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One Skillet Lemon Butter Dijon Chicken and Orzo with Feta Sauce, the perfect winter dinner…quick, easy, colorful and delicious! Pan-seared dijon chicken with lemon butter, cooked together with orzo pasta for an all-in-one dinner. Go that extra step and serve drizzled with a delicious creamy feta sauce. A dinner that everyone at the table will love.
I think the day I got my first Staub skillet was the day I created the “one skillet” dinner. Not saying I invented the one skillet dinner by any means. Just that that I invented it for myself that day. It was many, many years ago. But ever since then I’ve made countless one skillet dinners in my Staub pan. It’s a method of cooking I fall back on weekly.
Throwing everything in the same skillet just makes sense. For one, you’re saving dishes by avoiding using multiple pans. But even more importantly, you’re creating a dish that’s full of flavor. When you cook everything together, the flavors are able to blend, making every element of the recipe delicious.
Of course, with this recipe I created one extra step with that feta sauce. But trust me, it’s worth it!
The process – cook the chicken
Season the chicken with Dijon, garlic, shallots, a bit of rosemary and some paprika. I like to sear the chicken to give it a nice crisped base. Then I toss it in a little butter, add some lemon slices, and let everything cook up along side the chicken. The butter browns and everything smells delicious.
Next, pull the chicken and lemon out out of the skillet, then add the orzo and broth. Stir in the kale…or you could also use spinach. Then slide the chicken into the orzo and throw the whole skillet into the oven to finish cooking.
Make the feta sauce
I couldn’t share this recipe without including a sauce. You all know how it goes around here, never enough sauce. Enter my feta sauce. It’s whipped feta cheese with a bit of yogurt, lemon, and if you have some fresh herbs on hand, toss those in too.
The salty feta creates an addicting sauce. Every spoonful is delicious, but it’s especially great over this dijon chicken.
It’s a real crowd pleaser, and comes out of the oven looking pretty and smells even more delicious. I threw some fresh dill on top for color and served the chicken and orzo right out of the skillet.
Perfect for easy weeknight dinners or even entertaining. It really brightens the table on a cold winter day!
Looking for other easy weeknight dinners? Here are some favorites.
Easy Greek Sheet Pan Chicken Souvlaki and Potatoes
Browned Garlic Butter Creamed Corn Cheese Ravioli
One Skillet Cheesy Broccoli Cheddar Orzo Bake
Lastly, if you make this One Skillet Lemon Butter Dijon Chicken and Orzo with Feta Sauce, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
One Skillet Lemon Butter Dijon Chicken and Orzo with Feta Sauce
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 683 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 small shallots, chopped
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 2 pounds boneless chicken breasts or thighs
- 3 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 lemon, sliced
- 1 1/2 cups orzo pasta
- 3 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 2 cups chopped kale
- chopped fresh dill, for serving
Feta Sauce
- 4-6 ounces feta cheese
- 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1 clove garlic, grated
- juice from 1 lemon
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
- 1. Preheat oven to 400° F. 2. In a bowl, mix 2 tablespoons olive oil, Dijon mustard, 3 cloves garlic, 1 shallot, rosemary, paprika, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Add the chicken and toss well to combine.3. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken. Sear on both sides until golden, 3-5 minutes. During the last 2 minutes of cooking, add the butter and lemon slices. Remove everything from the skillet.4. Add the orzo, 1 shallot, and 1 clove of garlic. Cook until the orzo is toasted, about 2 minutes. Add the broth, kale, and 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over high heat. Slide the chicken, lemon slices, and any juices left on the pan back into the skillet. Bake, uncovered for 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.5. Meanwhile, make the feta sauce. Combine the feta, yogurt, garlic, and lemon juice in a blender and blend until creamy. Stir in the paprika, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. If desired, thin with additional lemon juice.6. Serve the chicken and orzo topped with the feta sauce and dill.
Amazing. I am in awe at good it tasted. The sauce was delicious. I will definitely use with other chicken recipes. Thanks.
Hi Elizabeth,
Wonderful! I really appreciate you giving this recipe a try, I love to hear that it was enjoyed!! xTieghan
Another winner!! Followed the recipe exactly as written, but did add a bit more garlic. Prepped a lot of this in the morning, so the recipe came together quickly. I used thin sliced chicken breast and that worked out great. I would say the sauce is a must – super easy and really makes the dish!! Looking forward to the leftovers tonight!!
Hi Elaine,
Wonderful! I really appreciate you giving this recipe a try, I love to hear that it was enjoyed!! xTieghan
This was PHENOMENAL. Easy and insanely delicious.
We made some minor changes: 1) used only about a half of a lemon’s worth of juice in the feta sauce, as a whole lemon seemed like too much (but we had big lemons). 2) used an extra clove of garlic in both the skillet and the sauce, just because you can never have too much garlic. 3) we butterflied the chicken breasts since they were the thick Costco kind — will definitely do that again as it made them cook faster and made them extra flavorful. 4) threw in some chopped castelvetrano olives after pulling the skillet from the oven because we love olives. kalamata would be better but the castelvetrano were quite good.
Next time, I might cut back a teensy bit on the chicken broth — the liquid cooked down/absorbed into the orzo quite a bit in the oven, but it was still a tiny bit more soupy than I wanted it to be. May try 2.5 cups of broth next time.
Overall this was just so freakin’ good. Definitely adding to the rotation!
Hi Meghan,
Wonderful! I really appreciate you giving this recipe a try, I love to hear that it was enjoyed!! Thanks for sharing your notes and what worked well for you. xTieghan
I made this for my parents and they loved it! I used spinach instead of kale and worked perfectly, the tangy lemon flavour and feta sauce with chili flakes worked great together!
Hi Ciana,
Wonderful! I really appreciate you giving this recipe a try, I love to hear that it was enjoyed!! xTieghan
I made this last night and Oh.My.Gosh! It was amazing ?
I may have added a little more garlic than called for but I’m a garlic freak…
And the feta sauce! ? I had leftover sauce and put it on my eggs this morning. I will now have this sauce on hand in my fridge go forward to put on everything. Thank you so much for these recipes. I have loved every one I have made ?
Hi Melissa,
Wonderful! I really appreciate you giving this recipe a try, I love to hear that it was enjoyed!! xTieghan
Hello! This recipe looks amazing. I can’t seem to find any gluten-free orzo. Is there anything else I could substitute that would be gluten-free?
Banza rice has an orzo like consistency!
Oh that’s great to know Kristina! Thanks for sharing!
I also used Banza rice for this and you’d hardly be able to tell the difference from regular orzo!
Hi Erin,
Wonderful! I really appreciate you giving this recipe a try, I love to hear that it was enjoyed!! xTieghan
Hi Kiki,
Arborio rice would be great to use in place of the orzo! Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope it turns out amazing for you! xTieghan
What do you consider a serving here (grams or oz)?
Hi Cat,
I would say about 1/2 cup of orzo and 1-2 pieces of chicken depending how large they are. I hope this recipe turns out amazing for you, let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
I really loved this recipe! The orzo had a great flavor and the whole dish was just delicious and super simple!
Hi Leah,
Awesome!! Thanks a bunch for trying this recipe out, I love to hear that it was a winner! xTieghan
I had high hopes for this recipe, because I usually love everything from Half Baked Harvest! I’m a huge fan. I bought your latest cookbook and recommend your site all the time!
However, I feel like this particular dish had just too much going on. The flavors seemed to compete. I think it would have been better to saute the lemons in butter by themselves, then removed them. Keeping them in made it too lemony and also they got wilty in the oven.
Also, my family was not a big fan of the feta sauce. when prepped as the recipe said, it was too thick and chunky. So we thinned with both extra lemon juice and olive oil, but it still had a very acidic profile. Adding it just seemed to be yet another flavor to compete with all the others in this dish.
If it didn’t have the sauce, I’d have given an extra star. I think spinach instead of kale would have been better as well. So sorry.
Hi Keri,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try, so sorry to hear it was not enjoyed. xTieghan
Made tonight, so delicious!
Hi Sandi,
Awesome!! Thanks a bunch for trying this recipe out, I love to hear that it was a winner! xTieghan
Really great flavor and easy to make…will definitely make again!
Hi Mary,
Awesome!! Thanks a bunch for trying this recipe out, I love to hear that it was a winner! xTieghan
Loved it! I added cherry tomatoes with the spinach (vs kale). So delicious
Hi Deb,
Awesome!! Thanks a bunch for trying this recipe out, I love to hear that it was a winner! xTieghan
Loved this one skillet recipe. So much flavor and loved the whipped feta topping. This is going in my dinner rotation.
Hi Kim,
Awesome!! Thanks a bunch for trying this recipe out, I love to hear that it was a winner! xTieghan
When my 3, 5, and 7 year old kiddos eat every bite of a meal, it deserves 5 stars! The chicken marinade was delicious. The cooking time in the oven was spot on. Will be making this again!
Hi Brandie,
Awesome!! Thanks a bunch for trying this recipe out, I love to hear that it was a winner! xTieghan
Long time follower, first time cooking a recipe. Overall we liked it. Followed the recipe to a tee but used spinach instead of kale. Chicken flavor was very tasty. I may char the lemon separately next time as it was very soft and wilty. A tad too much lemon in the main dish. The feta sauce was delicious but again too much lemon so I added some honey to adjust the taste. I also threw in some Kalamazoo olives once done for added taste. Thanks- Debbie
Auto correct- kalamata olives
lol no worries!
Hi Debbie,
Awesome!! Thanks a bunch for trying this recipe out, I love to hear that it was a winner! xTieghan