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.
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.