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
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 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.