Mediterranean Chicken and Orzo Bake
I was inspired by a recipe I saw for lemon and chicken baked with orzo on Everybody Likes Sandwiches that looked simple and delicious. I decided to add artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, tomatoes, and feta to make this dish extra special. It was fun & easy to make, smelled terrific while it baked, and tasted wonderful. My husband, my son, and I really loved it while my daughter said it was okay. Oh well – I can’t please everyone all of the time.
How to Make a Mediterranean Chicken and Orzo Bake
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Season the chicken thighs with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste. Add the chicken to the Dutch oven once it is HOT. Cook one side of the thigh for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the chicken thighs from the Dutch oven and place them onto a plate.
Add the onion, garlic, oregano, and orzo to the Dutch oven and cook, stirring constantly, for 1-2 minutes. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, and chicken broth. Place the chicken thighs and juices back into the Dutch oven along with the artichoke hearts, grape tomatoes, and kalamata olives. Sprinkle half of the fresh parsley on top.
Cover with a lid and place into the oven to bake for 20 minutes. Remove the lid and continue to bake for another 10 minutes or until the orzo has soaked up most of the liquid and the chicken is cooked through. Sprinkle with the feta cheese and remaining parsley then serve. Enjoy.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 5 Boneless and skinless chicken thighs
- Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste
- ½ sweet yellow onion sliced thinly
- 3 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 ½ cups of orzo
- Zest & juice of one lemon
- 3 cups of chicken broth
- Handful of frozen artichoke hearts thawed
- Handful of grape tomatoes
- Handful of kalamata olives
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley chopped
- 1-2 tbsp feta cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Season the chicken thighs with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste. Add the chicken to the Dutch oven once it is HOT. Cook one side of the thigh for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the chicken thighs from the Dutch oven and place them onto a plate.
- Add the onion, garlic, oregano, and orzo to the Dutch oven and cook, stirring constantly, for 1-2 minutes. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, and chicken broth. Place the chicken thighs and juices back into the Dutch oven along with the artichoke hearts, grape tomatoes, and kalamata olives. Sprinkle half of the fresh parsley on top.
- Cover with a lid and place into the oven to bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove the lid and continue to bake for another 10 minutes or until the orzo has soaked up most of the liquid and the chicken is cooked through. Sprinkle with the feta cheese and remaining parsley then serve. Enjoy.
Looks good! Reminds me of a dish I make called Nanas chicken. Yummy!
Mmmm, I love the flavors in here! I never get to eat enough Mediterranean stuff so I’m excited to try this.
This looks right up my alley!
Oh my gosh…I love everything about this dish, and especially that it is a one pot dish! My family will love this, but my children will pick out the olives. That’s ok, ’cause that just means more olives for me! 🙂
Loving the whole Mediterranean theme going on.
That looks and sounds wonderful!! I love those Mediterranean flavors… I just wish Chris would eat orzo!!!! 🙂
Looks delicious – I make something similar to this since I usually have all the ingredients on hand. Such a great ingredient combo!
LOVE these ingredients – this looks so delicious it’s diffinitely on my “to make” list.
Mary x
Looks delicious Pam. I’m a big fan of the Med flavors so I am sure I’ll really like this when we try it and one pot is an added bonus.
I really like orzo and all these ingredients pair up very well. Great job, thanks for sharing.
Sounds like a delicious mix. I love lemon with chicken.
Oh man, I was just telling my coworker how I needed a new orzo dish this morning, and this one looks divine. It has so many of my favorite things rolled into one entree!
sound and looks really delicious,great mediteranian chicken recipe !!
I love Greek food! It’s healthy and delicious!
Can’t please everyone all the time? What kind of attitude is that! Now get back in that kitchen and pray about your attitude, “Missy”! (sorry, Southern Baptist roots slipped out there, ha ha)
Braising like that is the best way to cook chicken thighs, IMO. It extracts the best out of their flavor and really lets you pack in other tastes too. And you nailed this one, love the flavors.
PS: Your frying pan rocks!
mmm, i just love greek flavors, this looks awesome!
Love these flavors together, and love that this is a one pot dish! Beautiful recipe!
What a great looking dish! love the ingredients.
Pam, this looks AMAZING. I was getting ready to cook it tomorrow night but noticed there isn’t an oven temperature listed? Or maybe I’m just not seeing it. Help! 🙂
So many of my favorite flavors all in one dish! I know we will love this recipe, Pam.
Found your blog yesterday via Pinterest and I don’t know how I hadn’t seen it before! Love it!!
This dish looks soooo yummy! Making it tonight! =)
Thanks for posting this. I’m always on the lookout for orzo recipes. I’m going to give it a try. Maybe even do a variation on a theme and do it without the chicken for my vegan daughter.
Hope you are Okay …. not like you to not post for so long …
While I admit that I made a couple of minor adaptations to suit my tastes, this one was a bit hit. I am making this for the second time in about three weeks, and that rarely happens in my kitchen! Thank you for sharing this recipe.
This was SO GOOD… thank you so much for the recipe!
doesn’t look as though anyone has done this since 2012, but we made i and just love it. Such a great melange of flavors and 1 pot to boot. Fabulous!
i meant 2014