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!!!
Do you think you can make this with orzo pasta instead of the rice?
Absolutely! A few adjustments need to be made though. Cook the chicken almost all the way through on the stove (i.e. for 3 minutes longer). Reduce the water to 1/4 cup (because orzo doesn’t absorb as much liquid), use all the chicken broth per the recipe + Marinade liquid. The liquid should just cover the orzo. Bring it to a simmer on the stove, plonk the chicken on top then bake for around 15 minutes. The pasta will be saucier than the rice you see in the photo because orzo absorbs less liquid than rice. It’s really yum saucy!! Hope that helps!
Thank you!! I made it with the rice tonight it was delicious. I also added some baby kale and spinach. Next time I’m going to make it with the orzo.
I’M SO GLAD you enjoyed it!! You’ve made me curious about orzo, I’m going to make a one pot meal with orzo soon, thanks for the idea!! And yes, kale + spinach are fabulous additions. More nutrition! Thanks for coming back to share your feedback Kelly!
This looks killer! Love the one pot (pan) dishes and I am a BIG rice fan. This double dipping of stock and the chicken baked on top definitely adds flavor big time.
Oh and I really love the rustic table top. The boards and nails… love it. I live with a General Contractor so nothing gets old around here, he just builds a new one. I have a few boards nailed together as a prop table base outside. I am giving it the full weathered/reclaimed look.
Thanks Kevin! Actually, it is an old wooden box I trend upside down. 🙂 Tell that Contractor of yours to pick up some old wood to make a “new one” for you!
Oh yes, long time ago, it is a simple one pot easy chicken rice pilaf, ( just search for chicken rice pilaf 🙂 It’s meant to be a weekday fast meal to feed an army. But the flavors, oh my !!
Gorgeous dish, Nagi! I’m just crazy about the flavors. So nice for spring. And one pot meals are totally my salvation these days!
Thanks Allie! Me too, for midweek, definitely!
First of all, this dish got me drooling all over my keyboard. Nasty I know LOL. It actually reminds me of the chicken pilaf my mom used to make, and your friend is right, it is about the rice. Those flavors are all in the little grains. P.S. Love the shooting surface wood/table/plank/whatever looks great!
Oooh, have you shared your mum’s pilaf on your blog?? Popping over to find out!
It’s in the oven now,and smells great. I’ve added chopped coarse spinach and olives, to up our veg intake a bit.
Oooh, you will have had dinner by now! What did you think?? I hope you liked it!! Love the addition of spinach. I really should share a version loaded with veg so it’s truly a one pot complete meal!
Oh, man. You are really speaking to me with this recipe! I do a lot of Greek cooking at home and have been playing around with different rice pilafs, but I’ve never made a one pot chicken and rice with these flavors combined. This looks amazing!
Same! i.e. playing around with Pilafs! I really want to start trying some Indian ones, they have the BEST flavours! I adore biryani! 🙂
Nagi, that rice, along with the chicken looks phenomenal!!! Dude, seriously, you have a way with recipes and capturing food. . looks so damn good!
No better than you Alice! You’re food is AMAZING! Your family is so lucky 🙂
Nagi, you have such a talent!! If i lacked self-control, I’d make everything you posted and eat it all by myself. Seriously lady, everything you make looks and sounds amazing!! How are you not a celebrity chef by now? Chicken over rice is probably one of my favorite things to eat in the entire world. I think I’m calling this dinner for tonight. (:
Me? Celebrity chef? Oh, doubled over with laughter at the thought! I’m just an ordinary home cook! 🙂 But thank you for your kind words, you’re very sweet!
Nagi, this looks superb! I really think this dish is so full of flavors! Love the way you cooked the rice. So simple ant it is soaked with great flavor from the chicken. Definitely a must try recipe. 🙂
Btw, just thought about your SEO posts looking at the post. lol
Ha! Glad seeing my blog reminds you of keywords!!
I know you are familiar with this method of cooking rice, I’ve seen recipes on your blog using Chinese flavours. Which is FAB because I don’t know many Chinese rice pots and they are all fantastic! 🙂
Good Afternoon Nagi, I love Greek food and I would say this recipe certainly has the lovely flavours associated with Greece. I love lemon with chicken and I love the thought of a one pot meal…. saves so much on the washing up.
I am certainly going to be trying this recipe…. I am just about the print it.
Best Wishes
Daphne
Thank you Daphne! I’m so glad you approve 😉 I do sometimes worry what people might say if I call something a particular Cuisine but it isn’t 100% authentic! 🙂
This looks scrumptious…but how can I cut the sodium in half?
Hi Betty! Just use low salt chicken broth and use less salt when making it 🙂
Totally agree about getting more flavour from the chicken thighs than breasts. That makes so much sense that the rice is so flavourful… I can just imagine how much the stock would soak in. Another one to add to my list (our dinners are pretty much all courtesy of RecipeTin Eats at the moment!!
Funny that, you’re pretty much taking care of all my desserts! That ganache you just posted is gold. Absolute staple!
Hi Nagi, this dish looks absolutely mouthwatering! I adore Greek flavors so that is good enough for me 🙂 I can’t wait to add this to our dinner menu, one pot meals are my favorite!
Thank you Kelly! I adore Greek flavours too 🙂 hard to go wrong!
Hi Nagi
Recipe looks amazing, love lemon and chicken together. Myself and many of my friends have motorhomes and the oven’s are never as good as at home and I’m wondering if this dish can be cooked from start to finish on the stove top as many of your dishes can.
There is a whole world of caravan and motorhome owners out there looking for purely stove top recipes.
Hi Linda! I do have a recipe category called “Stovetop” under Cooking Style. Though there are a few things in there that are finished off in the oven, it might help with more ideas? This can definitely be cooked entirely on the stove! There are two options: a) Cook the chicken completely on the stove, set aside and cook the rice on the stove (reduce the liquid by 1/2 cup). To cook the rice, just follow the recipe directions up to the point just before putting it in the oven. Instead of doing that, put the lid on and cook on medium low until the liquid is absorbed. When the rice is almost ready, pop the chicken back in to warm up. This will yield a chicken with crispier skin than the second method. b) The 2nd method is to sear the chicken but not cook it through, then pop it on to of the rice to finish cooking while the rice cooks. This method is easier but you will lose the crispiness of the skin.
What I would suggest is using skinless, boneless thigh fillets instead, that way you don’t have to worry about the skin crispiness!
Many thanks Nagi, will definitely try it.
Love your blog and gorgeous clicks! Drooling!!!
Thanks so much Priya! 🙂
No surprise – I LOVE this dish – Nagi – the flavours, the one pot (pan) and that you just throw it in the oven! It’s WINNER!
THANKS Rachel! Always happy to hear the pro approves!! 🙂
This looks incredible Nagi, this is how my mom has been cooking chicken and rice forever and I know the flavors in the rice are the best. Looks good, hungry now! Thanks! 🙂
This looks awesome Nagi! Who cares if it’s not “Authentic”! The flavours sound awesome and I can’t wait to try it for dinner sometime!!
That’s my rule! If it’s YUM, it doesn’t matter whether it’s authentic or not!!
Hi Nagi! I’m planning on making this however using 2-3 cups of rice. Is it safe to just double the recipe or would you recommend other modifications?
Hi Rebecca! 2 cups of rice is definitely ok, just double the ingredients. But I haven’t tripled it! In theory it should be fine because 3 cups of rice cooked on the stove only takes 1 or 2 minutes more than making 1 cup. But I haven’t actually tried baking 3 cups of rice. 🙂
Ok great thank you! I have some massive rice lovers in my household :). Would the thighs also be substituted for drumsticks?
Oh yes! This will work great with drumsticks! And they will cook in the same time as the thighs so you don’t need to adjust the recipe at all. The only difference is that you won’t get as even browning on the shaft of the drumsticks because you can’t sear it. But other than that, it’s the same! (Oh, and you can use more drumsticks too. Around 1kg is perfect.)
Hi Nagi! Once again I think you are a mind reader! I went to the market today and picked up a big package of chicken thighs at a really good price and I was out of lemons so I picked up a bag of those too. Everything else I have! I don’t know which is the star, but the combo id dynamite! P.S. I’d gladly eat what you call “disasters”!
Thanks Dorothy!! Actually, that’s why I made this too! Lemons are unusually cheap at the moment so I picked up stacks and I wanted to make something using lots of lemon! And I had everything else too. 🙂 PS Oh know, you wouldn’t want my disasters….some are so bad, I can’t even give it to my dog!