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!
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!
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 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.