Having a small kitchen I really enjoy a nice one-pan meal for the ease and convenience and this one-pan greek lemon chicken rice with roast garlic is my current favourite! You won’t believe how easy it is to make this meal and it’s just packed with flavour! It starts off by frying the chicken in a pan until the skin is nice and golden brown, crispy and good! Onions and garlic are then sautéed before adding the rice, broth and heads of garlic and throwing it in the oven to roast until the rice and chicken are both cooked! It’s really that simple!
The dish has Greek inspired flavours including garlic and lemon along with a healthy dose of oregano. I did not make this dish with the heads of roasted garlic but one day I was thinking that since I was roasting the chicken anyways, why not roast some garlic along with it? The heads of garlic can be placed in the pan along with the rice and chicken to roast along with them. Garlic takes a bit longer to roast than the chicken but that’s a-ok with me for the flavour that it adds! I was also pleasantly surprised by the fact that the extra roasting time allows for the rice to cook until it gets all nice and golden brown and crispy along the edges of the pan and that is so amazingly good! That added time certainly pays off and it require no extra effort!
What makes this amazing:
- It’s so easy to make.
- It’s one-pan.
- The chicken is fried in the pan until the skin in nice and crispy.
- The rice is toasted bringing out nutty flavours and aromas.
- The onions are cooked in the rendered fat from the chicken skin and the juices from the chicken drip into the rice as it roasts infusing the rice with even more chicken flavour.
- The browned bits of flavour stuck to the bottom of the pan after frying the chicken and sautéing the onions are picked up and added to the broth that the rice is cooked in when the pan is deglazed.
- The rice along the edges of the pan roast up nice and crispy.
- Roasted garlic!
If you are thinking ahead you can even marinate the chicken in a garlic, lemon and oregano marinade the night before to add even more flavour!
I like to serve this one-pan greek lemon-garlic chicken rice with crumbled feta, kalamata olives and chopped parsley.
One Pan Greek Lemon Chicken Rice with Roast Garlic
A super simple and flavourful one-pan Greek style roast chicken with roasted head of garlic and lemon!
ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 pound chicken (breasts, thighs, drumsticks, legs etc.)
- 1 onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 cup long grain rice
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 lemon, juice and zest
- 2 heads garlic, top 1/4 cut off
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
directions
- Heat the oil in a large oven safe pan (a cast iron skillet is nice) over medium-high heat, season the chicken with salt and pepper and cook in the pan until the chicken is golden brown, about 2-4 minutes per side, before setting aside.
- Add the onion to the pan and cook until tender and lightly golden brown, about 3-5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and rice to the pan and cook until fragrant, about a minute.
- Add the broth and deglaze the pan by scraping up the brown bits on the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon while the broth simmers.
- Mix in the oregano and the lemon, add the chicken and heads of garlic with the cut sides up and drizzle the oil on the garlic before covering the pan and roasting in a preheated 375F/190C oven until the rice is cooked and the garlic is a light golden brown and tender, about 30-45 minutes.
- Squeeze the garlic out of the heads and mix it into the rice serving the chicken on the lemon garlic rice.
Option: Marinate the chicken in 2 tablespoons olive oil, the juice and zest of one lemon, 2 cloves of minced garlic, 1 teaspoon oregano, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper for 30 minutes to overnight! Add the marinade to the pan along with the broth and rice for even more flavour!
Option: Add slices of lemon to the pan before roasting.
Option: Omit the heads of garlic and roast until the rice is cooked, about 20 minute to save some time.
Option: Serve with kalamata olives, crumbled feta and chopped parsley!
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Winner winner chicken dinner!
Oh my goodness- the flavors!! this looks exactly like something my family would love.
You said put the garlic in with the rice and then again with the chicken. Which is it.
You had the 4 CHOPPED cloves to the rice in step 3, and the 2 heads of garlic with ¼ of the head chopped off add with the chicken, lemon etc., in step 5. That’s why you need 4 cloves of garlic and 2 heads of garlic.
I would love to try this, but prefer brown rice. Could I partially cook the brown rice and then use it like to long grain rice?
Saw this in my inbox this afternoon and drove straight to the grocery store. I added a can of artichoke hearts and served over a bed of steamed spinach. Wonderful!!
This looks great, I have to try it tomorrow. And Judy, it's the chopped garlic with the rice and the two whole heads with the chicken.
This looks damn incredible! Delicious!
Looks amazing! Also curious about cooking time with brown rice instead?
Un délice que ce plat ! Merci pour ton partage.
sarvenaz
Has anyone tried this with chicken breast only?
I’ve made this twice and used brown rice, I just left it in the oven a bit longer. It was wonderful, defiantly a keeper.
Gail
Garlic is added in stages
#1 4 cloves of chopped garlic, and the rice, are added to the pan after browning onions (step 3 in the recipe)
#2 Two whole heads of garlic (skin on, tops sliced off) are nestled in with the chicken and rice. (step 5 in the recipe. When the chicken is done, plate the chicken. Squeeze the roasted whole garlic onto the rice and fluff.
I made this last night. Was amazing! Did boneless skinless chicken breasts because its what i had and I used brown rice and it cooked just fine. It actually was probably the best rice i have ever tasted. That could be a side dish just itself. The whole recipe is deff a keeper!
LUV YOUR RECIPES !
I made this last night for my fiance and I. It turned out great! My roasted garlic didn't get as nice and brown as the photos, but everything tasted delicious! The chicken cooked nice and evenly; it wasn't dry at all and very well seasoned. The directions are very clear and very easy to follow.
For reference I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts and make everything in a 10" cast-iron skillet. Thanks!
Gail & Jamie Gallant: Brown rice will work with the same times! Enjoy!
cbhourican: Chicken breasts work as well!
Lacey: I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Judy Goldin: The chopped garlic goes into the pan with the onions in step 3 and then the heads of garlic go in the pan on top of the rice and broth in step 5. Enjoy!
Wow, this looks so good. I am new working with cast iron – in Step 5 you say cover the pan before roasting. Do you use foil or do I need a special lid? Thanks!
Deb K: I have an oven safe lid for my cast iron pan and foil is a great alternative!
Hi Kevin,
Do you think I could make this in a Dutch oven?
Hi Kevin, do you think I could make this in a Dutch oven?
Devon T: A dutch oven is perfect! Enjoy!
Could I use Quinoa instead of rice? It cooks faster than rice, so I am afraid it will dry out before the chicken is done. Any suggestions?
I am marinating the chicken, ready to cook tomorrow x
I made this tonight, and it was an epic fail. The rice never cooked nor did it absorb any of the liquid, even after over an hour in the oven. The flavor was great, but the texture was crunchy and watery.
I LOVE this recipe and have made it multiple times. Delicious. The only challenge I've ever had is that sometimes my head of garlic doesn't soften enough in the allotted time. I'm thinking I need to use smaller garlic heads or something . . .
looks great I'm going to try this
Do you mean fresh oregano or dry? I take it that the rice cooks in the liquid in the oven. Sorry for the stupid questions.
I would love to make this but have a question. Even though you initially crisp the chicken skin, I can't imagine that it stays crisp after cooking covered for awhile. Any way to re-crisp?
Connie Hatch-Feir: You can broil briefly.
Judy Goldin: I usually use dried oregano but fresh would work. Enjoy!
This was wonderful! Thanks so much for all of your wonderful recipes. I got HUGE compliments on this. Plus I have leftovers that will make an incredible second meal! Thanks Kevin!!
Made it with bone in breasts. Good but not great. Next time I'd use theighs.
Dried oregano or fresh?
I usually use dried but you could use fresh.
I have made this dish at least 6 times,but I always screen shot the ingredients…. then when I come home I’m sad that I forgot the parsley, olives and feta. Please add them to the list so everyone else remembers. I figured it out by now….I hope! Love this dish!!!
I don’t know how I happened upon your website Kevin but it’s been a godsend. About 2 months ago I decided I needed to cook food that had more flavor because I was finishing dinner unsatisfied and eating too much. As our children are grown, I was too lazy to cook for just my husband and I. You changed all that with simple delicious recipes. Thank you so much!
My sisters, with whom I have shared your website, thank you too!
My husband and I and our two boys (7 and 8) absolutely LOVE this dinner! It is a fixture on our rotation. The flavors are truly amazing with such little effort. I use bone in, skin on chicken thighs and they come out so moist, juicy, and full of flavor. I’ve never tried adding the feta and olives. I love it just the way it is. Thank you for such an amazingly delicious recipe, Kevin!
This is one of the most amazing dishes ever! Even my super picky 5 year old loved it! I shared this recipe with all my friends as well! They need this in their life too! Thank you so much!
Can this be done purely on a stove top or over a campfire? We’re going camping and I would love to make something like this for dinner one of the nights.
Yes you can! Place a lid on it and cook at low until the rice is cooked and the garlic is a light golden brown and tender. Enjoy!
This was perfect as a winters day meal. I marinated the chicken as per recipe. Based on reviews, I roasted the garlic heads separately and used a cast-iron casserole pan. Everything cooked up wonderfully. The flavours really came through. It was a hit with the family.
one pound of chicken? I wouldn’t think that would be right.
Can I sub the rice for orzo?
Yes you can! Just substitute it one cup for one cup!
The rice was really tasty. I would prefer different seasonings on the chicken. I would make this again.
It’s a keeper! I made this tonight for dinner tonight, using boneless/skinless breasts. They were a little dry, but I think I can correct this. Marinated the chicken–not sure that’s necessary–so I was a little confused about whether to add MORE oregano and lemon when I added the chicken back in or to consider the marinade ingredients the only oregano and lemon needed. I didn’t add more than what was used in the marinade and think I made the right call. Regardless, the rice was very flavorful, and the recipe was super easy. But next time I’ll add more broth, artichoke hearts, and a generous helping of the kalamatas!