Next Post
Frozen Chocolate Peanut Butter Yogurt Cups.
This post may contain affiliate links, please see our privacy policy for details.
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.
Details
Start with the chicken. 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!
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!
This was so good! I used boneless, skinless thighs. The only thing I did differently was add some olive oil, salt and minced garlic to the brocolli and then I opted to wait a little bit to add it to the rest of the dish. I threw it in the pan about half way through the cooking time and the whole dish came out perfectly. A winner with the whole fam. Thanks for sharing this recipe, Tieghan! We loved it!
Just made this! Did a couple things differently but it turned out really well! I used bone in chicken thighs and only used 3 of them, eyeballed the spices but used the same about of yogurt and olive oil. I then covered the dish with tin foil for 30 minutes and then uncovered and switched to convection bake for another 12. Whole family loved it, thanks!
Wonderful!! Thanks so much for trying this dish Margrethe! I’m so glad to hear it turned out well for you! xT
Hey Beth,
Happy Friday!!🍉🍓 Thanks a bunch for giving this recipe a try and your comment, I love to hear that it turned out well for you! xx
Sorry Tieghan. Not so great on this one. After reading reviews I broke recipe down and cooked everything ala carte. Not sensational sorry to say.
Sorry to hear this! Unfortunately, I didn’t intend for this recipe to be made a la carte so you could have lost a lot of flavoring in that method:) Thanks for trying the recipe! xx
Double season!
I tend to make any recipe exactly as written first time around and I love using yogurt to marinate chicken so I was drawn to this one. I did everything the same but used chicken stock instead of water. If we hadn’t I can’t imagine home bland this would have been.
Heavily salt the chicken, season your rice! It was fine but we needed more flavor. Typical seasoning for rice: fried garlic, S&P, maybe some Italian seasonings and paprika?? Also I’ll probably add a chopped onion or shallot to the rice, that would really elevate it.
Start your chicken marinating the night before to blow it out of the water.
Hi there,
Thanks so much for making this recipe and sharing your review! I’m glad you were able to adjust the dish to your liking! Happy Friday! xT
I was leery about this after some of the reviews but Ive had great success with your recipes so gave it a try. The dish cooked up great. I marinated the chicken overnight. Next time i will add a bit of chili/garlic sauce to add some punch and will use mayo instead of yogurt. I switched out the broccoli for a mix of carrots, sweet potatoes, onion and mushrooms. Used chicken broth instead of water but will probably add some lemon juice next time as the lemon flavour didnt come through enough for me. Rice cooked up beautifully. Chicken was very tender.
Easy recipe. Cooked up great. Will use again for sure.
Hi Kate,
Wonderful!! I love to hear that this dish turned out well for you! Thanks so much for making it and sharing your notes:) xT
I normally have no issues with HBH recipes, but this one should probably go back to the drawing board. I broke my own rule by not reading the reviews before cooking since I typically have no issues, but I wish I had. The cooking time is not right and the rice definitely needs a good bit more water than suggested. The rice also lacks flavor and truly needs some doctoring up on its own.
This recipe is also confusing because it suggests either thighs or breasts which on their own would have different cooking times, but then it also would differ based on bone in versus bone out thighs. The flavor of the chicken was actually very good, but this recipe leaves too much room for error and requires a lot of interpretation.
Hi Catherine,
So sorry to hear that this recipe was not enjoyed. I’m not sure why some are having such great success and others not so much. I can promise you the recipe was tested quite a bit before sharing:) As to the chicken, I think this dish is versatile enough that using the type of chicken that you enjoy is just fine:) Please let me know if there is anything that I can help with! xx
Do you think the difference on this could just be altitude?
I wouldn’t think that would be the issue for this recipe:)
So I was a bit nervous as to how this recipe might turn out considering I didn’t read the comments until after it was already in the oven. Just cooked and turned out surprisingly well and great flavor. I can’t stop taking spoonfuls! Super quick and easy to prepare and one dish! Chicken cooked thoroughly and is yummy. Rice cooked thoroughly with a lil crunch and had flavor, love the crunch. Broccoli cooked thoroughly with flavor. I would definitely cook again. What was key for me:
Generously season – I feel like should be 1 1/2t to 2 for most ingredients called for
Stir the ingredients together thoroughly so all that flavor gets into the thighs (note: I didn’t even see the suggestion to marinate overnite until after in the oven; I can see how that would increase the flavor)
Use chicken stock/broth instead of water! I did 1 cup stock, 1 cup water
Use more pats of butter than recipe calls for
Use an infused olive oil – lends more flavor
Don’t skip topping with lemons or adding zest to the ingredients. I also squeezed fresh lemon juice over the entire dish before popping in oven.
Add fresh thyme before putting in oven
When done, let the dish rest for at least 30 min under foil. The steam helps soften the rice and further cook the broccoli.
Also squeeze lemon juice over dish once plated, that charred/roasted lemon flavor is delicious!
Hi Erin,
Happy Friday!!🍉🍓 Thanks a bunch for giving this recipe a try and your comment, I love to hear that it turned out well for you! Thanks for sharing your detailed notes and what worked best for you! xx
I was so excited to try this recipe until I read the reviews!:( I wondered about the rice being almost 1:1 when typically is 2:1 (water to rice) and not covering this dish with foil in the oven while cooking given the high temp. That can trap the steam and cook the rice more thoroughly?
Hi Tiffany,
I tested this recipe quite a bit as it is written giving the same results every time:) All of the measurements are correct and I did not find the need to cover my baking dish. Let me know if you give the recipe a try! xx
This is my second go at one of your recipes. My first was disappointing but I accepted that I probably did not follow through exactly as I should have. However, I was careful and attentive this time with poor results. I think you could do with more recipe testing before publishing. I’m also finding the cooking time to be way off. 45 minutes and my rice is nowhere near cooked. I should’ve guessed the liquid was too scant. Anyway, I love many of your ideas but I’m going to have to think through your directions for future recipes. It’s definitely a different experience than other food bloggers I’ve followed. Your reels on IG re enticing, I’ll give you that.
Hi Lynn,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback. I test my recipes up to 10 times before sharing, so I can promise you that I’m not just throwing them up out of the blue:) What kind of rice did you use? Please let me know how I can help, I’m happy to trouble shoot! xx
The family really enjoyed this! We used chicken thighs with skin on, the rice was fluffy and had great flavour from the Greek yogurt marinade.
We did cut the rice down to one cup and kept the 2 cups of water, we also added a little bit of lemon juice to the marinade and the water. Will definitely make again!
Hi Melissa,
Happy Thursday!! I love to hear that this dish was a hit, thanks so much for sharing what worked well for you:) xT
This one unfortunately didn’t work out for me. The cooking time was much longer than stated and I found the chicken quite bland and the flavour a little off.
Adding chicken stock instead of water would maybe help give the rice some better flavour!
Hi Olivia,
So sorry for the trouble here, thanks for making this dish and your comment! Let me know if there is anything that I can help with! xx
The chicken was yummy, but the rice and broccoli were pretty blah and undercooked, even with the extra water and cookie time. I love the idea of a one dish meal, but next time I will make everything separately
Hi Shannon,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your review. So sorry to hear you had some issues with the rice! What kind did you use? Let me know how I can help! xT
Easy recipe with great flavors, however, I do agree with some of the other reviews that it was a bit bland. I used boneless skinless chicken thighs so might be better with skin on chicken or using some chicken broth in place of the water. I would also be a little more generous with the salt going into the marinade since that is the only part getting seasoned.
Hey Lauren,
Thanks so much for making this dish! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed the flavors and appreciate you giving it a try! xT
Unfortunately I read the reviews after making this dish. Very dry and tough chicken. Also I agree the seasonings didn’t mix well. I thought with the yogurt it would of been tender. Back to an old favorite that never fails – chicken breast with mayo and Parmesan!
Hi Lynda,
So sorry to hear that this dish was not enjoyed, I appreciate you giving it a try and sharing your feedback! xT
was really excited to try out this recipe. Unfortunately, it didn’t work well for us. The rice was undercooked and we felt there were too many flavors going on with the seasoning. I had used chicken breast but only used two large breasts and halved them, so we had four pieces.
We are excited to try more recipes and thank you for getting us excited to cook and try out new things x
Hi there,
Thanks so much for trying this recipe! Sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy the flavors here. What kind of rice did you use? Please let me know how I can help for next time! xx
As others stated the cook time was off and the rice took so much longer to cook and definitely needed more liquid as well! Flavours were okay! I added coconut aminos over everything after it was cooked. Unfortunately we still endured some crunchy rice but we were so hungry I couldn’t let it cook any longer 😆
Hi Lauren,
Thanks so much for trying this dish! What kind of rice did you use? It’s seems as though different brands and kinds of rice are really causing an issue for some. Please let me know how I can help! xx
I agree with some of the other reviews. This did not turn out for me at all! After 40 minutes in the oven, time spent making this, and a lot of money spent on the ingredients, nothing was cooked through after 40 minutes. I prefer to use chicken breasts and they are a lot larger than the thighs you used on you IG post so it would be helpful if you stated in your recipes how many lbs. of chicken because there is no way 6 breasts would fit in a 9×13 baking dish. Your recipes look so easy and delish on your IG posts, but I just don’t have luck with a lot of them. This one is going straight in the trash.
Hi Roxanne,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback, so sorry to hear it was not enjoyed. What kind of rice did you use? For the chicken breasts, I would just cut them in half so they aren’t so large. Let me know if I can help with anything else! xx