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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 substitute farro for the rice to increase the fiber content?
Hi Barb,
Sure, I don’t see why not! Please let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx
Made tonight with 1.5c farro. Used about 4c broth and precooked the farro and broth in the pan for about 20 minutes before adding the broccoli, chicken, etc to the pan. Cooked for an additional 40 minutes. Turned out perfect!
Awesome! So glad to hear this!
This recipe was stunningly good. It’s now on our weekly rotations! I make it at half the portion listed here because that feeds my family of 3 for one meal (I make toast to go with it) and it’s totally filling and delicious. Cheap, easy, and easy to clean up after…the perfect recipe. I was worried it might be bland because when it’s cooked it looks a little bland but it’s flavorful and became a huge family favorite from the first bite.
Hi Sarah,
Wonderful! So glad to hear this recipe was a hit, thanks a bunch for making it! Happy Weekend!!
So good!! So easy!!! This woman is a god send!
Lol thanks Claire:) Love to hear this recipe turned out well for you, thanks for giving it a try! xx
You spelled serve as “severe” at the end. Just wanted to let you know. I love this recipe and all your recipes especially the one-pan or one-pot recipes! Thank you so much for what you do!
Thanks so much for letting me know, Claire:)
Cover the dish with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Then, cook it uncovered for an additional 5 minutes, which worked perfectly for us. I used a combination of chicken bone broth and water for the rice and cauliflower layer because that’s what I had on hand. Next time, I plan to add wine to the chicken broth for a richer flavor, but it’s not necessary. The meal was delicious, quick, and straightforward—perfect for a weeknight dinner.
Hey Kym,
That’s awesome!! Thank you so much for making this recipe and your feedback, love to hear it was enjoyed! xx
Do you have any suggestions to adapt this to use brown basmati rice? Sounds delicious, thank you!
Hey Katrin,
Thanks! Sure, you would need to cook the dish on the stove an additional 20-25 minutes, covered. You may need more water as well. I hope this helps! xx
Excellent. Love love love the marinade and spice mix. I would jazz up the rice with chicken broth, same spices as marinade and more broccoli. Loved it!
Hey Lynne,
Thanks so much! So glad to hear this recipe turned out well for you, I appreciate you making it! Have a great weekend! xx
This was super tasty and my kids loved it! (even the broccoli!) we had a ton of leftover rice, even with 8 chicken thighs. How would you adapt the recipe with less rice? Thanks!
Hey Margaret,
Happy Friday! Thanks for making this dish and your comment, love to hear it turned out well for you! You could just cut the rice and liquid in half next time. XxT
Would NOT recommend. The rice took over an hour to cook and still had plenty of hard peices, even after adding more than an extra cup of liquid . The flavor was definately lacking as well. Overall, total flop here.
Hi there,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback, sorry to hear it was not enjoyed! xx
Love this recipe! It’s so easy to throw together and the ingredients are simple but it tastes so good! I throw my favorite hot sauce on once it’s done and I have dinner and lunch for a couple days!
Hi Nicole,
Thanks so much for making this recipe so often, I’m so glad to hear it always turns out well for you! Happy Sunday! xT
Rice took way longer to cook, even covered. Also added probably about another cup of liquid. In total it took about an hour to cook the rice.
Hi Candis,
Thanks so much for trying this dish and sharing your feedback! So sorry to hear it took the rice much longer to cook. xx
I will definitely make again. Left out the onion powder as I didn’t have any and put some powdered chicken stock with the water. Served with roasted pumpkin drizzled with honey and cinnamon. Delicious.
Thanks so much, Ann! So glad to hear this recipe turned out well for you! I appreciate you giving it a try! 🎃 xXT
The chicken is very YUMMY!! Full of flavor! It’s a keeper!!!
Thanks so much, Debbie!
Hello,
I tried this recipe last week. I followed the recipe exactly, used basmati rice and the rice just didn’t cook well. It was mushy in some areas and dry and uncooked in others. I am really not sure what I could have done differently with this.
I ended up pulling the chicken out and making a separate pot of rice.
The chicken was delicious.
Hi Susan,
Thanks a lot for trying this recipe! So glad to hear the chicken was enjoyed:) So sorry about the rice….was the rice full covered with liquid? I would ensure that for next time. Also, you could cover your baking dish with foil for part of the bake time, I think that might help! xT
Hi, I love the flavor of this recipe and have made it with both tofu and chicken. I’ve made it 3-4 times and the rice does not cook and the broccoli remains pretty crunchy, even when in the oven for ~50 minutes. I’ve been using brown rice. Is the recipe for white basmati?
Hey Lauren,
Thanks so much for making this recipe and your feedback! Yes, I like to use white basmati rice, that should cook more evenly for you! If you want less of a crunch to your broccoli, I would just cut it smaller. I hope this helps! xT
Followed this recipe exactly as prescribed and it turned out perfectly!! Will be adding this to the rotation moving forward!!
Hi Julie,
Awesome! So glad to hear this recipe turned out nicely for you! Thanks a lot for making it:) xT