One Pot Greek Chicken and Rice is a quick weeknight meal with garlic, lemon, and super flavorful seasoned rice pilaf.
This One Pot Greek Chicken and Rice dish was the product of a mix of two recipes I love.
I’d been craving the dish and meant to pull out my rice cooker but I had literally no idea where my husband put it away (that drives me nuts by the way).
Want to make with Greek Chicken with white meat?
From a reader, Bryce, who made the recipe with boneless chicken breasts:
Just FYI for anyone in the future who was wondering if you could make this with boneless Chicken Breast–You absolutely can and it is deeeelicious! I followed the pan searing directions for the chicken but after removing them, I set them aside until 25 minutes into cooking the rice portion in the oven. After 25 minutes I added the chicken breast on top and continued cooking it for another 25 minutes. I made it for my neighbors in need, but also made it for us. We loved it and they did too! Thank you!
So I figured I would make a hybrid of the recipe with my Baked Chicken Brown Rice Vegetable Casserole, kind of like my Spanish Olives Chicken and Rice (One Pan!). So a quick series of adjustments and dinner was on the table in no time. Absolutely LOVED it.
With such an easy method, I plan on making a few different flavor variations of this recipe as we go into the fall season:
- One Pot Italian Chicken and Rice with tomato wedges, garlic, parmesan and basil.
- One Pot Teriyaki Chicken and Rice with snow peas and carrots.
- One Pot Jerk Chicken with Dirty Beans and Rice
Better Than Bouillon: I almost never buy boxes of broth because I keep the beef, chicken and vegetable version of this Better Than Bouillon.
Cast Iron Skillet: This is my most used pan in my kitchen, heavy, keeps heat well and gives the BEST sear ever.
Chef’s Knife: This knife is one of the three most used tools in my kitchen (tongs and my pig tail flipper are the other two). I love it, I’ve had it for almost 10 years and it is as sharp today as the day I got it. (left column, second from the top). Mind you I love it this much even though I have a ridiculously expense knife set as well.
One Pot Greek Chicken and Rice
Ingredients
- 4-6 chicken thighs , bone in and skin on
- Kosher salt and pepper , to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 yellow onion , diced
- 1 cups white rice , uncooked
- 1 tablespoon garlic , minced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 lemons , zested and juiced
- 2 cups chicken stock
- parsley , minced for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Heat the cast iron skillet on high heat.
- Season your chicken to taste with Kosher salt and black pepper.
Add the chicken, skin side down and cook until browned, 4-5 minutes.
Flip and cook an additional 3-4 minutes.
- Push the chicken to the side (or onto a plate).
- Add the olive oil to your cast iron skillet and heat on medium-high.
Add in the onions and start to cook for 3-4 minutes.
Once the onions are mostly melted add in the lemon zest and garlic cloves. Cook for 30 seconds while stirring.
Add in the uncooked rice and cook for a minute.
Pour in the chicken stock and lemon juice, add in the oregano and put the chicken back in skin side up.
Bake covered with foil for 45-50 minutes.
Serve with additional lemons on the side in case people want more lemon flavor.
I made this tonight and it was delicious! I followed the recommendations for chicken breasts and also did 1 & 3/4 cups chicken stock instead and the rice was perfect. Will make this again!
Made this last night. Did not care for it. Too lemony. Rice was mush.
I don’t get it, you’re cooking the rice for one minute, then what?
The rice cooks for one minute to help prevent it from sticking and getting gluey in the oven. It’s going to have plenty of broth and time in the oven to cook through. Congrats on the paternity leave and happy Thanksgiving!
Made this for dinner tonight. It was delicious. I used brown rice & added 1/2 cup more broth. The rice was very creamy & done just right. Will definitely make again.
can I make this in a Dutch oven?
Yes 🙂
Really good flavor, but the rice came out very soupy, despite following directions.
Definitely one of the most delicious dinner recipes I’ve ever made! I didn’t have any white rice on hand (I know, right?) so I used Basmati and it was SO amazing- such a great texture. I didn’t change the liquid volumes at all to accommodate the basmati, I made it exactly as written otherwise. Served with a Greek salad on the side and made for a fantastic Sunday dinner!
Made this recipe with no deviations. The flavor was fantastic. Like others commented, the rice was very creamy, which my fiancé enjoyed. I will try to make the rice a little more fluffy the next time I make this by doing the following- rinsing rice thoroughly to remove starches and decrease chicken stock by 1/2 cup.
Hi Sabrina,
I was wondering, can you use a regular pan for this dish, or does it have to be a cast iron skillet???
It sounds delicious and all your recipes I’ve tried to make have turned out amazing!
Thank you
You just need to use something that can be used on both the stovetop and in the oven if you want to only use one pot. Enjoy!
I WANT TO MAKE THIS WITH A HALF UNCOOKED CHICKEN
Great flavor and easy to make. I have made this for my family first then for a few guests we had for dinner. It was a major hit
This recipe for chicken is my all-time favorite!
I love the flavor in this recipe but my rice is gooey every time! Should I add less liquid or just add the rice to the chicken closer to end of cooking time?
Either would work.
Thanks for this awesome recipe, my husband and I really enjoyed it!! I’ve printed the recipe and I will be making it often…easy always on hand ingredients, simple technique with the bonus of only using one pot. I made a change by using the zest and juice of only one lemon and a heaping teaspoon of oregano. Used 4 chicken thighs and cooked it in my 10 inch cast iron skillet (I agree, they are the best). Thanks for the info about making it with chicken breast. Cheers, I’ll be trying your other one pot recipes very soon.
So glad you guys enjoyed it so much!
Each time I’ve made this recipe the skin on the chicken doesnt stay crispy after I cover it with foil and put it in the oven, and also my rice comes out a little soupy or sticky, it doesnt turn out fluffy and separated like it looks in the picture for this recipe.. I follow all the directions in the recipe I was wondering if you had any additional tips or could maybe tell me what I could be doing wrong?
Thank you!!
So sorry I missed this question! It sounds like you have too much liquid going on. This is usually from using frozen chicken or chicken pumped with a lot of saline.
My kids LOVE this!!!!! My youngest would eat this every night of the week if she could. We are making this right now (it literally just went into the oven) and she is standing at the oven door waiting for it to come out.
I love it when the kids are excited about a meal too!
Hey something is missing in these directions, there is nothing about the roasted lemon halves, even though the title/intro implies that this is part of the recipe. The actual recipe just calls for zest and juice. Please fix!
I should edit the intro, when I roasted the lemons it made the juice a bit bitter so I took the step out of the directions. Sorry for the confusion.
Thanks for the quick reply, Sabrina! That was helpful. Making the recipe now…
You’re welcome!
I made with brown rice. I made rice on stove with half chicken broth and water ratio for 40 min. Then added with chicken and put in oven for 30 min with rest of the chicken broth. Family loved it. My daughter asked me to send the link to her so she could do calorie. I used all skinless chicken boneless breast and one thigh and a leg piece.