One Pot Greek Chicken Orzo

This One Pot Greek Chicken Orzo is a perfect midweek meal. It’s quick, delicious and loaded with Greek flavors. Less stress, more flavor!

This dish is one of my favorites when I’m in the mood for something a little different that packs tons of flavor and is completely satisfying. We cook down the tender orzo with white wine and chicken broth, crumble lots of salty feta, Kalmata olives, and perfectly crisp chicken. Did I mention it’s a one pot dish?

Orzo is perfect for these types of quick meals because it really does cook pretty fast, we’re talking about 6 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. It’s light, it’s chewy and it’s such a great base to soak up all our Mediterranean flavors.

Ingredients

Keep scrolling down to the recipe card for a list of FULL ingredient amounts and instructions or click the “Jump to Recipe” button at the top of the page!

• Dredge – We’re going to crispy up some chicken in a dredge made from: all purpose flour, smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
• Chicken – Thighs, boneless and skinless.
• Onion – We want something that cooks down well like white or yellow.
• Garlic – Use as much or little as you like.
• Spices – Red pepper flakes, dried oregano, and fresh chopped thyme. However, if dried is all you have on hand just keep in mind that 1 tablespoon fresh equals 1 teaspoon dried.
• Orzo – We want this small shaped pasta for our dish, but you could also substitute it with couscous.
• Liquids – White wine and low sodium chicken broth make up our liquid base.
• Olives – Pitted Kalmata olives studding our entire dish.
• Cheese – Feta cheese all crumbled up will help create a creamy base for our Orzo.
• Parsley – Fresh all chopped up to be sprinkled on liberally.
• Lemon – Cut into wedges to be squeezed over top as garnish.

How To Make One Pot Greek Chicken Orzo

1. Form the dredge: In a medium sized bowl whisk together the flour, smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Dredge the chicken thighs through the flour mixture.
2. Cook the thighs: 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.
3. Form the flavor base: 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.
4. Cook the orzo: 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, stirring occasionally.
5. Finish the dish: Garnish with kalamata olives, feta cheese, parsley and lemon wedges. Serve while warm.

Don’t Want To Use Wine?

You don’t have to use wine if you’d prefer not to! Chicken broth will substitute 1 for 1 just as easily.

Using Chicken Breast In Place Of Thigh

If you use chicken breasts, cut them in half first so that they cook through, otherwise cook it exactly as you would normally!

Other Additions

Another great thing about this recipe, besides it being, quick, one pot and delicious, is the fact that it’s quite versatile. Although I give you a basic recipe here, feel free to add what you’d like to bulk it up a bit!

Veggies

• Spinach
• Broccoli
• Asparagus
• Peas
• Mushrooms

Meat

This dish would taste amazing with a bit of bacon or pancetta.

Starches

You don’t just have just use orzo, you can use some other starches if you’d like! I’m just obsessed with orzo lately, because you know what, it only takes about 6 minutes to cook!

• Rice, long grain like Basmati to prevent stickiness
• Couscous
• Any small small shaped pasta

Leftovers

Fridge

Freezer

More Delicious Orzo Recipes To Try:

• One Pot Spicy Pork Ragu with Orzo
• One Pot Cheesy Taco Orzo
• Mediterranean Orzo Salad
• Lemon Orzo with Asparagus
• One Pot Greek Chicken Orzo
• Creamy Parmesan Orzo with Chicken and Asparagus
• Chicken Cacciatore

Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.

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4.67 from 71 votes

One Pot Greek Chicken Orzo

Prep 10 minutes

Cook 20 minutes

Total 30 minutes

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This One Pot Greek Chicken Orzo is a perfect midweek meal. It's quick, delicious and loaded with Greek flavors. Less stress, more flavor!

US CustomaryMetric

6

Ingredients

• ▢ ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ▢ 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• ▢ 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon pepper (or to taste)
• ▢ 8 chicken thighs (boneless and skinless)
• ▢ 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ▢ 1 large onion (chopped)
• ▢ 3 cloves garlic (minced)
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• ▢ ½ tablespoon dried oregano
• ▢ 1 tablespoon fresh thyme (chopped)
• ▢ 1½ cups orzo (dry)
• ▢ 1 cup white wine
• ▢ 2 cups chicken broth (low sodium)
• ▢ ¾ cup kalamata olives (pitted)
• ▢ ¼ cup feta cheese (crumbled)
• ▢ 2 tablespoons fresh parsley (chopped)
• ▢ ½ lemon (cut into wedges)

Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.

Instructions 

• In a medium sized bowl whisk together the flour, smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
• Dredge the chicken thighs through the flour mixture. 
• 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.
• 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.
• 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, stirring occasionally. 
• Garnish with kalamata olives, feta cheese, parsley and lemon wedges.
• Serve while warm.

Equipment

• 12-inch Cast Iron Skillet

Video

Notes

1. Use an extra cup of chicken broth if you don’t want to use wine.
2. If you use chicken breasts, cut them in half first so that they cook through.
3. You can use rice instead of orzo in this recipe.
4. The skillet I used is a 14 inch paella pan, you can find it here.
5. Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container in for 3 to 5 days. 
6. Freeze in an airtight container for 1 to 2 months.

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1servingCalories: 658kcal (33%)Carbohydrates: 45g (15%)Protein: 34g (68%)Fat: 35g (54%)Saturated Fat: 9g (56%)Cholesterol: 153mg (51%)Sodium: 675mg (29%)Potassium: 609mg (17%)Fiber: 4g (17%)Sugar: 3g (3%)Vitamin A: 972IU (19%)Vitamin C: 11mg (13%)Calcium: 93mg (9%)Iron: 3mg (17%)

© Author Joanna Cismaru

Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.