the liquid simmering. Too high and the bottom will dry out and scorch. 3) Let the dish rest with the heat turned off for about 5-10 minutes. I find that this helps the moisture redistribute and it sometimes loosens any rice or pasta that may be stuck to the bottom. I hope that helps! It just takes a little practice. :)
Made this tonight aaaaand DELICIOUS! All my 2 year old kept saying was,”mama more!!”
He definitely has a new favorite dish and so do I! Husband also loved it! Thanks for this awesome recipe, Beth. You’re wonderful! :)
This is an absolute hit in my household. We use rice instead of orzo since that’s what we had on hand. We prepare this once a week (yes every week!) with some steamed veggies.
This is delicious, but in two times making this, my chicken is always not quite done at the end. Going to start browning for longer I think. Right now, my chicken is in the oven finishing up while I impatiently wait to eat it all! Great recipe, just need to tweak the cook time a bit. I add diced onion and a pint of halved grape or cherry tomatoes (whichever I find for cheap) to sautée with the garlic and a ton of spinach at the end to make it a one pot meal.
I personally have never had this issue. I would trying browning longer.
Instead of orzo I use rice in this recipe and have it cook for 20 minutes.
It didn’t cook all the way for me either and I couldn’t really brown it longer so I out it in the oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.
This dish is pure joy! So ah-mazingly good. The hardest part was not eating seconds. Budget Bytes at its best: easy, qucik, delicious, and inexpensive. The one pan clean up is a bonus. I had to buy the lemon pepper because it’s not a staple in my pantry, but it will be now.
This was delicious! I seriously love this site and it is my go-to for easy, great and fast meals! I made this one when my mom was coming over one night for dinner and we both were blown away by how good it was! Thank you for sharing!
i really loved this recipe but i felt it needed something and i remembered i had a package of kale in the freezer that i just knew would fit well with the flavor of the lemon pepper. of course i remembered after i finished cooking the food…oh well, i went ahead and microwaved the kale and mixed it into the food anyway, added the feta, and it was heavenly.
Amazing recipe & very easy to make. It was my first time making a dish like this, i added 21 seasoning (from trader joes) and fresh lemon to the chicken… Made it for my boyfriend & friend. They wouldn’t stop talking about how amazing it was! I will definitely make it again.
I loved it, but my husband thought the lemon taste was too strong. Next time I’ll cut the lemon pepper down and add some white wine for additional flavor.
so delicious! I used boneless skinless thighs, but next time will try with skin and bone – bet it will be more flavorful.
This looks fantastic! I’m going to up the garlic amount and try it.
Has anybody tried a chicken breast instead of a thigh?
Yes – I prefer white meat (lower fat content) and have made this recipe with chicken breasts. Turned out great!
Do you think this would work with other small pasta? I have other tiny pasta on hand, just not orzo!
I think it would, but depending on their shape they may need more or less liquid.
This was delicious!!! For people who eat a lot I upped the amount of food by doing the following:
-28 oz boneless skinless chicken thighs
-1 lb orzo
-chopped onion (added with the garlic)
I used 2 cups chicken brown and added about 1.5 cups water (maybe just under) with a little salt for this amount of food. I also prefer to bake chicken because then I don’t have to watch it, so I generously rubbed the chicken with olive oil and spices and cooked at 425 for 20 minutes. Added the chicken to the pot before simmering. Cooked perfectly! Definitely will make again and am considering upping the ingredient amounts again!
Tried this last night, and was really pleased with the outcome! Hubs was originally skeptical about it, but gave it an (unheard of for him) 9-out-of-10 rating, and my toddler chowed down too! We will definitely be making this again, likely without the feta as we all liked it without anyways and that saves a little cash (since we don’t really use feta much otherwise, it’s a bit of a waste to but a tub just for a sprinkle.)
I’m curious – have you tried this with other seasonings that lemon pepper? We were thinking to try with a Montreal seasoning or maybe a curry to mix things up, since the meal was filling and easy and we can see using this method a ton. Just curious if you’ve already tried other seasoning versions we should give a shot before experimenting in our own!
I haven’t yet, but I plan to! This was one of my favorites and there is a lot of room for changing out ingredients and flavors.
This one is now the favorite in our house. So tasty. So I have a silly question about doubling the recipe. If I needed to double or even triple this (large extended family) for a dinner party do I just double or triple the ingredients exactly and use a much bigger skillet? I know sometimes when increasing proportions it’s not always as simple as multiplying everything by 2 or 3.
Yes, this one you should be able to just double or triple the ingredients. The simmering time might change a little if the size or shape of your pan changes, though, so you’ll just have to keep an eye on it.
I made this for dinner tonight and our two VERY picky young kids loved it and asked for seconds!
I’ve made this twice in the last two weeks, it’s so easy to make and taste incredible. It totally works as lunch leftovers too.
I made this a couple nights ago, it was absolutely divine. Any suggestions on how I could make this in my slow cooker?
I’m not sure this one would work in the slow cooker. I don’t find that pasta does very well with that cooking method because it gets too mushy. Plus, you’d need to still use the skillet for the browning step, because that adds a lot of the flavor.
Yum! I made this last night and added 1/2 bag of spinach and mushrooms. So delicious, can’t wait to eat it the rest of the week!
Thanks for this yummy recipe.I tried it last night it came really so yummy and delicious.I must say the way you explain and the images are really help me lot to prepare.
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Lemon chicken recipes
This was really good. The pasta-simmering-with-everything-else trick has changed my world. The feta is genius.
The lemon pepper makes the fond really thick and sticky and burn-prone. That made me not toss as much fat after the chicken was browned, which made it turn out kind of greasy, in a way that a more grease-averse person wouldn’t like. I also got a layer of super tasty crusty pasta on the bottom.
Next time I’m going to toss in a bunch of spinach, one-pot being the grail.
Hi Beth,
Thanks for this delicious recipe, I’ve made it twice now. Today I added spinach during the end boiling step. This recipe is perfect without the spinach but it added an extra oomph. Thanks for all your wonderful recipes, I stalk your site waiting for new recipes to pop up!
Thanks!
Tiffani
So if I want to double the chicken (for lunches later in the week), but not the orzo… Any suggestions as to method? (I could get another skillet dirty, but I’d prefer not to. ;) ) thx.
If your skillet is not big enough to cook eight pieces, then I think the only option is to use two skillets. :( I thinking about browning one batch, removing them and then browning the second batch, but they don’t completely cook through during the browning stage, so they’d both still need to simmer.
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this recipe!! I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs, and cooked the chicken in some butter for more flavor. Since I couldn’t find orzo, I substituted rice. Since my sister and I LOVE spinach, I added that to the chicken and rice (I HATE parsley, since it’s such a royal pain in the rear to chop up!). I absolutely LOVE your blog, Beth, and thank you for this fantastic recipe!! :-)
Made this last night.
Another one to add to my rotation! Soo good!
Once again, I am writing to say how much I liked one of your recipes. I made this with thighs with the bone in but I think I will try without next time. I often eat in front of the tv so the less cutlery needed the better. I also squeezed half a lemon over the finished dish and it gave it a lovely hint of sharp and sweet. This dish will definitely be made several more times.
Yum, I made lemon pepper chicken with lentils yesterday and, today, it’s even better. Some in the freezer and some in the fridge for tomorrow. Added snap peas during the last 5 minutes and used the lemon slice/pepper grinder suggestion rather than the bottled lemon pepper. It’s day 8 of Go Sugar Free and the hearty lentils & chicken plus the great flavor of this dish really help me keep on track. Thanks Beth!
I could not for the life of me find Orzo when I went to Kroger, what alternate instructions could I use if I am going to be cooking the chicken by themselves in the pan? I’ll likely have couscous on the side. Thanks for the help!
You could add a small amount of broth (1/4 to 1/2 cup) and let that simmer in the skillet with the chicken and a lid to keep the steam in. That will infuse a little more chicken into the flavor and make sure it cooks through without further browning the outside.
This was so flavorful! I used 2 large skinless chicken breasts instead of chicken thighs because they were 1/2 the price. I cut them into small pieces and browned them first and then cooked it the same way as the recipes.
Mine came out a little soupy but was still great. Also used dried parsley instead of fresh to save some money. Ate it with broccoli. Would be nice to figure out how to cook the frozen broccoli in with the skillet but was worried about the soup factor.
As usual we ate the full 4 servings for the two of us but we have big appetites when things are tasty.
I adore this blog and constantly find myself cooking these recipes. This chicken recipe is a keeper, though I must admit I switched the lemon pepper for hawaij spice mix- super delicious. I’ll be trying it with rice next time! Thank you Beth!
This was my first time making one of your recipes and I loved it! The orzo was incredible and I loved how detailed the instructions were. My only mishap was that my chicken got a little dry. Do you have any suggestions for making sure all the moisture and juiciness stays locked in??
It might be a factor of how fatty your particular pieces of chicken were. The more fat they contain, the juicier they’ll stay.
This is amazing!!!! The entire family gobbled it up and went back for me. Thanks again for such great meals!
Our boys — 5 and 2 — loved this, and they can be picky eaters. Next time, we’ll do it with boneless meat, though. Just a little easier for our family :)
Made this over the weekend – it was a huge hit! Almost all gone. My husband was so into the orzo – claiming he had never had it before. He has – but it must not have tasted this good – this recipe is going into my rotation!
My chicken thighs weren’t fully cooked after five mins per side then included the 10-12 mins with the orzo and broth. Did I not have the heat high enough?
That’s a good possibility. The cooking time will vary a bit depending on the type of skillet used and the size of your chicken thighs.
Ours was the same. I just flipped em and went another 5 at medium heat. Everything was fine then.
This was delicious, but half of my orzo got stuck to the bottom of the pan. Next time I will stir it a few times.
I love how fast it is, it’s perfect for a busy weeknight.
This meal was so easy and absolutely delicious, everyone loved it. There were lots of leftovers and I kept going back to the fridge for leftovers. I adjusted: made the whole box of Orzo (2 cups/16oz), the whole box of chicken broth (~3 cups), and I used four large boneless skinless chicken breasts. The meal was great (although the chicken was a tad dry which is why thighs would be better). This simple and cheap dish is definitely a keeper and will not disappoint…for the rest of the week we were fighting over the leftovers. 0:-)
I absolutely LOVE your blog, Beth, and so far, I’ve cooked twenty four recipes from your blog! Is it possible that I can substitute rice instead of orzo? Thanks!! :-)
Wow! 24! :D Yes, I think rice would work fine for this recipe, but it will take longer to cook (maybe about 20 minutes of simmering?) and I’d probably use 3 cups of broth instead of 2.5, just to be safe.
All right! Thank you! I’ll let know how it turned out. :-)
We had it tonight. It’s a definite keeper.
This recipe was so easy and delicious! It cost pennies to make and fed my family of 4, who all ate it quickly. Everyone loved it! Even my very picky 7 year old.
sooo good and a perfect weeknight meal! i made it a one pot deal by just putting some sliced zucchs on top everything towards the end.
This recipe looks delicious and I am planning to make if tonight. I like to have some vegetables at dinner and had been thinking that I would steam or saute some broccoli to go along side this–but then I thought, maybe I could cook the broccoli in the pan and get some of the lemon pepper goodness in it!? Any thoughts, ideas or advice on how I might be able to make this the ultimate one-pot dish?
thank you!
Yep, you’re on the right track! You could probably mix in some frozen broccoli florets or sliced zucchini. The only issue is that the simmer time might be a little too long for some vegetables, so you risk making them a bit limp or over cooked. (And you have to have a skillet big enough for all of it!)
I made this last night with a few tweaks. No parsley on hand so we used spinach. I also skipped the feta since we were out. At the very end I threw in a cup of frozen peas cause I love them. this was a great dish we will be adding to our rotation. Thanks for sharing!
I’ve been wanting to try a couple recipes on here but I’m worried my skillet isn’t deep enough. How big are the skillets you use for recipes like this?
It’s labeled as a 3 quart skillet on the bottom and I just measured the dimensions as 10″ diameter and 2.5″ deep. :)
This recipe is another winner. Thank you so very much for what you do Beth. I love food, and I love to cook, but sometimes I have no inspiration. Those days I check out budget bytes. I can always rely on you for a great dinner. I know I would have eaten alot more takeout if it weren’t for your great work. Thank you.
This looks awesome! My boyfriend really isn’t a fan of parsley no matter what its in. Do you think that basil would work as well? Could I cook the basil/oregano in the dish the way you did with the parsley or would it not work that way? He’s not a big cilantro lover either so basil and oregano have become our go to herbs around here. Thanks!
Oh, yes, basil would be great! I think basil and oregano would work just fine with the lemon pepper.
Did you boil the orzo before adding it to the broth? or did you add it straight from the box
Straight from the box. :) It boils in the broth and that’s how it cooks.
I made this last night for dinner. It was delicious. Doubled the recipe since I have two teenagers. It re-heated nicely for lunch today too! One of the commenters said they added spinach. I was too chicken to add it directly to the pot, but I put the whole dinner on top of a bed of spinach and the boys ate it all. Thanks!
Hey Beth, this looks amazing, can’t wait to try it.
I am in Europe and I have never seen anything like the lemon and pepper seasoning. Would it work to use pepper and lemon juice? What quantities would you recommend?
Thanks!
You can just coat the chicken with a generous amount of pepper and a pinch of salt. Then I’d add sliced lemons to the skillet with the broth and parsley, so they simmer with the orzo and add flavor. It won’t be exactly the same, but hopefully you’ll still get that flavor. Lemon pepper seasoning is unique because you get concentrated lemon flavor without the liquid of lemon juice, so it grabs onto food better.
Good idea, I had been wondering about this too. Thanks.
I made this last night with my 8 year old helping. Used boneless thighs because that was what I had on hand. It turned out delicious! Another hit from Budget Bytes. Finally easy meals that my kids like. Thank you!
Whats a good substitute for the feta? This sounds so good but no one in my family likes feta
Parmesan would also be nice. If you want something tangy, you can try goat cheese.
This was fantastic! Thanks for the recipe.
How would the recipe differ if i used boneless thighs?
The thighs will brown a little faster in the skillet, so just keep that in mind (and there might not be any fat to drain off after browning). Other than that, you can do everything else the same. The broth in the skillet will prevent the thighs from drying out even though they’ll cook faster than bone-in thighs.
This looks fantastic! Will be making next week- adding it to my weekly dinner menu! ;)
This looks delicious. One of our local stores runs sales on leg quarters a good bit so I use them in most of my chicken recipes. I’ll have to give this a try.
My 7 year old is obsessed with cooking right now and helped me make this dinner tonight. It was amazing! Thank you so much for the easy meal and budget friendly meal.
Made this for dinner tonight, and so delicious! I went with boneless skinless thighs since they were on sale today, and did fat free feta. Still perfect <3
Looks great! How would you recommend modifying this recipe to use chicken breast instead of the thighs?
I would try to pound them out a little thinner to make sure they cook through while the orzo simmers. They’ll probably brown a little faster in the skillet, so just play that part by ear, and there won’t be any fat to drain off. You may need to add a little more oil to sauté the garlic. Since breasts don’t have as much fat as thighs, the meat might be slightly more dry.
Hi beth, loved your blog! i am an indian food blogger and got a lot of inspiration from the way you are sharing the recipes. let me know if i can help you in indian cousine section.
Thank you! That’s fantastic! :)
Could I use some other cheese for the feta? I can’t handle feta. Maybe parmesan shavings?
Yes, I think Parmesan would be pretty good with this.
This is great timing. I just got 10lbs of chicken leg quarters for about $0.40/lbs. I was at the grocery store around closing time and they marked off all the chicken that was reaching its sell by date. I’m going to separate the thighs from the drumsticks and make a broth from the trimmings.
Hey Beth,
Would be awesome if you had a ‘e-mail this recipe’ feature. Just thought of someone looking at it and if I could easily send it to them that would be great!
Um, there is a little button right above your post – amongst others like FB, Twitter etc that shows a little white envelope, and when you click on it, it opens your email client, et voilá, you can send the email with the link. ;-)
Hi Mark! At the bottom of every blog post (just below “You Might Also Like” there is a series of icons for sharing. The grey icon with an envelope will allow you to email the recipe. I know it’s not that prominent, but I’ll be redesigning the site soon, so hopefully it will be easier to find. :)
Can regular white (Japanese sticky) rice be substituted for the orzo?
I haven’t tried it, but there’s a good possibility that it won’t work quite the same. It may need a different amount of broth to cook correctly and the texture will be quite different.
Yum! This looks delicious.
I found little 3oz packs of Feta cheese crumbles at Dollar Tree in the refrigerated section and it’ s actually pretty good plus it’s super cheap.
Lucky!
Loved this! I also added in some cherry tomatoes and fresh spinach to make it more of a one-skillet dinner. The leftovers will be great for lunch tomorrow.
Excellent idea! I was just thinking what veggies to do on the side to make this a meal and you’ve completely solved my problem and solved me a pot! Thanks!
Will be making this this weekend. Thanks, Beth! Looks delicious!!
I just wanted to let you know, I think someone has hacked your RSS feed. I follow you via bloglovin and it always starts to load your page halfway and then it gets forwarded to like a spammy landing page site. Hope you can get it fixed!
Wow!! Thank you for that head’s up. I use bloglovin, so I’ll go check that out ASAP. :(
Crap, I was unable to replicate the problem. :( I tried clicking on multiple posts through Bloglovin on both my phone and desktop, but it always loaded fine. I guess I’ll make sure to always click new posts to see if it ever happens. If you have any more details, I’d love to hear them! I hope I can figure it out. :/
I follow via RSS as well, and haven’t seen any issues. I use the ‘feeder’ plugin in Chrome, not Bloglovin.
I have the same problem in Bloglovin. Your page starts to load and then I get taken to some site with a photo of a house. It just started last week. I can try to get a screencap next time it happens and send it if that would help.
Yes, please! That would be fantastic. You can email it to budgetbytes@gmail.com. I really appreciate it!
Ahhh everything you make always looks so amazing! Are you looking for a roommate? Please? Lol
Looks delicious! Can’t wait to try this recipe