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!!!
HI Nagi, I can only use Brown Rice so would this need more cooking time as I know brown cooks slower then white rice, can’t wait to try this as sounds wonderful , hugs to beautiful Dozer . ??? kris
Hi Kristine, I’m sorry to say I haven’t tried this with brown rice, it will need longer to cook and more liquid I think 🙂 I keep meaning to try this with brown rice!!
Thanks Nagi I will give it a try x
This was so delicious I would love to make it for a party. Any tips on making this in a big batch? I thought about transferring to a baking dish then putting into the oven but the thought of pouring simmering rice into a baking dish scares me.
Hi Allison! That’s the only way I can think of to make a bigger batch 🙂 I would suggest getting someone to help!
It’s ok to use the marinade that raw chicken was in? I’m assuming the simmering cooks the bad stuff away? Thanks and sorry for the silly question.
No worries Jinger! Yes, it all cooks away while it bakes 🙂
H Nagi, So good. So easy. I googled “marinades for chicken thighs” and this popped up. It was EASY and DELICIOUS. I freeze portioned left overs for lunch and it was great a second time three weeks later. I am looking forward to trying more of your recipes.
I’m so pleased to hear you enjoyed this Colleen, thanks so much for letting me know! N x
Glad to hear this freezes well!! Trying this tonight and will need to freeze the leftovers.
What veg would you serve with this?
How would I do this with boneless chicken breasts?
Hi Christine – please see note 1 in the recipe 🙂
If I double the recipe do I need to adjust the liquid or doubling the liquid would work?
Hi Lucille! Please double everything 🙂
Hello
This recipe looks fabulous, I want to make it for a large buffet party. (Staff appreciation day at a miggle school) Can the recipe be easily doubled? Tripled? Have you ever used chicken legs as well? Any other hints?
Thank you!
Hi Jeanine! I think it will work fine to double it, just tip the liquid into a large roasting tray, add rice chicken etc and bake per recipe – might take another 5 – 10 minutes for all the liquid to evaporate. I wouldn’t triple it – I think that will start mucking up the cook times too much and may result in soggy rice. Yes chicken legs works great too! Bit harder to brown evenly because of the shape but it works!
All the way from Austin, TX to you! Isn’t the Internet amazing, as is your site! I made this recipe tonight exactly as written, and it was SO delicious! My husband said to put it on the Repeat List. Great flavor and the chicken was so tender. Thank you, Nagi!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this Barbara, thanks so much for letting me know! N xx
Do you think you could use Quinta in place of the rice? Looks so good. Hoping to make tonight!
Sorry Melissa, I don’t know the liquid ratio for quinoa for this recipe 🙂
I posted a question which was nog poster in the commentaar sectiën. IT Saïd the comment meedeed moderamina. Me question jas nog been poster and has not been answered and I’m trying to cook this now. Does this posting even work?
Sorry…spell checker in iPad….
Hi Lisa! Yes I responded to it 🙂 The comment doesn’t show until I’ve approved it for first time commenters. After I approve the first one, all of them will appear straight away.
Thank you for confirming how it works!
Best,
Lisa
I saw this recipe this morning on Facebook and it looked so good that I went out to get the ingredients and I’m making it tonight!
I’m in the Netherlands and our chicken thigh is sold in packages of 3 pieces each so I bought two packages. It seemed wasteful to set aside the extra chicken thigh so I want to use 6 pieces (instead of 5). I added an extra tablespoon of lemon juice, zest from the extra lemon I used and one extra garlic clove so I would have enough marinade. I’m thinking that one extra piece of chicken should not mean I need to adjust the rest of the recipe? Or do you think I need to add a bit extra of the ingredients for the rice and if so, how much?
Thanks,
Lisa
Hi Lisa! I don’t think you need to adjust the rice, it’s not really worth the effort for one extra piece of chicken!
Hi Nagi,
Thank you so much! I made the rice just as the recipe called for, I only added 1/4 c more stock, (not because I thought it needed it) but because the stock I bought said that I could use it diluted or un-diluted. I used it un-diluted and I only had 1/4c left and since I didn’t know what to do with it I threw that in too. This recipe was perfect! Both my husband and I need to focus on eating more protein and so this recipe was perfect for us. I will be searching out more chicken/rice recipes like this on your site as I really liked the flavor of rice with the chicken cooked on top. Out of this world! Thank you! Really glad that I found your website.
Best,
Lisa
I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed this Lisa! Thanks for letting me know! N xx
What kind of pan are you using ?
Hi! I’m using a cast iron skillet 🙂
May I come live with you and your Mom?
Ha! You can go and live with my mum, she will probably be glad for the company! 😉 N xx
It is deceiving to pull a recipe that says 10 minutes prep time, only to realize dinner will be delayed at least 20 minutes due to marinating. Please consider modifying the preparation time. Thanks!
Hi Karen, I’m sorry you feel deceived. Unfortunately the recipe is input into a format that I can’t amend by adding a marinating time. Instead, I put it in BOLD in the intro in the hopes that people will not miss it. It says: MARINATING TIME: 20 minutes to overnight.
Can’t please everyone can you Nagi? Just in the middle of cooking this after marinating overnight. Smells delicious. I love all of your recipes??everyone’s a success.
❤️ Oooh! I hope you enjoy this Gill! N xx
This was amazing, another family favourite??
AWESOME!!!!
Thank you so much for the delicious recipe. I doubled it for my big family but I don’t think I needed to. It was delicious.
I’m happy to hear you enjoyed it, thanks for letting me know! I love this recipe too 🙂 N x
This recipe looks delicious! My question is can it be made in a Dutch oven pot using the same method?
Hi Michele! It sure can!
Excited to try to this! You think I can make it my instant pot?
Hi Sima! Unfortunately not because it doesn’t evaporate liquid like when roasting, and also the chicken will go slimy (I think) instead of browning nicely. Hope you do try it though, promise it’s worth making in the oven! N xx
Could this be made ahead as meal prep and still retain a great taste quality?
Hi Portia! This can be made ahead then reheated to serve, it is still really delicious, but as with most things, is best made fresh. I would reheat the chicken then pop it under the grill/broiler to recrisp the skin!
Nagi this is absolutely delicious! I’m not a great cook at all and this turned out great even for me!! Can’t wait to check out more of your recipes. This one was so easy and delicious 😀
That’s fantastic Tracy! So glad to hear you enjoyed this! N x