This One Pot Greek Chicken Orzo is a perfect midweek meal. It’s quick, delicious and loaded with Greek flavors. Less stress, more flavor!
I feel like I haven’t shared a recipe with you in ages, and really it has only been a few days, but it felt good to be back in my kitchen today, cooking up one of my favorite type of meals, a one pot dish. Today’s recipe is my version of a one pot Greek chicken orzo, which I think is the perfect midweek meal. It’s quick, simple, no stress, and before you know it, dinner is served.
Orzo is perfect for these types of quick meals because it really does cook pretty fast, we’re talking 10 minutes or less. Orzo is really quite versatile and it’s great in soups, dishes like this Greek chicken orzo and believe it or not, it’s great in salads.
For this dish, I decided to crisp up the chicken a bit first by dredging it through some flour that’s been combined with smoked paprika and garlic powder, then lightly searing it in a pan with a bit of olive oil. You don’t have to worry about cooking the chicken completely because we will cook it again with the orzo, but you do want to make sure you get a nice crisp on the outside. In the same pan you continue to cook the orzo in white wine and chicken broth with some onion, garlic and lots of herbs such as oregano and thyme, and for some heat I added a bit of red pepper flakes.
To really get those Greek flavors I finished the dish with some pitted Kalamata olives, some crumbled feta cheese, fresh parsley and some lemon wedges. The great thing about a dish like this is that you could add some veggies if you wanted to. Some zucchini and cherry tomatoes would probably be perfect here.
I hope you give this dish a try, it’s really delicious, Greek flavors and best of all it’s in one pot!
Check out the video!
If you guys love this recipe, and most importantly make it yourselves, please let us know. Take a picture and tag it #jocooks on Instagram so we can see it. I always love to see what you guys come up with!
This One Pot Greek Chicken Orzo is a perfect midweek meal. It's quick, delicious and loaded with Greek flavors. Less stress, more flavor!
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- salt and pepper to taste
- 8 chicken thighs boneless and skinless
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tbsp dried oregano
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme chopped
- 1 1/2 cups orzo
- 1 cup white wine
- 2 cups chicken broth low sodium
- 3/4 cup kalamata olives pitted
- 1/4 cup feta cheese crumbled
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley chopped
- 1/2 lemon cut into wedges
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In a medium sized bowl whisk together the flour, smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
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Dredge the chicken thighs through the flour mixture.
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In a large skillet, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken thighs and cook for about 4 minutes per side or until crispy. Don't worry if the chicken isn't cooked through completely. We'll continue cooking it later. Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside.
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In the same skillet, add the remaining tbsp of olive oil. Add the onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, oregano, thyme and stir. Cook for about 1 minute, just until the garlic gets aromatic and the onion begins to soften a bit. At this point you can season with a bit of salt and pepper.
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Add the orzo to the skillet, pour in the wine, chicken broth and stir. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a medium. Add the chicken back to the skillet, cover with a lid and cook for about 10 minutes or until the orzo is cooked through.
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Garnish with kalamata olives, feta cheese, parsley and lemon wedges.
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Serve while warm.
The skillet I used is a 14 inch paella pan, you can find it here.
Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container in for 3 to 5 days.
Freeze in an airtight container for 1 to 2 months.
Please note that nutritional information can vary greatly based on products used.
More delicious recipes from my kitchen
One Pot Spicy Pork Ragu with Orzo
Creamy Chicken, Orzo and Sun Dried Tomato Skillet Dinner
HI Jo, I was thinking of adding fresh spinach. I love it with orzo & lemon. Thoughts?
That’s a great idea, spinach would be great here!
Hi Jo! We are not a fan of chicken thighs so can we use chicken breasts instead and how many pounds since this only calls for 8 thighs and does not state pounds. Thanks.
It’s about 1 1/2 lbs, so I’d go with about same for breasts, you might want to cut them in half to cook them faster.
Hey Joanna , what do u think of using rice instead of orzo ? Also is white cooking wine okay?
Rice should be just fine. White cooking wine is ok, but I always recommend cooking with the wine you drink, it will just taste better.
I started making this several months ago, and its in our regular dinner rotation. This is the recipe that has made me a true believer in cooking with chicken thighs. And smoked paprika has become a very important part of my life. Delicious and EXCELLENT for leftovers (you can’t say that about everything.) Love!
That’s great Allison, thanks for posting your comments. We like the smoked paprika too as it adds such a nice flavor to the dishes. So great to have you as part of our Jo Cooks community.
Is there a substitute for wine in this recipe? It looks delicious, but i don’t cook with alcoholic beverages.
You could skip the wine and don’t really need to substitute anything. You could use chicken stock if you would like which would also work.
This was a hit! My husband asked me to put this in frequent rotation. 🙂
Made this today, and we love it! Definitely a keeper.
So glad to hear it, Connie!
Made this last night,it was so good! I had all ingredients on hand except fresh thyme,so used dry.we both agreed it was best recipe ever,so simple and flavorful!!Having rest tonight with salad,so thanks for another great recipe.
That’s great Linda, so glad you liked it! Dry thyme is fine too, I would have used fresh oregano but I didn’t have any, so that’s why I used dry. 🙂
Recipe looks wonderful but….What kind of wine? I see white wine but that doesn’t help those of us who don’t like to drink wine but do like to cook with it. I know next to nothing about wine. I drink cocktails but have never found a wine I like to drink, except dessert wines and I’m thinking they would not be what you used here.
Thanks
Donna
We used a white blend, a mix between a chardonnay and a pinot grigio, but it doesn’t really matter, whatever white wine you can find should work.
Thanks for the response. I will pass this on to my husband. He does all the cooking but he travels so before he leaves he makes something with leftovers for me and this looks like just the ticket
Thanks
Donna
Yum! This is just beautiful and looks delish