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!
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
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!!!
Would the times/amounts, etc stay the same if I needed to double the amount of chicken?
Hi! Yes for the bake time but the chicken will need to be cooked in batches 🙂
Do you think it work with quinoa?
Sorry Tessa, not sure, I’m not as familiar with the liquid to quinoa / bake time 🙂
Total Nagi-a-thon in my house this week! Your honey sesame chicken was a hit on Monday, made this to rave reviews tonight (though I did use breast and now understand why it isn’t your first choice). I am planning to back up with gyoza tomorrow night which are so outrageously tasty and easy to make it is criminal! Thanks for the inspo Nagi!
You ROCK JJ! 🙂 I’m so glad you are enjoying my recipes, thank you! N x
Looking to make this soon (your pork carnitas is in my slow cooker as we speak!).
The image shows a cast iron. Is that what you used or would you not recommend that?
Hi James! I like using cast iron because it retains heat so well, but this will work in any heatproof skillet 🙂
Great! Because that’s what I wanted to use 🙂
Made it tonight and it was great! Didn’t get the dark skin like yours. I think i flipped it too early. I also ran out of oregano! But at least I had enough for the marinade.
So glad you liked it James, thanks so much for letting me know! N x
Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe! It’s great for midweek dinners but is so much better than the usual! It’s now my husband’s favourite dish! I’m looking forward to trying more of your recipes.
Thanks Natasha, so glad you enjoyed it! N x
Hello Nagi,
I made your recipe, it was so yummy, so wonderful!
Thanks a lot 🙂 Credit here: http://www.marlyzen.com/2016/10/poulet-la-grecque-et-son-riz-citronne.html
I’m so thrilled to hear that Marlyzen! Thank you for letting me know – N x
Easy to make and tasted amazing! Thanks a billion.
I’m so thrilled to hear that you enjoyed this MA! THANK YOU for letting me know! N x
LOVE LOVE LOVE! This is an awesome recipe with a very delicious ummm get in my tummy taste! We love it and all thanks to you miss Nagi!!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Jill! Thank you for letting me know! N x
Hi Nagi, I was just wondering whether any of the liquid measurements would have to change if you used brown rice instead of white long grain. So the liquid in the recipe is about 2 1/4 cups (at least that’s what i think it is, bad at maths haha – 1 1/2 cups stock + 3/4 cup water plus a little extra from the lemon juice) for 1 cup of rice. If I were to use the same amount of brown rice would anything need to change as I have heard that brown rice needs more liquid.
Hi Kate! Brown rice does vary quite a lot by brand I have found, when cooked in the oven. I would add an extra cup of water, keep a kettle with hot water handy and when the water has evaporated, check the rice. If it’s still undercooked, add more hot water. But you will probably need to take the chicken out because brown rice takes longer to cook than white. I am sure that someone made this with brown rice and loved it though, a few comments down. 🙂
This looks like a recipe I need to make! Question: Can I make it ahead? For instance on step 7, can I get all the things swirled around in the pan and then transfer to a covered baking dish, stick chicken on and stick it in the fridge ready to pop in the oven tomorrow night?
Hi Amy – I haven’t tried that I’m sorry! But to make ahead, this is what I would do: Make the whole thing then separate the chicken from the rice. Then pop the chicken in the oven to reheat and microwave the rice, then put it together again. 🙂
Your Greek chicken recipe is a favorite on my weeknight dinner list. And your creamy lemon chicken runs a close second. Thanks a bunch!
I know you love one-pot chicken recipes that are quick to make and delicious …. and thought you might want to investigate the Roasted Chicken Provencal recipe from the New York Times. Absolutely delicious … and, like many of your recipes, easy to make:
http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017327-roasted-chicken-provencal?em_pos=medium&emc=edit_ck_20160924&nl=cooking&nlid=75811946
Hey Mike! Thanks so much for the tip, I will give that a go!!! I love NYT 🙂 Never fails! N x
Just wanted to say that I made this tonight and it was fabulous! I don’t have a pan big enough so I used a casserole dish. I might have to just suck it up and buy a bigger pan because i need more room for more chicken! This was so good I already want to make it again! 🙂
I’m thrilled to hear you enjoyed this Joanne! Thanks for letting me know! N x
Hi Nagi. Wow. This recipe is phenomenal! Made it for dinner tonight, and my husband and I loved it. The flavors are amazing. I followed the recipe as written with the only exception of using Italian seasoning mix, as I was out of oregano. The chicken is so moist and delicious, and the rice is just ridiculously good. Will definitely be making this again. Can’t wait to make it for my son- he is in college. Thank you so much for the wonderful recipe! Look forward to trying more of your creations!
Woo hoo! I’m so glad you enjoyed this Cathy, thanks so much for letting me know! N x
I love a one pot meal! I included the recipe link in my blog’s Weekly Meal Plan. I hope a lot of my readers give it a try 🙂
Thank you Vanessa, I’m so honoured! 🙂 N x
i made this today for dinner at home and for my employer,so damn good,my new favourite.another NAGI–licious recipe,more recipe please thank you
Woo hoo! So glad you enjoyed it May, THANK YOU for letting me know! N x
Delicious!!! I used a 12in cast iron skillet, was able to fit 8 thighs, and I made 1 and 1/2 the amount of rice, everything just fit in the skillet. Only change I made was to deglaze the pan with some white wine, scraping up and keeping all the brown bits before adding onion, rice etc. Great recipe, this is a keeper!
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it Pat, thanks for letting me know! N x
Hi Nagi! Made a double batch of this in my extra large dutch and it was WONDERFUL! Just curious, has anyone used white wine instead of the water? I also TRIPLED the mushrooms which made the rice even more flavorful! I decided to only brown half of the the chicken with the skins on, due to the fat content the first time around. Thank you for such an awesome dish! My GO TO! ; )
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Jason, thank you for letting me know! I think using just white wine will be a bit too strong but you could deglaze the dutch oven with white wine, it would be delicious! N x
We are going to try and make this to serve 80+. So my question is can I cook the chicken and start the rice in the skillet and the transfer to a baking pan.
Thank you
Hi Melanie – 80?? WOW!! 🙂 I would make scaled up batches in large baking dishes 🙂 So follow the recipe up to the point where you are about to put it in the oven and transfer the liquid plus rice into a baking dish which has been preheated in the oven. That way I think you will be able to fit a double or even triple batch per large baking dish. Hope that helps!
Can you freeze this dish after cooking it?
I wouldn’t recommend it Cheryl, I think you will lose the fresh lemon flavour 🙂 It will freeze fine, no problems with it, just that the flavour won’t be as fresh. 🙂
Just curious if anyone else thought it was really heavy on oregano. I did double the rice So perhaps that is why? 2 Tbsps is a lot! My kids wouldn’t eat it and my husband didn’t enjoy it. I think it would have been delicious if I used far less. I did use chicken breasts. Marinated them and then grilled them. Added then 20.minutes in as suggested. Chicken was delicious! I will try this again but perhaps with a couple tsps of oregano instead. Thanks!
Hi Christine – sorry you thought the oregano was too strong for your taste, I can 100% honestly say no one else has messaged me with that feedback. Did you marinate the chicken? Marinating makes the flavour of the oregano in the marinade more mild which is why I add more into the rice. 🙂