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Home Collections Quick Dinner Recipes

One Pot Baked Greek Chicken Orzo (Risoni)

By:Nagi
Published:18 Jan '16Updated:21 Mar '19
159 Comments
Recipe v

Loaded with yummy Greek flavours, and all made in ONE POT, this Baked Greek Orzo with Chicken is a fabulous midweek meal! And you can see for yourself how easy this is to make in this video!

A pot of baked Greek orzo with chicken

I’ve been wanting to share this for ages! I’m bursting at the seams with recipe ideas, and it takes considerable constraint not to post a recipe every single day. 🙂 

But for this one in particular, I wanted to wait until I had a handle on shooting cooking videos before I shared it. This method of starting a dish on the stove, the finishing it in the oven is a favourite of mine. I love coming up with twists on ways to make meals in one pot that don’t compromise on the recipe. Like my One Pan Rotisserie Chicken on Potato Gratin, One Pan Chicken with Creamy Garlic Parmesan Risotto and One Pot Greek Chicken with Lemon Rice which is one of the most popular recipes here on RecipeTin Eats.

So I waited. And waited. Until I was happy that my videos were decent enough to publish. 🙂 And here it is!

Love this for a fast meal during the week, it's so easy and everyone in the fam LOVES IT!

I call this Greek because it’s loaded with classic Greek flavours, with plenty of garlic, dried oregano and lemon. And tomato. 🙂 But it probably isn’t authentically Greek.

But it tastes Greek, that’s for sure!

Irrespective of name, I don’t think anyone (save for picky kids!) would be unhappy if a steaming plate of this was placed in front of them, hmmm???

A plate of baked Greek orzo with chicken

Other than the sheer convenience of being a one-pot meal, it’s also great because you can sub the veggies with whatever you’ve got on hand. And you can even make this meat-free by leaving out the chicken. And make it completely vegetarian by swapping out the chicken broth/stock with vegetable broth. Hands up who has veggos to cater to in their lives? Me, me, me!!

Here’s a nice close up for you. Check out all those yummy flavours going on! This is deceptively loaded with veggies. 2 zucchinis, an onion, capsicum/bell pepper and cherry tomatoes. And only one cup of orzo/risoni. Quite surprising how far 1 cup goes when filled out with veggies!

A plate of One Pot Greek Chicken Orzo (Risoni)

You know, come to think of it, you could even just used mixed frozen veggies for this and save yourself all the chopping. That would be perfect!

One pan. Yummy tomato sauce. Lots of veggies. Greek flavours.

Midweek meals made extra delicious! – Nagi x

PS The Ingredients list in the recipe below looks deceptively long. But actually, there are quite a few double ups because of the way I write the recipe. So don’t be put off! 😉

A pot of baked Greek orzo with chicken

More risoni / orzo recipes

  • One Pot Italian Chicken Orzo / Risoni Pasta – cosy, saucy one pot chicken and risoni dinner

  • Orzo / Risoni Bolognaise – one pot bolognese pasta dish!

  • Greek Lemon Orzo Salad – a bright fresh pasta salad loaded with Greek flavours

  • Creamy Salmon Risoni / Orzo (15 Minute Meal) – tastes like risotto, except MUCH faster to make!

  • Creamy Mushroom and Spinach Orzo (Risoni) (One Pot) – tastes like a creamy mushroom risotto

  • One Pot Creamy Chicken, Vegetable & Parmesan Orzo (Risoni) – creamy chicken and vegetable orzo, a quick 20 minute meal

  • Pea, Zucchini and Pesto Orzo / Risoni – a wonderful quick side dish

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A pot of baked Greek orzo with chicken

One Pot Chicken Risoni

Author: Nagi | RecipeTin Eats
Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 35 mins
Total: 50 mins
Dinner, One Pot
4.70 from 26 votes
Servings4 -5
Tap or hover to scale
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  • 187
A great one pan meal for midweek, loaded with vegetables and Greek flavours! The list of ingredients is looks long, but there's actually a lot of repeat ingredients. 🙂 Watch the video to see how simple this is to make!

Ingredients

Marinated Chicken

  • 1 lb / 500g chicken thighs , boneless skinless (or breast), cut into2cm / 4/5" pieces
  • 2 garlic cloves , minced
  • 1 tbsp dried oregano
  • 1 lemon - zest of the whole lemon and juice of HALF the lemon
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • Salt and pepper

Orzo/Risoni

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves , minced
  • 1 small onion , diced
  • 2 zucchinis , diced
  • 1 red bell pepper/capsicum , sliced
  • 1 tbsp dried oregano
  • 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
  • 14 oz / 400g canned crushed tomatoes
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 cup orzo/risoni
  • 1 punnet cherry tomatoes
  • Salt and pepper

Garnish (optional)

  • Crumbled feta cheese
  • Fresh oregano leaves

Instructions

  • Combine Marinated Chicken ingredients in a bowl and set aside for marinate for 20 minutes.
  • Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
  • Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large, deep skillet or dutch oven over high heat.
  • Cook chicken until lightly browned but still pink inside. Remove from skillet.
  • Turn heat down to medium high.
  • Add 1 tbsp olive oil, garlic and onion. Saute for 1 minute, then add zucchini and bell peppers/capsicum. Cook for 2 minutes.
  • Add oregano, chicken broth, canned tomato and tomato paste. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  • Mix, then add orzo / risoni. Mix, then top with chicken.
  • Bring to a simmer, scatter over cherry tomatoes then transfer to the oven.
  • Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until orzo/risoni is just cooked - tender but still firm. (Note 1)
  • Remove from oven, drizzle with juice of remaining 1/2 lemon. Garnish with feta and fresh oregano leaves, if desired, then serve.

Recipe Notes:

1. Risoni cooks very quickly! So transfer it to the oven as soon as it starts simmering on the stove, otherwise it will overcook by the time the bake time is finished (it cooks faster on the stove than the oven). Check it after 15 minutes see if the orzo / risoni is done. Don't worry if it's done and it's still quite saucy - that's a GOOD thing! 🙂 The liquid evaporates quite quickly while serving. It was slightly wetter when I took it out of the oven.
2. Nutrition assuming 5 servings.
One Pot Greek Chicken Orzo Nutrition
Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @RecipeTinEats.

 

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159 Comments

  1. Allyson says

    August 18, 2021 at 9:51 am

    4 stars
    Nagi I absolutely love your recipes. However, I found this one way too tomato-ee. I used Aylmer crushed tomatoes as your recipe suggested but when I looked at your video…the tomatoes looked more ‘diced’ or ‘stewed.’..did I use the wrong type?

    Reply
  2. Cristina says

    May 16, 2021 at 4:52 pm

    Hi Nagi!!

    Can I skip the orzo step and just serve with rice? P.s I’ve made so many of your recipes and i think you’re so talent!

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      May 17, 2021 at 10:59 am

      Hi Cristina, the liquid ratio and cook time would be different sorry – I’d need to test this. N x

      Reply
  3. Richelle says

    May 12, 2021 at 8:56 pm

    Hi Nagi (or anyone else who has cooked this!). Question – do you cover it while in the oven?

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      May 13, 2021 at 11:16 am

      No need to cover here Richelle! N x

      Reply
  4. Stella Gerlach says

    March 23, 2021 at 8:55 am

    Very easy to make, easily feeds 4-5. A great family meal.

    Reply
  5. Julian says

    March 17, 2021 at 10:17 pm

    Hey Nagi – for the one pot chicken rasoni when you say 2.5 ‘cups’ of chicken broth what is that in the UK please , also what does 1 ‘cup’ of orzo equate to in the UK – usually there as an imperial / metric conversion but not on all of your recipes

    Reply
    • John says

      August 30, 2021 at 11:58 pm

      A UK cup is 250ml, I find if you use 625ml chicken stock to 250ml orzo it comes out fine

      Reply
  6. Leanne Jury says

    January 20, 2021 at 5:23 pm

    Looking to give this a go, it looks amazing but would love to try rice so we can eat the left overs the next day. Am I right in assuming the rice would reheat better than the orzo? If so would I need to change any of the cool times or ingredient measures?

    Reply
  7. Alana Tompson says

    January 8, 2021 at 2:15 pm

    It was absolutely delicious as is every recipe of yours I try! You’re my go to website now when I need a new idea…
    Always guaranteed to be so yummy!
    Thank you!

    Reply
  8. Ysabel Palileo says

    March 19, 2020 at 4:29 am

    Hi Nagi!

    I’m thinking of cooking this for the family. So far I still have the other ingredients in stock. If I don’t have Risoni right now, what can be a substitute for this? Is there another kind of pasta I can use?

    Reply
  9. Gary says

    January 25, 2020 at 6:47 am

    after baking, what’s the texture of the zucchini? Is it crunchy or does it soften up?

    Reply
  10. Matt says

    January 20, 2020 at 12:53 pm

    I want to try this recipe. Question for you – what if instead of a can of crushed tomatoes I used a jar of tomato/pasta sauce? Do you believe that would be a good substitute?

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      January 20, 2020 at 2:45 pm

      Hi Matt, it will be ok as long as it’s pure tomatoes and doesn’t have any added sugar/salt etc – N x

      Reply
  11. Jeanne says

    January 14, 2020 at 1:05 pm

    This was very delicious. I will definitely make again. Hubby liked it too. Pretty easy but not for a weeknight after work.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      January 15, 2020 at 7:41 pm

      Yes definitely a great midweek meal – N x

      Reply
      • Sara says

        December 23, 2020 at 9:29 am

        Do you cook this with the lid?

        Reply
  12. Carol says

    November 28, 2019 at 9:57 am

    Hi Nagi, I am making this for my Father-in-law today. Is it ok to freeze? We love your recipes and my children are devoted fans too!

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      November 28, 2019 at 1:42 pm

      Hi Carol, I find that the orzo can become a little hard when frozen – if you thaw it, I would add a little liquid to it to help loosen it up 🙂

      Reply
  13. Natalie says

    September 28, 2019 at 7:25 pm

    5 stars
    This meal was amazing! So full of flavour! Thank-you so much for the recipe 🙂

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      September 30, 2019 at 9:38 am

      You’re so welcome Natalie ☺️

      Reply
  14. Bernie says

    September 17, 2019 at 7:48 am

    Yum I made this for dinner last night & everyone made absolute pigs of themselves finishing every last bit. Will be doubling up next time!

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      September 17, 2019 at 4:35 pm

      Wahoo, that’s great Bernie!!

      Reply
      • Love says

        December 30, 2019 at 8:33 am

        5 stars
        Love it! Followed the recipe except after the veggies finished sautéing, I added 2 spoons of a Greek dressing to it. Came out sooooo good. Quick, easy, totally customizable.

        Reply
  15. Elena says

    July 26, 2019 at 11:09 am

    5 stars
    This recipe made me so excited to cook and it turned out amazing! I used chicken breast and it was juicy. Next time I want to add mushrooms and spinach. It was a bit liquidy but if you let it sit for half an hour, the risoni continues to absorb. Loved the flavour combinations, especially the feta ontop gave it that extra saltiness. Also added some chilli. Love ! Next I’m cooking the middle eastern feast – cannot wait.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      July 27, 2019 at 6:08 pm

      Thanks so much for the feedback Emma, enjoy the Middle Eastern Feast!

      Reply
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I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative! Read More

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