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!!!
Tried this tonight with chicken breasts and even had to swap out the oregano because I didn’t realize I ran out. It was still delicious though. 2 thumbs up. I didn’t clean out the pan after cooking the chicken and before the rice though. Since I wasn’t using skin on there wasn’t too much fat and I would never scrape the bits off the bottom of the pan. That is where all the flavor it, it’s the fond.
Glad you enjoyed it Jennifer! Thanks for letting me know! N x
I made this tonite and while it was awesome tasting, why did everything in my pot turn brown? The rice is not the slightest bit white. Any ideas on what I did wrong?
Hi Christine! Glad you enjoyed the flavour!! 🙂 Did you follow the step to clean the pan before adding the rice ingredients?
this looks fabulous! One question – where do the slices of fried lemon come from? and when they are added?
Hi Nat! I just fried some up and plonked them on for decoration 🙂
This looks fabulous- I’m looking forward to trying it this weekend. I would love to add veggies to the pot. Any suggestions on what would work well to bake with the rice and chicken? Thank you!
Hi Hilary! I think diced zucchini would be fab in this – and very Greek!!! 🙂
Thanks for the great one-pot meal. I’ve been addicted to Greek lately and this totally hit the spot. It has been added to the “keeper” file!
YEE HAA!!! SO GLAD you enjoyed it Becca!!! 🙂
I would like to substitute cauliflower for the rice. Any suggestions?
Hi Jessi! I’m sorry, I haven’t made this with cauliflower rice 🙂
Hi!
My husband only likes chicken breasts can I use them instead ? If so, do I need to cook it longer and will that ruin the rice? Thanks for any info I’m eager to try this recipe it looks delicious!
Hi Amy! I’d put the chicken breast in after after 10 or 15 minutes, otherwise the breasts will overcook and be dry. Hope you enjoy it!
Absolutely SENSATIONAL! I loved it, hubby loved it and dispite major misgivings Miss extremely-fussy-doesn’t-eat-anything and Mr less-fussy-but-follows-his-sister’s-lead (6+3)ate and ENJOYED it. Mr 3 even had seconds. So quick, so tasty, so grateful! Thank you!
So glad you loved it Ali!! Especially 2 x fussy eaters!!! N x
I made this tonight, and it was a hit! We all loved it! My hubby is requesting a huge pan of just the rice for himself next time (and he says he’s not sharing! lol) Thank you for the great recipe! Definitely saving this one!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this Nina!! Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and let me know. 🙂 And HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Made this today for a late lunch, early dinner (?!) and it was a hit! Will be added to my favourite meal rotation. Thanks!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! And I really appreciate that you took the time to come back and let me know! 🙂
WOW! I just made this and it turned out PERFECT. My husband loved it wants me to make it again tomorrow. I will definitely add this to my book of recipes. Thanks for sharing!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! And I really appreciate that you took the time to come back and let me know! 🙂
Sorry for the odd comment, I didn’t exactly make this recipe, but it was an awesome guide for what I did make. I had 2 beautiful bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts and I so needed them to be delicious and NOT dry AND cook a one pot meal (I’m very needy). I took your recipe for Thai marinade and soaked the chicken, followed your instructions here for cooking it and used a mix of broth, marinade and coconut milk to cook the rice and added peas. Chicken was lovely and juicy and the whole dish was delicious. Thank you!
That’s not an odd comment, not need to apologise at ALL!!! I’m very glad that you use my recipe as a base for your own interpretation. 🙂 That’s what I do all the time!!
Just a question, if you use brown rice will you have to use more liquid?
Hi Bonita! Yes you will. Unfortunatey I haven’t tried it with brown rice yet so I don’t know the ratios. Sorry!
I never feel motivated to comment on recipes but I do now after making this. It was superb. Definitely in my rotation now. The whole family was very inpressed. Delicios. 5 stars are not enough
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Michael! Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and let me know! Very honoured especially because you don’t usually leave comments on recipes! N x
Could I use quinoa instead of rice? And what about orzo instead of rice? Sounds amazing!
Hi Sam! I’m sorry, I haven’t tested this with either of those. My concern is that the baking time and liquid ratio will be quite different!
I made this tonight and it was delicious. I didn’t wipe out the pan after browning the chicken and just cooked the onion in the juices and reduced the salt a bit, but otherwise made as written. I only marinated 20 mins, but I will do it longer next time. 2 thumbs up! I can’t wait to try more of your recipes.
I’m so glad you loved it Maire!!! Thank you for coming back to let me know!
Thank you so much for this recipe! My husband used to make a lemon chicken casserole. Last night I was making dinner solo for the kids and myself and I started to crave it. I couldn’t remember his recipe and found yours on pinterest. It was so yummy! I’ll be making it often. I’ve pinned it and am sharing this with my followers on Facebook!
Oooh, I hope you love it Crystal!
Just made this and it tasted delicious! The rice were definitely really good, but I was actually quite surprised at how well the chicken turned out too, with just a few simple ingredients. I used skinless, boneless chicken thighs because that’s what I had at hand, but it turned out amazing. I also kept the burnt bits 😛 I love me some garlic, fresh, burnt, however lol. One cup of rice actually seem little for my family of 4-5, esp if we want to go for seconds! Will double the recipe next time. I also passed the recipe along to my friends 🙂
Thank you Hiba! 🙂 I’m happy you were pleasantly surprised!!! N x
This is one of the tastiest things ive ever served on a plate! It was amazing-the only problem is i couldnt stop eating,lol I followed the directions to the letter(except i did keep those browned bits and it didnt taste a bit burnt. This is going to be a regular dish here-ty so much
Oooh, yay Dawn! Wow, what a compliment! I’m so glad you enjoyed it and thank you so much for taking the time to come back and let me know!
I’m sooooo making this for Sunday dinner! There’s a Greek Lemon Chicken recipe that I’ve made for years. It’s just chicken pieces sprinkled with garlic powder, oregano, onion powder and white pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and squeeze a wedged lemon over and bake. We love it but the juices go to waste. You’re a stone genius, girl!
Stone genius? Huh! What a compliment, thanks Jan! 😉 Hope you love it!