I want to say the star of this dish is the chicken. But that would be lying. Because this, my friends, is all about the RICE! People have said this One Pot Greek Chicken and Lemon Rice is the best chicken and rice recipe they’ve ever had (their words not mine!). I hope you feel the same when you try it!
This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!
Chicken and rice – elevated!
What makes this lemon rice so special, you might ask? Well, it’s like cooking the rice in triple strength chicken stock because the chicken is cooked ON TOP of the rice. So it gets the full benefit of all the juices from the chicken seeping into it while it cooks. Add the fresh flavours of lemon and boom! You will knock the socks off anyone you serve this too!
Big promises I know….but I have third party validation of this. Someone who always tells me the truth about my dishes. Especially “inventions” which I often pass on because I know I’ll get truthful feedback. I do love my friends dearly, but honestly, not everything I make them can be “OMG, this is so delicious!!” (Seriously, I love my friends, love them to bits!)
So in this particular case, her family raved about the rice so I’m just passing on that message. 🙂 (PS She was quick to point out that the chicken was lovely too, she just said that the STAR of the dish was the rice! I’m totally cool with that! 🙂 )
This is not an authentic Greek Chicken recipe (as far as I know!) but it is made using classic Greek ingredients. It uses the same technique I use for my One Pot Mexican Chicken and Rice. There’s nothing tricky or ground breaking, it’s just about getting the liquid to rice ratio right. Rice baked in the oven requires a lot more water than when it’s cooked on the stove. And when you plop chicken on top of the rice, it drops liquid so you need to take that into account.
To make this Greek Chicken recipe in one pot (well, pan – why do I keep writing “pot”??!), the chicken is seared in the pan first, then the rice is added, the chicken placed back on top then it’s popped in the oven. The magic happens while it’s baking. As the chicken cooks, all the juices seep into the rice which are soaked up by the rice and add incredible flavour. INCREDIBLE flavour. It honestly is like triple strength chicken stock.
And now, if you’ll excuse me, I can’t hold back any longer. I need some lunch! – Nagi
More dinner in one pot!
Cheeseburger Casserole (Homemade Hamburger Helper)
Asian Beef and Ramen Noodles – made in one skillet in 15 minutes!
Browse all One Pot recipes
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
This recipe features in my debut cookbook Dinner. The book is mostly new recipes, but this is a reader favourite included by popular demand!
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One Pot Greek Chicken and Lemon Rice
Ingredients
Chicken and Marinade
- 5 chicken thighs, skin on, bone in (about 1 kg / 2 lb) (Note 1)
- 1 – 2 lemons, use the zest + 4 tbsp lemon juice (Note 7)
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 tsp salt
Rice
- 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil, separated
- 1 small onion, finely diced
- 1 cup (180g) long grain rice , uncooked (Note 6)
- 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) chicken broth / stock
- 3/4 cup (185 ml) water
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 3/4 tsp salt
- Black pepper
Garnish
- Finely chopped parsley or oregano (optional)
- Fresh lemon zest (highly recommended)
Instructions
- Combine the Chicken and Marinade ingredients in a ziplock bag and set aside for at least 20 minutes but preferably overnight.
To Cook
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F.
- Remove chicken from marinade, but reserve the Marinade.
- Heat 1/2 tbsp olive oil in a deep, heavy based skillet (Note 2) over medium high heat.
- Place the chicken in the skillet, skin side down, and cook until golden brown, then turn and cook the other side until golden brown. Remove the chicken and set aside.
- Pour off fat and wipe the pan with a scrunched up ball of paper towel (to remove black bits), then return to the stove.
- Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in the skillet over medium high heat. Add the onion and sauté for a few minutes until translucent. Then add the remaining Rice ingredients and reserved Marinade.
- Let the liquid come to a simmer and let it simmer for 30 seconds. Place the chicken on top then place a lid on the skillet (Note 3). Bake in the oven for 35 minutes. Then remove the lid and bake for a further 10 minutes, or until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender (so 45 minutes in total).
- Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving, garnished with parsley or oregano and fresh lemon zest, if desired.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
If you like this one pot Greek Chicken recipe, you may also enjoy my ONE POT BAKED GREEK CHICKEN ORZO (RISONI)!
And if you’re after another Greek Chicken recipe (because let’s face it, the Greeks know how to make GOOD CHICKEN!), I think you’ll enjoy my GREEK CHICKEN GYROS.
The yoghurt lemon marinade for this chicken is incredible!
LIFE OF DOZER
His chest hair bursting out of his sweater…. SO CUTE!!!
Hi. I am going to make this recipe looks amazing. But there are only 2 of use. Can I freeze excess marinated chicken before I cook it? Thanks
Recommend that the directions say “shake off marinating liquid before frying”. I didn’t do that and the thighs kind of stewed too much to get crispy
I added diced green pepper, but otherwise followed the directions. This was delicious. Thanks for sharing this!
Made this last night for an easy Friday night meal. And it was fabulous. My 14 yo said the rice was even tastier than the chicken. I did use skinless boneless thighs and her timing worked for that too. Cheap especially if you have some lemons and parsley to use up and if you used chicken drumsticks too.
I’ve made this recipe twice in 1 month. We love it! Such fresh whole food flavors. Will make again and again.
Delicious! I made this tonight, followed the recipe as is and my husband and I both thought it was wonderful. The rice was SO good and the chicken thighs cooked perfectly. This will be on my go-to list!
I have cooked this before but at that time, I scaled up the recipe for dinner and the next day’s lunch. Somehow the pan was too small. Anyway, today, I realised that I had diced up chicken thigh instead of chicken in bone (which I used to cook Thai Turmeric Chicken the other night). I used the chicken dice and it solved the problem of my pan being too small.
It was a very hot day today (39 degrees celsius). I didn’t want to use the oven to contribute to the heat in the house, so I cooked everything on the stove using method 2. It was yummy. I think that I’ll use the stove and diced chicken thigh next time. It was a good mistake. Haha. 🙂
This was AMAZING. I even more amazing, my super fussy, “I don’t like meat!” Kids gobbled it up! Thanks Nagi 🙂
I swear to dog I’m mentally competent, but my lemons turned out to be limes, and my chicken boneless. The chicken was slightly overcooked because I was in autopilot and put it all in at once. Was it delicious? Hell yes. Would 100% do it again.
I used brown jasmine rice with bone in chicken thighs. The chicken was excellent and cooked to perfection but I ended up overcooking the rice. I wanted the rice to be done when the chicken was done so I partially cooked the brown rice in my Instant Pot for 15 minutes before putting the rice and chicken in the oven for 35 minutes, covered. Next time, I will either use white rice or only precook the rice for 10 minutes. The meal was still really good but not perfect even though none of my guest complained! I was a bit hesitant to use 2 tbsp dried oregano but it turned out really good!
I am a tremendous fan of the SCALE RECIPE slider on your recipes. I notice that the lead measurements are scaled accurately but any measuerments attached the the end of a line of information are not scaled. For example, in this recipe both servings for 5 and servings for 8 say the thighs weigh about 1 kg / 2 lb so the scaling does not change for all measurements. My concern is not major but I do rely on all your instrucions in a recipe and sometmes I forget to adjust the second measuremnts in a line and I get myself in trouble. Thank you for listening to my issue.
Question on SCALE RECIPE serving slider
Delicious, I would simmer longer than 30 seconds as my rice didn’t completely cook.
Nagi, S0 sorry meant to change the 4 star review to 5 stars. Here you go!
Nagi, I’m giving you 5 stars before I make this recipe because it sounds amazing and I appreciate all your input on variations and information on how different kinds of rice will turn out. You take all the guesswork out and clarify everything!
So how long do you bake it for if you use boneless chicken? I read “20 minutes into baking time” but don’t understand.
Just made this (largely) with my rice cooker. Lemony rice in the cooking bowl, the seared chicken sat in a little steamer basket that fits inside the top of the rice cooker. Fall-apart tender afterwards, rice perfectly cooked. My wife asked me to make it again in the future. Thanks Nagi, love your work!
People, your Grandmas are rolling in their graves if they see you throw out chicken fat. After browning chicken, deglaze with a little acid like wine or vinegar so those “brown bits” (flavor bombs) are used. Then saute onions in the chicken fat. So amazing! Great recipe otherwise.
I was always under the impression that any marinade that chicken stays in should be thrown out after marinating.
You suggest using it.
Thanks for a response in advance
If the leftover marinade is going to be cooked in the oven, stovetop, etc, then it’s fine to use because the heat kills any bacteria. 🙂
This recipe is insane. The absolutely perfect dinner. I made it but didn’t marinate the chicken overnight and it still turned out full of flavour. Thanks so much!!
This is one of my husband’s favourite meals, so easy and tasty. Thank you!