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.
Very good! I didn’t have lemon pepper, so I seasoned with plain salt and ground black pepper. Added a little chopped spinach just for the last 2 minutes of simmer (trying to clean up the fridge),added a little bit more cook time for excess water.
Very tasty and easy to do. Pack it for lunch!
I have been a long time lurker of the site and have yet to make anything. I have been looking at this particular recipe for a month and finally decided to try it out last night. Y U M!!!!! This is hands down one of the best recipes I have ever tried from an online site! So easy to make and can easily substitute ingredients. I added onion to mine for a little extra flavour and it was incredible both fresh and as left overs. Will 100% make this a staple. 10009489282828/10
Could this recipe be adapted for the oven? I’ve seven people in the house, and no skillet big enough to double the recipe.
Hmm, it’s hard to say. I’d need to do quite a bit of experimenting to see if I could do it.
Came back to this recipe since I’m going to try it w/ chickpeas (went mostly vegetarian since I reviewed this using chicken back in 2015). But I like making large amounts of food and used to bake the chicken. I have a huge pot (not skillet) that I put the chicken in after baking it (see below). As long as you have a big pot, you could increase this even more.
-28 oz boneless skinless chicken thighs
-1 lb orzo
-chopped onion (added with the garlic)
I used 2 cups broth and added about 1.5 cups water (maybe just under) with a little salt for this amount of food. I also prefer to bake chicken because then I don’t have to watch it, so I generously rubbed the chicken with olive oil and spices and cooked at 425 for 20 minutes. Added the chicken to the pot before simmering. Cooked perfectly! Definitely will make again and am considering upping the ingredient amounts again!
I have everything on hand to make this tonight except parsley. Would dried parsley work? How much would you recommend? Thank you! My family loves your crispy tofu and garlic noodles!
I made this tonight for dinner and let me tell you this is by far my favorite recipe on this site! It is full of flavor and has so many great textures. I’ve never actually had orzo before but I loved it in this dish. Thank you for an awesome recipe!!
Another winner. (I’ve become obsessed with lemon pepper seasoning thanks to this site). I wanted to make 8 thighs instead of 4 so i browned them in batches and ended up finishing them in the oven and cooking the orzo separate in the browning pan. I also used whole wheat orzo with some baby spinach thrown in instead of parsley- worked great!
I had to sub a few things as I was running late.
Couldn’t find orzo, so I used Turkish bulgur. Worked perfect! No lemon pepper, so I just used pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice from those squirt bottles. Also great! I do always fear that the chicken will not be done so I fried it slightly longer. Everything turned out great and the feta really complements everything in the dish. I also added peas to it for extra veg.
Really liking how simple this one is. I added a few extras to make this a little more “Greek”. A little Dill, A little Cavender’s greek seasoning, fresh Spinach and some cherry Tomatoes sliced in half. It turned out wonderful! You just made a new fan. I’ll be checking out your recipes ;-) Great work, Beth!
Great recipe and instructions! I subbed the lemon pepper rub for real lemon zest and a touch of ground black pepper (as my wife does not deal well with a lot of pepper).
Definitely go with the bone in, skin on thighs.
I also subbed fresh parsley for dried parsley as I usually only cook for two…just as good.
Suggest using a pan that is not teflon coated as you want to take advantage of the chicken bits (Fond) left behind for your orzo reduction
Just made this for the second time. Even my picky husband likes it. This is now a regular in our dinner rotation. Thanks for a great recipe! (Picky husband leaves off the feta and uses mozzarella…more feta for ME!!)
Great recipe. For those concerned about the salt content, I made this tonight using Mrs. Dash salt-free lemon pepper seasoning. I didn’t use anywhere near the amount called for in the recipe, just sprinkled as much as I thought was right for the chicken, and then I sprinkled a bit of salt onto the chicken when I browned it. I also used boneless, skinless chicken thighs. With the 2.5 cups of chicken broth and feta cheese, it seemed plenty flavorful to us. My boyfriend and I liked it very much.
Delicious and soooo fast and easy!
what kind of chicken is best for this dish ” bone in or boneless” thank you.
I used bone-in, but you can also do this with boneless.
This recipe was very easy to assemble and looked and smelled delicious. I was worried about it being salty, so I used low-sodium chicken broth. I should have checked the ingredients on the jar of lemon pepper seasoning – salt was the main ingredient! (Darned store brand!) The chicken was tasty, but the pasta was overly salty to the point of being inedible. We were very disappointed! Next time, I’ll use lemon zest and ground black pepper…and a different kind of pasta so my family thinks it’s an entirely different dish!
Live and learn – the main ingredient of the lemon pepper seasoning that I bought was SALT! I love lemon pepper, so I used more than the recipe called for. Oh, my. Well…I ruined it this time around. I’ll know better next time! The recipe was easy to make. I hate cutting meat, so I love reopens where I don’t have to prep or trim. Definitely a keeper. My jar of lemon pepper isn’t!