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.
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.