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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.
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!
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.
Watch the How-To Reel
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!
This post was originally published on May 22, 2023
Could you make a day ahead and reheat or do you think it would get too dried out?
Hi, it might get dried out! I’m so sorry! xT
I’ve probably made 15 of her recipes and all are sooo amazing – this was the only one I haven’t liked 🙁 rice needs so much more water and was super crunchy. Super bland too. I think next time I’d add double the water + chicken stock. Then I would use all the chicken dry seasonings mixed into the rice as well!
Oh no I’m so sorry about that Cate! Thank you for letting me know! xT
I’m sorry I did not think this was that great. Used boneless skinless chicken thighs, had to cook longer to get rice done, had to add salt to the rice, chicken by that time was veering toward the dry side, even though I covered it during the last 10-15 min. You would think with all those great spices the chicken would be better, but it wasn’t. Marinated it all day and used special chicken from Fresh Market. Oh well…
Hey Jana! I’m so sorry you didn’t enjoy this recipe! Thank you for the feedback, I appreciate it. xT
I have made so many amazing recipes for
HBH but this one did not turn out at all! The lemon gave off a bitterness that was unpalatable and the basmati rice took twice the liquid and took twice as long. (Maybe because I used brown basmati rice).
Oh I’m so sorry about that! Thanks for letting me know!
Good meal, makes lots of food. Took about 1 hour for my rice to cook, but it was a tasty and not over done! I recommend using chicken stock and adding onions.
Thank you so much for trying out the recipe! I hope you loved it! xT
This is delicious and sooo simple! How do think it’d taste cutting a bit of the water with some white wine? Also, while I love it as is, is there a type of sauce you’d recommend making to serve it with?
Hey, I think would be super yummy to add a little bit of wine! A yummy tahini sauce or maybe balsamic glaze! xT
Disappointed. It was very bland.
Hey Donna, I’m so sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy the recipe! Is there anything I can do to help?
I used 1 cup Brown basmati with 2 cups chicken broth. Rice took 1 hr to bake with the chicken in the oven. Rice came out fluffy and absorbed all the broth in this time. Family enjoyed the meal. I will try with thighs instead of breasts next time as I think the thighs would be more moist and flavorful with the marinade. Rice and broccoli was delicious. Tx Tieghan!
Hi Melani,
Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback, so glad to hear it was a hit! Thanks for sharing what worked well for you! xx
Whats the cooking time if you use brown basmati rice or should I just pre boil it first to give it a head start before putting it in the oven?
I used brown basmati this evening and rice was perfect after 35 minutes. I used 2 c chicken broth for more flavor
Thanks so much for sharing Michelle!
Hi Melani,
So sorry, I have not tested this recipe with brown basmati rice so I can’t say for sure the cook time. Please let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xT
Did you use bone-in or boneless chicken?
Hi Elizabeth,
Either one will work for this recipe, if you use bone in just be sure the chicken is cooked thoroughly! Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love this recipe! xT
Made this for the first time tonight. It is so easy, which I loved. I did add the extra 1/3 cup of water and baked an additional 10 min and my rice, broccoli and chicken were all done. I did really enjoy it but I may add some seasonings to the rice before adding the chicken next time for extra flavor.
Hey Jessica,
Happy Wednesday!! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks a lot for making it! xx
Good base, pretty bland. I would recommend one cup of water and one cup of chicken stock to the rice, bake at least for 40 minutes and adding onions.
Hi Jessica,
Thanks for giving this dish a try and sharing your feedback, so sorry to hear you didn’t love it! Let me know if there is anything that I can help with! xT
Very quick and easy meal! I need to add a little more salt after it was done but the flavor was good. I used boneless chicken thighs and boil in a bag basmati rice. Everything was done in 40 minutes. I will try chicken stock and water in the rice next time for a little more flavor.
Thank you Melissa! xT
Delicious! I used chicken broth as the liquid for the rice. My garden has lemon thyme, so that was the herb garnish.
Hi Andrea,
Fantastic!! I appreciate you making this recipe and your comment, so glad to hear it was a hit! Have a great weekend😎
Chicken and broccoli were yummy with good flavor but unfortunately even with the added water & cook time, the rice was super hard still 🙁
Hi Shannon,
Thanks for giving this dish a try and sharing your feedback, so sorry to hear about the rice! What kind did you use? Please let me know how I can help! xT
I have a ton of frozen broccoli, would it work in this recipe?
Hi Lisa,
Yes, that would be just fine for you to use! Let me know if you have any other questions! xT
Yummy and easy. All ingredients I already had at home. Thanks for another winner!
Hi Dianna,
Happy Monday!!🇺🇸😎 I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your feedback, so glad to hear it was a winner! xT