This One Pot Chicken and Rice recipe combines all the flavor of Greek Salad with tender chicken and the most delicious rice. An easy one-pan recipe that is both hearty and healthy – FREE on Slimming World with minor tweaks.
Check out my Chinese Chicken and Rice recipe!
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I have just come back from a week in Greece and I want to hold on to the sunshine and amazing food for as long as I can!
This oven baked chicken and rice recipe uses the staple ingredients of Greek salad – tomatoes, onions, pepper, olives, feta and oregano – to create a flavor sensation.
What’s more, everything cooks in one pan cutting down on washing up. I call that a big win!
I have also added lemon juice and zest because EVERYTHING in Greece is either served with lemon wedges or liberally drizzled with lemon juice.
Ok, maybe not everything, but an awful lot of Greek dishes rely on the zesty fresh flavor of lemon to liven them up – just check out my Greek Lemon Potatoes!
Chicken and rice – Greek style!
A lot of Greek recipes are cooked together in a single pot – take my Lamb Giouvetsi and Oven Roasted Greek Chicken (Kotopoulo Sto Fourno).
This one is no exception and, like all simple recipes, it relies on quality ingredients – let’s take a look what you need to create the BEST Greek Chicken and Rice!
- Chicken Thighs: I have used skinless and boneless chicken thighs as I wanted to keep this recipe slimming friendly. You can absolutely use skin on and bone in chicken thighs if you prefer! Chicken breasts can also be used, but they won’t be as tender cooked in this way.
- Rice: I used long grain white rice for this recipe as it absorbs the flavors wonderfully without becoming sticky. You can also use white basmati rice if you like.
- Green Bell Pepper: Greek Salad usually comes with green pepper slices but the pepper used in Greece has a very mild taste. You can replace it with red or orange bell pepper if you are put off by green pepper (my kids won’t touch it but they love the red ones!).
- Olives: I used marinated pitted olives in this recipe. Any type of olives will work, preferably Greek ones if you can find them. If you are not fond of olives you can simply leave them out!
- Onions and Garlic
- Lemon juice and zest
- Dried Oregano (if you can find Greek oregano it will make a big difference!), bay leaves and fresh parsley to garnish.
- Olive oil: Greek recipes use olive oil liberally – it is a staple of the Mediterranean diet. If you want to cut down on the oil in this dish, take a look at the slimming variation.
- Chicken Stock: I use Knorr Stockpots but you can use canned chicken broth, a stock cube or Bouillon powder.
- Feta cheese: A little crumbled feta cheese adds a tangy salty touch.
- Cherry tomatoes: use the sweetest tomatoes you can find!
HOW TO MAKE GREEK CHICKEN AND RICE
Full measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.
You will need a lidded casserole to make this chicken rice recipe. The chicken is marinated with lemon zest, olive oil, dried oregano, minced garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. You can marinate the chicken for a couple or hours or overnight if you have time but you can also use it straight away if you are short of time.
Heat the olive oil in a large casserole dish and sear the chicken for a few minutes per side over medium heat until coloured but not cooked through. Set aside.
Add the lemon juice to deglaze the pan, scraping any browned bits, and the olive oil. Sauté the onions, pepper and olives over low heat for about five minutes. Cover the pan but give the occasional stir until the onions have softened.
Add the rice and stir to coat in the oil and other ingredients. Pour in the stock and bring to a simmer. Add the bay leaves and chicken pieces (plus any marinade). Cover the pot and cook for 30-35 minutes in the oven.
Carefully remove the pot from the oven and preheat the grill (broiler) to high. Scatter and feta and tomatoes over the dish and drizzle with a little more olive oil if you like. You can also add a couple of lemon slices (more for appearance than taste!).
Place the pot (uncovered) fairly close to the grill and cook for 5 minutes or until the tomatoes start to burst and the cheese colour a little. Discard the bay leaves.
Taste and season (if needed), garnish with the chopped parsley and serve immediately with some crusty bread and a crisp white wine or a cold beer.
Make it Slimming Friendly
All the ingredients in this recipe are free or healthy extras (feta cheese) on the Slimming World plan apart from the olive oil and olives.
You can replace the olive oil with a low calorie cooking spray but you might need to add a bit of stock to avoid the chicken sticking to the pot (a non stick pan would be helpful also).
Instead of olives you could use some capers to add the same salty note or simply leave them out.
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One Pot Greek Chicken and Rice
Ingredients
CHICKEN AND MARINADE
- 5 chicken thighs , skinless and boneless (see notes)
- 4 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 lemon , zest only
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil (use low calorie cooking spray for slimming version)
RICE
- 1 ½ tbsp olive oil or low calorie cooking spray
- ½ lemon , juiced
- 2 onions , finely diced
- 1 green bell pepper , finely diced (replace with red if preferred)
- ⅔ cup (120g) marinated pitted olives , diced (optional)
- 1 cup (180g) long grain rice
- 2 cups (500 ml) chicken broth / stock
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 lemon slices (optional)
- 5 tbsp crumbled feta cheese
- ⅔ cup (115g) cherry tomatoes, halved
- Salt and pepper , to taste (if needed)
GARNISH
- Finely chopped parsley or oregano
- lemon wedges
Instructions
- Combine the chicken thighs with the marinade ingredients in a bowl set aside for 20 minutes or preferably overnight (in the fridge, covered).
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.
- Heat the olive oil in a large casserole dish and sear the chicken for a few minutes per side over medium heat until coloured but not cooked through. Set aside.
- Add the lemon juice to deglaze the pan, scraping any browned bits, and the olive oil. Sauté the onions, pepper and olives over low heat for about five minutes. Cover the pan but give the occasional stir until the onions have softened.
- Add the rice and stir to coat in the oil and other ingredients.
- Pour in the stock and bring to a simmer. Add the bay leaves and chicken pieces. Cover the pot and cook for 30-35 minutes in the oven. At this point the liquid should be absorbed and rice tender.
- Carefully remove the pot from the oven and preheat the grill (broiler) to high. Scatter and feta and tomatoes over the dish and drizzle with a little more olive oil if you like. You can also add a couple of lemon slices (more for appearance than taste!).
- Place the pot (uncovered) fairly close to the grill and cook for 5 minutes or until the tomatoes start to burst and feta cheese colour a little.
- Remove the bay leaves. Taste and season (if needed), garnish with the chopped parsley and serve immediately with a crisp white wine or a cold beer.
Video
Notes
Nutritional Info
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Nick says
Thanks for sharing, this looks a great recipe for a one pot dinner 🙂