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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.
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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.
Ingredients
- Chicken thighs or breasts
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Plain Greek yogurt
- Lemon zest and fresh lemon juice
- Garlic
- Black pepper
- Dried oregano
- Dried thyme
- Paprika
- Onion powder
- Kosher salt
- Chili flakes
- Dry basmati rice
- Salted butter
- Roughly chopped broccoli
- fresh herbs
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!
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
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. Serve the chicken, rice, and broccoli topped with fresh basil and or thyme. And enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
The chicken thighs were tasty (marinated overnight) but the timing wasn’t right. After 35 minutes the thighs were raw inside (baked at 400) and rice still hard. I added more water and broiled the chicken for another 15 minutes. The chicken was done, rice still hard and broccoli very el dente. Would suggest using chicken broth for the liquid to add more flavor and adjusting the temp/time.
Hi Kim,
Thanks so much for trying this recipe, sorry to hear you had some issues with the bake time! My guess is your chicken thighs were pretty large! What kind of rice did you use? Please let me know how I can help! xT
Baked for 35 minutes and chicken came out browned to perfection. The broccoli was also nicely al dente. Basmati was not thoroughly cooked so had to remove the chicken, add broth and cook for the additional 10 minutes. I did squeeze some fresh lemon juice over the rice and broccoli before adding the chicken to dish before cooking and used chicken broth in place of water for more flavor. Overall flavor was on point but would prob add an additional 1/2 C. of broth and add an extra 5-7 to cook time to ensure soft rice.
Hi Tina,
Thanks so much for making this recipe and sharing your feedback! I love to hear that it turned out well for you and appreciate your notes! xT
Ultimate meal prep- we made this for dinner and lunches for a couple days! Sooo good and so easy!! We used chicken broth instead of water. Basmati and chili flakes are key. Thanks for another insanely easy and tasty recipe, Tieghan!!
Hi Jess,
Happy Monday!!😎 I appreciate you making this recipe and your feedback, so glad to hear that it turned out well for you! xT
Is there supposed to be lemon juice in the ingredients? I only saw zest, and the result had little to no lemon flavor. Thanks.
Hi Danielle,
I just used the lemon zest here, but you could totally add lemon juice if you wanted! Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
Everything was cooked well, but a little bland.
Hi Robert,
Thanks so much for making this recipe, love to hear that everything cooked well! Sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy the flavors! xT
This sounds amazing for my dreaded Monday nights!!
Just a comment about the typo in the last paragraph…..”Severe the chicken” instead of “Serve”. Love your recipes, keep making them Tieghan!
Thanks so much Jennifer!! I hope you love this recipe! xT
The cooking time is wayyyy off. The rice took an additional 25 minutes, so I removed the chicken from the pan just to cook the rice. Like others mentioned, mine did not turn out dark drown like the pics. I also ended up adding additional spices as it was cooking because the marinade basically melted off after about 15 minutes. All in all, I probably tripled the amount of spice listed in the recipe and it ended up less bland. First recipe that has been a bit of a bummer for me from hbh. I do really like that this is a healthier recipe and look forward to seeing more.
Hi Katie,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback, I’m sorry to hear you had so many issues! What kind of rice did you use? If your chicken isn’t crispy you could always pop it under the broiler for a few minutes. Let me know if there is anything else that I can help with! xx
Made this last night and while it seemed a bit bland it has potential! I’d definitely season the chicken and like someone else commented – use chicken broth instead of water. I’m going to try it again as it was a pretty easy dish to make during the week and it definitely gives off a Mediterranean flavor!
Thanks so much for making this dish Tiffany and sharing your feedback! So glad to hear it was enjoyed overall:) xT
Very delicious! Chicken was moist and the dish overall was very flavorful. I added a little salt on the chicken and to the rice before baking. Thank you for a delicious recipe
Hi Susan,
Happy Friday!!🍪🍦 Thanks so much for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback, so glad to hear that it turned out well for you! xT
My chicken did not turn out all brown and beautiful like the picture. It was fine but a little overcooked since the rice needed 15 minutes longer than noted. (And I used half the rice and the same amount of liquid.)
All-in-all the chicken being ‘meh’ made this not my favorite. The lemon/broccoli/rice though was a nice combination.
Hi Kelly,
Thanks for sharing your feedback and making this recipe, so sorry to hear it was not enjoyed. Please let me know if there is anything that I can help with! xx
Do u add the yogurt marinade to the rice/broccoli?
Hi Beth,
Nope, you can go ahead and follow the recipe as written, the yogurt marinade is only used for the chicken:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
Excellent and easy. I didn’t have lemons so used 1 1/2 C water and 1/2 C lemon juice. Seemed to work out. Yogurt made the chicken breast tender!
Thanks so much Becky!! Love to hear what worked well for you and so glad to hear that it was enjoyed! xT
I made this and it was really very tasty! It took a little more time than I originally expected but I think prepping in advance is advantageous. I substituted chicken stock for the water. The meal was tasty and the rice was cooked to perfection. I would definitely recommend. I used chicken thighs and will try it with boneless breasts next.
Hi Carolyn,
Amazing!! Love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks so much for making it and your comment! xx
I made this! Added a bit of white wine. Everything cooked really well but I think I didn’t season it enough- it was a bit bland. I loved the taste of the garlic and yogurt and the textures of rice, chicken and broccoli were perfect. Will definitely make again but with more garlic, seasoning and lemon zest!
Hi Sarah,
I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your feedback, I’m so glad to hear it turned out well for you! xT
Just polished off this dish and it did not disappoint!! Once again, Tieghan comes up with an easy healthy recipe that is packed with flavor. The chicken stays so moist since it’s marinated in yogurt, olive oil along with lemon zest, garlic, pepper, paprika, and more. Roasted on top of rice and broccoli in one pan provides quick clean up which is always appreciated. Definitely will be on repeat for us.
Thanks so much Cindi!! I really love to hear that you enjoyed this dish and I appreciate you making it:) xT
Made this and it was so delicious! I did use chicken broth in place of water and had to use the extra 1/3 c. Definitely will be in my recipe rotation! For those with undercooked rice, I’m guessing a different type of rice was used.
Hi Erika,
Wonderful!! I’m so glad to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks so much for making it! xT