One-Pot Greek Lemon Orzo Chicken

Name: One-Pot Greek Lemon Orzo Chicken Recipe
Prep time: 1 h
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Greek
Ingredients: 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced; 4 cloves minced, garlic; Juice of 3 lemons, divided; 10 sprigs of Greek oregano, de-stemmed and chopped; ⅓ cup olive oil; Salt and pepper, to taste; ½ red onion, sliced; 1 red bell pepper, sliced; 2 cups orzo; 3 cups water, divided; Zest of one lemon; ⅓ cup Crumbled feta; 12 Kalamata olives, pitted and sliced in half; 12 cherry tomatoes, sliced

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Our Greek lemon orzo chicken recipe is such a tasty one pot recipe.

From the marinated chicken, to the risotto-style preparation of the orzo pasta, this is going to become one of your favorite chicken and orzo recipes!

Our Greek Chicken Marinade

This delicious recipe starts with our Greek lemon chicken marinade.

Bright lemon, aromatic garlic, and fresh Greek oregano adds flavor to the olive oil based marinade.

We even reached for a bottle of Greek olive oil that we brought back from Medusa, our favorite restaurant from when we visited breathtaking Milos, Greece last fall.

The Greek chicken marinade also acts as the sauce through the cooking process of this one pot chicken recipe.

What is Orzo?

While Orzo looks pretty similar to rice, orzo is actually a small-shaped pasta made of flour.

Orzo is commonly found in soups and in pasta salads.

Although orzo originated in Italy, you’ll find orzo present in many Mediterranean dishes.

Peppers and onions in a skillet with garlic and greek chicken marinade.

A Delicious One Pot Chicken Recipe

Hate dirty dishes? Yeah, us too.

This is one of our favorite one pot chicken recipes because it has a lot of flavorful elements but only dirtys up one pan.

For this one pot recipe, you’ll start by searing the chicken, then removing it and placing it in a bowl, then cook up your veggies, and add to the same reserved bowl.

Finally, add in your orzo and water into the same pan. Rather than just adding cooked, boiled orzo to your dish, you are going to cook your orzo similar to a risotto.

This helps to pick up all the flavors from the pan and develop more flavor into the orzo pasta.

Plus, you don’t have to worry about washing a big pasta pot afterward.

Talk about a win-win!

Pair this one pot recipe with a glass of Greek white wine (you’ll want to read about the interesting wine region of Santorini) and call it a date night!

Turn Leftovers into Greek Orzo Pasta Salad

If you’re lucky enough to have leftovers, our Greek lemon orzo skillet turns into an amazing cold pasta salad.

Just refrigerate your leftover meal, add additional olive oil, and enjoy it cold as a greek orzo pasta salad.

It’s perfect for tomorrow’s lunch, a side dish for your next dinner, or a great mid-day snack!

Greek Lemon Orzo Chicken Recipe

Serves: 6

Prep Time: 1 Hour

Cook Time: 20 Minutes

Marinade Recipe:

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced
4 cloves minced, garlic
Juice of 2 lemons
10 sprigs of Greek oregano, de-stemmed and chopped
⅓ cup olive oil
Salt and pepper

Dish recipe:

½ red onion, sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced
2 cups orzo
3 cups water, divided
Juice of 1 lemon
Zest of one lemon

Garnish:

⅓ cup Crumbled feta
12 Kalamata olives, pitted and sliced in half
12 cherry tomatoes, sliced
1 tbsp chopped Greek oregano, for garnish

Directions:

Cut your boneless skinless chicken breasts into strips, season with salt and pepper.
Mix together marinade, add the chicken and marinade for one hour.
After an hour, heat up a skillet to medium high heat and add chicken, marinade and all, to the skillet. Cook until done, turning halfway, about 5 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan, keeping the remaining liquid in the skillet.
Next add the sliced red peppers and onion and saute for 3 or so minutes.
Then, remove the pepper and onions from the pan and add to the reserved chicken, keeping any remaining marinade that may be remaining in the pan.
Turn down the heat to medium and add 2 cups of water, 2 cups of orzo pasta, salt and pepper to the skillet.
Stirring frequently, add additional water ¼ cup at a time as the pasta sucks up the water.
Continue stirring until the pasta is fully cooked, roughly 10-12 minutes total time.
Then, add additional salt and pepper, the juice of 1 lemon and the zest of one lemon.
Add the peppers, onions, and chicken to the skillet and mix, cooking for an additional minute to combine the ingredients.
Garnish the pan with sliced tomatoes, kalamata olives, oregano, crumbled feta, and additional lemon zest.