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.
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
Terrible! Dry and flavorless. Such a disappointment.
Hey Sarah! Oh no, I’m so sorry about that! Is there anything I can do to help? xT
I have loved every single recipe I have made of yours, but this was one was not a keeper.
The rice was very bland and we actually used chicken broth, instead of water to cook.
Maybe more butter and definitely needs some more spice.
The chicken was just ok, but I only marinated it for 30 min. Maybe I should try overnight??
Hi Kathleen! Thank you for the feedback, I’m so sorry you didn’t enjoy this recipe! xT
I marinated the chicken overnight so getting the meal into the oven the next day literally took me less than 5 minutes! Super quick, easy, and delicious!
Thanks so much for trying out the recipe! Love to hear you enjoyed it! xT
The proportions on this one are really off. Not nearly enough water and cooking time for the rice. Too much rice for the amount of chicken and broccoli. I’ve made it twice and have had to make too many adjustments
Hi Ilene! Thank you so much for this feedback! I’m so sorry this recipe didn’t turn out for you! xT
Looks tasty!
Bone or boneless for the chicken?
Hi Camille! I usually use boneless chicken recipes! xT
I followed the recipe mostly except I used 5 boneless skinless chicken thighs instead of 6, a few more pats of butter, covered my baking dish with foil for the first 30 minutes, and I mixed the rice 40 minutes through to rotate the rice and submerge the top layer of rice into the liquid at the bottom of the dish. I think this would have been much better using chicken stock in addition to or instead of water, and using bone in skin on chicken thighs. I have to say while this turned out just okay, I’m usually very impressed with HBH recipes so this was a tad disappointing from a flavor perspective. That said I’ve cooked over 50 recipes from Tieghan and own all three cookbooks and this is the first recipe I’ve encountered that wasn’t a huge hit so it’s not going to dissuade me from trying other HBH recipes 🙂
Hey Georgine! I’m so sorry that this recipe didn’t turn out for you! Thank you for the feedback, I really appreciate it! xT
Loved the chicken flavor, although cooking time with chicken beats was much longer. The broccoli and rice were very bland. I would likely just do the chicken next time.
Thank you sooo much for trying out this recipe! Hope your New Year is off to an awesome start! xT
I’ve made a lot of wonderful recipes from this blog but this one is a solid dud. Do not recommend.
Hey Jordan! I’m really sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy this recipe. Is there anything I can do to help? I’m definitely open to feedback! xT
Recipe is amazing! Love the ease and the flavor. The smell coming out from under the silicone baking mat that I covered it with was sensational.
It might help to adjust the recipe to let people know to cover it in the oven. I found taking the cover off for the last 10 minutes worked best.
I also used chicken broth instead of water to cook the rice and more butter overall to enhance the flavor of the rice.
I used chicken tenders instead of thighs and they definitely were cooked after 40 minutes.
Thank you sooo much for trying out this recipe! Hope your New Year is off to an awesome start! xT
I just made this and it was not good. The rice would not cook at all and was either super mushy or hard and crunchy. The chicken was bland.
Hi! I am so sorry you didn’t enjoy this recipe! Thank you for letting me know, I’m sorry again it didn’t turn out for you!
Is the oven supposed to be on bake or roast? I think that makes a HUGE difference. I started on bake and after 1h the chicken was still not cooked. Switched to roast for 10/15 more min and it finally looked like in the picture… specifying cooking method (setting, rack etc) would be very helpful.
Reading the comments about people’s chicken not cooking makes me think they probably need a thermometer inside their ovens to ensure it’s heating correctly. I once worked in a restaurant that had ovens operating at 50 degrees less than set at. I rectified this by purchasing several inexpensive thermometers.
All that being said, I made this yesterday and it cooked perfectly. I did add chicken broth and lemon juice instead of water to cook my rice, as I prefer lots of flavor! And I wish I had buried the broccoli under it, as I prefer my broc soft over crunchy. But the yogurt and spice blend on the chicken is just *chefs kiss* Definitely will make again
Very easy and yummy and I even made it with dairy free yogurt. I also had some white wine to use up so threw that in with the rice.
Thank you so much Sue! Love to hear that! xT
Love, Love, Love! So easy and tasty! This has made the rotation list. Thank you Tieghan!
Hi Dita,
Amazing!! So glad to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks for making it:) xT
Stupid question coming up. Boiling or cold water? That could be why chicken didn’t cool.
Stupid question coming up. Boiling or cold water? That could be why chicken didn’t cook.
Complete failure. It’s been baking now for 1.5 hours and the chicken is still raw and the rice isn’t cooked/is watery. I didn’t change anything from the original instructions.
Hi Kristin,
So sorry to hear this! Is it possible something is wrong with your oven? There’s no reason that the chicken shouldn’t be cooked after 1.5 hours in a 400F oven. Please let me know how I can help! xT
I had the same thing happen – over an hour 15 in the oven and the chicken was still undercooked when we cut into it. We took the chicken out and finished baking it in a separate pan from the rice. It just wasn’t cooking.
This is the first time I tried it, and I used a good bit of chicken… But after tasting it, here are my thoughts… I might suggest baking for half the time covered if not full time… Maybe just the last five minutes uncovered. It helped my rice not dry out when I popped foil for the additional 10 minutes over the lid. my chicken came out dry so I probably should have increased my water by at least 1 cup to help the rice, covered it for at least the first 90% and then check the rice. In the future, I will pull the chicken out to finish off the rice dish. Flavor is good, needs more salt… will give this another shot!
Hi there,
I appreciate you trying this dish and sharing your feedback! Let me know if you give it another try and what works best for you! xT