Weeknight dinner doldrums? This Greek-inspired Lemon Chicken will snap you out of it. We’ve paired garlicky, lemony chicken with salty, herbaceous orzo to wake up your palate and get you through the week. This dish is easy enough for a weeknight but also elegant enough for weekend entertaining. And, as always, we use every possible bit of our ingredients, right down to the garlic paper and feta water. Waste not one scrap!
Satisfy your sweet tooth with this easy-to-make recipe for Lemon Chicken with Feta Orzo.
1. Info for Lemon Chicken with Feta Orzo
- Cook Time: 15 min
- Total Time: 15 min
- Servings: 4
- Calories: 546.87 kcal
2. Ingredients for Lemon Chicken with Feta Orzo
- 1 cup orzo
- 7 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- ¼ oz. feta cheese (save the feta water, about ½ cup)
- feta water
- 7 cloves garlic
- 2 teaspoons Aleppo chili powder
- 2 tablespoons dried dill
- 1 lemon
- ¼ cup white wine
- salt (staples)
- pepper (staples)
- olive oil (staples)
- 3 tablespoons butter (staples)
3. Directions:
- Equipment: large pan for chicken, small pot for orzo, grater, strainer
- In your small pot, add water and season heavily with salt. Once the water is boiling, add the orzo to the pot.
- Place your large pan over high heat. Grab your chicken thighs and season both sides generously with salt and pepper. Drizzle the pan with olive oil and add 1 tablespoon of butter. Add the chicken thighs to the hot pan.
- Smash your garlic, breaking apart the cloves but leaving the paper on, set aside. Zest your lemon, always rotating the lemon to a new spot that’s not white. Cut your lemon into wedges and set aside.
- Check the underside of the chicken thighs, they should be browned nicely after having cooked for about 6 minutes. Flip the thighs to brown the other side. Add the smashed garlic to the pan. Now squeeze your lemon wedges all over the chicken and toss the wedges into the pan. Add your lemon zest, white wine, and feta water to the pan.
- Grab a bowl for your orzo. To the bowl, add well-crumbled feta, a drizzle of olive oil, Aleppo chili powder, dried dill, and mix well. Strain the orzo through a strainer and add to the bowl. Toss to combine and salt and pepper to taste.
- Back over to the chicken thighs. Tilt your pan and, using a spoon, baste the chicken with its sauce. Take the pan off the heat and crumble in 2 tablespoons of butter to finish the sauce.
- To serve, plate a pile of orzo. Add several chicken thighs on top, add lemon wedges, add garlic cloves (that have released from their paper), and spoon your sauce over the entire dish.