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. :)
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.
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