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The easiest One Pan Lemon Pepper Yogurt Chicken and Rice. Trust me, this is going to become your new go-to chicken and rice dinner. Chicken breasts or thighs marinated with olive oil, garlic, yogurt, lemon, pepper, oregano, thyme, and paprika. All tossed together with dry basmati rice and broccoli. This juicy marinated chicken and rice is all made in one pan without even having to cook the rice separately. Simply mix, bake, eat, and enjoy! You’re going to LOVE this.
I couldn’t think of a better Monday night dinner. I can’t even begin to express to you how simple this is, but even more importantly, how delicious!
We all know the story. When I grew up our dinners consisted of beef tacos, pasta with red sauce, maybe a takeout pizza here and there, or on very special nights, BW3s. And then, of course, there was chicken and rice. So much chicken and rice. Aside from tacos, chicken and rice was the staple meal. And it was on rotation once, twice, sometimes even three nights a week.
We ate a lot of chicken and rice growing up. It was either mom’s Sunday roasted chicken with boxed rice pilaf, dad’s grilled chicken (and rice), or my brother’s favorite, potato chip chicken (and rice). Again, so much chicken and rice.
You’d think it would be a dinner that I would not want to repeat as an adult. Shockingly, I’ll revert back to our staple family meal once or twice a month. I guess it’s just my comfort food.
For the longest time, I tried to recreate the Monday night dinner my mom would often make. Roasted chicken (whole chicken or just tenders) with a boxed rice or roni-style mix. I’ve never come close, but then I made this – and this is it.
You need just one baking dish with the most minimal ingredients and almost zero prep time.
The secret to this recipe, and all the flavor, is actually the reason the recipe is so SIMPLE – cooking the rice and chicken slowly together. This creates the most flavorful, juicy, pull-apart, tender chicken, and the tastiest rice.
Sounds too good to be true, but this is one of those recipes that just works so wonderfully well.
Ingredients
- chicken thighs or breasts
- extra virgin olive oil
- plain Greek yogurt
- lemon zest
- garlic, chopped
- black pepper, using more to your taste
- dried oregano
- dried thyme
- paprika
- onion powder
- kosher salt and chili flakes
- dry basmati rice
- salted butter
- roughly chopped broccoli
Details
Start with the chicken. The greek yogurt marinade makes all the difference. Marinate it in olive oil and yogurt with lemon zest, pepper, and garlic. Then add dried oregano, thyme, paprika, and a nice helping of salt and chili flakes (if desired).
If time allows, you can marinate the chicken for 30 minutes or overnight. If you’re in a time crunch, just start cooking. I’ve now made this both ways and there’s not a huge difference.
Start off by grabbing a baking dish. Use something around the size of a 9×13-inch pan. Add the dry rice, I love to use basmati, and then add broccoli. Pour water overtop and then add a couple of salted pats of butter.
Place the chicken directly over the rice, then bake. I don’t even cover the pan or anything. This cooks up beautifully in just about 30 minutes. But the timing will depend on the size of your chicken and the size of your baking dish.
Top with any fresh herbs you enjoy most, then serve and enjoy.
As the chicken roasts, the juices drip down into the rice creating a REAL chicken-flavored rice situation. It’s so delicious!
And the chicken doesn’t dry out since it’s roasted over a bit of water. As the water cooks into the rice, the chicken slowly and beautifully roasts and gets perfectly crisp.
It’s honestly just the best. I might not go back to cooking chicken and rice any other way! Just add some 5 ingredient beer bread to really complete the Gerard family staple. A comfort meal at its best!
Looking for other easy chicken and rice dinners? Here are my favorites:
One Skillet Louisiana Style Chicken and Rice
Broccoli Cheddar Chicken and Rice Casserole
Cheesy Zucchini Chicken and Rice Bake
Slow Cooker Herbed Chicken and Rice Pilaf
Spicy Sesame Chicken and Ginger Rice
Lastly, if you make this One Pan Lemon Pepper Yogurt Chicken and Rice, 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!
Why do you soak chicken in yogurt and how long can I marinate chicken in yogurt?
Yogurt tenderizes chicken and gives it that juicy taste and tender texture. You can marinade chicken in yogurt for 20 minutes or up to 24 hours.
One Pan Lemon Pepper Yogurt Chicken and Rice
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 593 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 6 chicken thighs or breasts (skin on or off)
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 2-4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1- teaspoons black pepper, using more to your taste
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- kosher salt and chili flakes
- 1 3/4 cups dry basmati rice
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 2 cups roughly chopped broccoli
Instructions
- 1. In a bowl, toss together the chicken, olive oil, yogurt, lemon zest, garlic, pepper, oregano, thyme, paprika, onion powder, and a good pinch of salt and chili flakes (if desired). If time allows, marinate for 30 minutes or overnight.2. Preheat the oven to 400°. 3. Pour the rice and broccoli into a 9×13-inch baking dish. Pour over 2 cups of water. Add the butter. Arrange the chicken over the rice and broccoli. Add lemon wedges, if desired. Bake 30-40 minutes, until the rice is fluffy and the chicken is cooked through. If the rice is hard, add 1/3 cup water and cook for an additional 10 minutes. 4. Severe the chicken, rice, and broccoli topped with fresh basil and or thyme. And enjoy!
I felt the ingredients in this recipe would provide an abundance of flavor. I rinsed the rice, used chicken broth, added more butter. The recipe lacked salt and needed something to spike up the flavors. Perhaps onion or an additional spice.
Hi Debra,
Thanks so much for trying this dish and sharing your feedback, so sorry to hear it was not enjoyed! xx
Love to try new easy recipes. This one did not work for me. I rinsed the rice first and tasted hard and starchy. Chicken needed extra time in the microwave and spice combo was a bit strange for us. Others from the site are great but skip this one.
Hi Lisa,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback, so sorry to hear it was not enjoyed! xT
I usually rinse my rice very well. When I made this, though, the recipe ended up very watery. Should I have used less water since I rinsed the rice first? Maybe it didn’t soak up as much??
Hi there,
Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback! So sorry you had some issues with the rice, I never rinse my so that definitely could have been the culprit! xx
This was delicious! Loved every bite!
Hey Carley,
Thanks a lot for trying this recipe and your comment, so glad to hear it turned out well! Happy Saturday! Xx
Amazing flavor! I wonder if those who say it’s bland didn’t follow the recipe accurately? I did use broth instead of water but everything else was exact, including using thighs, basmati rice, 4 cloves of garlic, and lemons during baking.
I baked it for 40 minutes uncovered. It was perfect! The rice was crunchy from being baked around the edges and soft and fluffy everywhere else.
Husband and three kids raved about it. Will definitely add this to the rotation.
Hi Lesley,
Thanks so much for trying this dish and your feedback, so glad to hear that it turned out well for you! Xx
I love this recipe have made it many times it’s become a favourite! I cook it to the recipe but use chicken broth instead of water. So easy and yummy!
Love to hear this Yasmine!! Thanks for making this recipe so often:) I hope you have a great weekend! xT
So I ended up liking what I made based on the comments, but I agree that this is a weird recipe to keep up on the site as written. I doubled the spices, was careful to add multiple big pinches of salt, AND cooked the rice in broth instead of water, and it was STILL very mild. Can’t really imagine what the original is like unless your salt pinch is a fistful.
I also can’t imagine this coming out well with breasts instead of thighs, and I covered it for the first 25 minutes and then had it uncovered for another 30. I’m less positive on these, but would strongly recommend both for anyone wary.
Hi Betsy,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback. Sorry to hear this wasn’t a fave, I appreciate your notes! xx
I was disappointed in this dish. We covered it to help cook the rice. Recipe did not recommend that. The rice does not turn out fluffy despite adding more liquid and increasing the cook time.
Hi Leslie,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback, sorry to hear the rice did not turn out for you. What kind of rice did you use? Let me know how I can help! xT
I usually LOVE your recipes Tieghan! But unfortunately this one was not it for us 🙁 we tried chicken broth instead of water, even added a couple extra knobs of butter… but the flavor was bland and not a good type of lemon flavor we were hoping for. The rice did cook well when we covered for 40 minutes!
Hi Emily,
I appreciate you trying this dish and sharing your feedback, so sorry to hear it did not turn out for you! xx
Didn’t like this dish. The rice was tasteless (some uncooked pieces and I covered it) and I used chicken broth instead of water, the inside of the chicken was bland and the broccoli was crunchy. Not a fan.
Hi Diane! I’m really sorry you didn’t enjoy this recipe! I appreciate the feedback! xT
My sister and I have both made this a few times now…. Chicken is always awesome, but our rice.. not so much. We’ve tweaked it to add more liquid, covered it, extended the bake time but the rice still doesn’t cook up fluffy. We want to love this but really hate that our rice doesn’t cook up to the perfect texture. Any tips?
Soak your rice beforehand! & rinse it until the water runs clear. I know it says not to but you really always should. I try to at least soak for 30 minutes but even just 15 will make a difference in this recipe. I fluffed my rice with a fork about halfway through bake time and it came out perfectly fluffy.
Has anyone tried this with whole grain rice? Or does it only work with white rice? Thanks! Looks yummy!
Should I cover this when I cook?
This was surprisingly tasty for how simple it was. I did use 2.5 cups of broth instead of water and baked in a slightly smaller pan. The chicken took about 45 min to cook completely but that maybe due to the crowding of the pan. If you marinade the chicken in advance this would come together quickly to bake.
Thank you for giving this recipe a try! Hope you have a great rest of your week! 🙂 xT
Is the chicken bone-in? Looking at the photo it looks like it likely is.
Hi there! I used boneless chicken! 🙂 xT
We eat on the healthier side and often turn to chicken, broccoli and rice as a quick go-to combo. This is a delicious version, love the one-dish approach! It has become a weekly staple for us and my tips are:
– use chicken broth/stock instead of water
– skin on > skin off, but both are great. Definitely go thighs over breasts for flavor.
– I usually add more red pepper flakes for a good kick.
Makes for great leftovers too. Thank you Tieghan!
Hi Jill! Thank you so much for trying out the recipe and leaving a comment! Have a wonderful week! xT