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!!!
Can you put lemon slices above the rice and then put the chicken above it before baking it in the oven? Adding frozen peas would add a bit of colour as well.
Does any know if this can be made in bulk? Say 15-20 serves. Can the chicken be fried first in an aluminium roasting pan and then transferred to the oven to cook with the remaining ingredients? I don’t have large dishes … so the alternative is to make several smaller batches. Any guidance would be much appreciated!
I’d do the chicken in smaller batches in a skillet, then assemble.and bake in your roaster.
Thank you Nagi. Prepped before work, happy family tonight with this meal 🙏🏻
Thanks for this recipe Nagi! I could eat the rice alone and be super happy! As usual your recipes do not disappoint!
For anyone cooking on the stove, I did option 2 from Note 5 (brown the chicken only), added 1/2 cup less liquid as Nagi suggested, and cooked on low heat for 30 minutes covered with lid on Dutch oven. That was the amount required to cook through the chicken and get all the liquid absorbed, when I checked at 25 min it was still a bit wet and chicken a touch underdone. Then I let it sit covered for another 10 minutes with the heat turned off just in case (because I’m terrified of undercooked chicken!). Hope that helps someone without an oven! Thanks Nagi for a beautiful recipe.
Hi Nagi! Gonna make this recipe for the umpteenth time but since I’m on a diet I’m gonna use a chicken breast myself while my wife and kids go with thighs.
Any advice how to adjust the cooking method? Should we sear and bake it basically the same timing? Thanks!
Absolutely delicious. I doubled it for the large family and added chopped kalamata olives, Greek feta and cherry tomatoes to serve along with lemon zest at the end (looked super!).. Second servings for everyone.
I bet that was gorgeous and colorful!! Enjoy, Jennifer!! N x
Delicious ,loved this! Any recommendations for adding vegetables to the dish?
This is one of my favourites! Such minimal effort for maximum reward.
Hi Nagi I have been a longtime. follower of your recipes. When cooking the chicken thighs in my oval cast iron enamel casserole dish (Woolies buy) the skin stuck to the bottom and the black bits were stuck to the bottom in that I had to soak the pot. I find these cast iron enamel pots stick and burn so easily. How can you avoid this? I had to pour out the flavour as it was too stuck on the bottom.
It is a big flavour pow in an easy meal!! N x
Love this recipe!! Just realized I only have brown basmati on hand and I know you don’t recommend it because of cooking time. Do you think I could par-cook the rice first? Or could that mess with the absorption of the marinade?
That will most likely change the outcome of the dish Stephanie! N x
Sign me up for the Nagi fan club. Another 5 star recipe. Tastes excellent and very easy to put together!
Thank you so much! This is the best dinner for the weekend.
Making this for the 10975236865 time, never fails to be a hit. Have also made with chicken wings, can confirm just as tasty!
You must REALLY like eating this one Kelli! N x
Nagi, Always tasty, realistic, quick and easy. Please stand for PM.
Ba ha ha ha!! Can you imagine?? Only if Dozer could be in my cabinet! N x
Hey Nagi, just love your blog, and now our children use it too. My wife and I cook a lot for my elderly mother. As she lives in rural Queensland the food we cook has to freeze and thaw well. Would you suggest this Greek chicken dish as a good choice. Thanks in advance.
Yes you can freeze this one after you cook it Peter! I hope your mum enjoys it! N x
That’s great to know!
Thanks you Nagi. It’s in the oven at this minute and the house smells divine😀
Absolutely amazing! Such a family friendly meal too! I added some grated zucchini in with the sautéing onions and it was delicious!
That’s a great idea for packing in some extra veggies Esther!! N x
I made this for my family and all loved it (myself included!)
I’ll need to up the server next time as the 4 serves weren’t big enough for seconds.
Awwwww thanks Elizabeth!! N x
Nagi, this was so delicious. My usually fussy 11 yo had finished his plate before all of us. Normally we have to sit and wait for him to finish his dinner. We all loved it and I can’t wait to indulge in the rest of the rice for lunch today.
Question though, if I make 1.5 times the recipe, will I need to adjust cooking times etc?
Thanks again for your amazing recipes. My boys (husband and child) always look forward to Nagi night (twice a week). xx
I don’t usually recommend scaling up one pot rice recipes as it can affect the timing and outcome but 1.5 times should be ok. Just check towards the end to see if the rice needs a few more minutes! N x
Great, will do. Had the left over rice again for lunch. So bloody good!
Hi Nagi,
This recipe was AMAZING! I kept to the recipe with some minor tweaks but will 100% make this again. I used 8 thighs. I didn’t have a deep enough skillet to start with, so I used a huge soup pot because I was concerned with the liquid boiling over in the oven. I used beef broth since it was all I had on hand and diluted it a bit. I put my oven at 425 to start then ended up increasing to 475 uncovered. About an hour in I then transferred everything into the skillet since there was too much liquid for the rice to cook it out, also the skin wasn’t browning. I then took out some of the liquid and put it on for another 30 mins then it was done. Took longer put it was worth waiting for. I also made a gravy with the liquid I took out because there was so much flavor. Thank you for the recipe!
I’m glad you liked it Amber! N x
Amazing! Had 8 thighs so I did 1 1/2 times the marinade. Perfect recipe as written. I did bone in skinless thighs & they were incredibly juicy. This was my 6th recipe from your website & have yet to be let down!