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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
Absolutely flavorless, and that’s AFTER I added onion, celery, salt, pepper and used chicken stock instead of water. Ate the chicken and threw the rice away.
Hi Joan,
Sorry to hear this recipe was not enjoyed, thanks for giving it a try!
Bland, needs serious spicing up, at minimum. I was really disappointed as was my family
Hi Anne,
Thanks for trying this dish and sharing your feedback. Very sorry to hear it was not enjoyed!
Overall, a very good recipe. I agree that it might be bland for some people. I used more sticky rice and still it turned out pretty good. What I would do next time:
– skin-on chicken would be more juicy
– lessen lemon zest
– add a bit more salt and spices
– add salt to rice
– maybe a bit of lemon juice to rice
If your chicken and broccoli start to burn in the oven, cover it with tinfoil. It acts as a lid so rice is cooking and other stuff is not burning. Thank you for the recipe! Definitely will add it to my cookbook, fast simple and delicious.
Hey Natasha,
Perfect! Love to hear this recipe turned out nicely for you, thanks for making it! Happy Holidays!🎁🎄
I should have trusted the (many) other reviews on this recipe. It’s incredibly bland (even with 5x the salt and seasonings), the rice does not fully cook in 40 min, it took an hour and even then I had to take it out because the broccoli was burning. Ended up putting hot sauce on the whole plate just to give it some flavor. This is my second or third HBH recipe like this, I think I’m done with this blog. Writing this review to advise the next person to trust what everyone else said lol
Love love love this recipe! I’m shocked at all the mixed reviews but I also use hbh recipes as inspo and kind of go with what I feel right. What I modified : bone broth instead of water for the grain, instead of rice I used orzo, I salted the bone broth and orzo, added Italian seasoning to the orzo mixture, added grated Parmesan to the seasoning of the chicken, and instead of broccoli I made sautéed squash on the side. It turned out AMAZING, and do not forget the salted butter because that’s what makes the grain fluffy and moist, cooked it for 1 hour instead of 40min. Thank you Half Baked Harvest for another easy delicious dinner!!
Hey Miranda,
Fantastic! Thanks a bunch for making this dish and your feedback, I’m so glad to hear it turned out well!
This is good if you like mild flavor! kid friendly. I followed the suggestions from others and used chicken stock and 1/2 lemon for the rice.
I added the other 1/2 lemon to the marinade. It took 45 min to cook!
Hey Carla,
I’m so glad to hear this recipe turned out well for you!
Thanks for giving it a try and your comment! Have a great week ahead!
I made this recipe today.
I marinated the chicken 7 hours.
Before seeing the reviews, I added 2 grated carrots, a minced shallot, and a couple minced garlic cloves to the rice. I thought the amount of rice was too much for us, so I used a cup of rice and a half cup of lentils. Based on reviews saying the rice was bland, I did add a sprinkling of Cavenders. Just before putting the dish in the oven, I added two cups of boiling broth based on the reviews; I’ve seen many recipes with baked rice, and this is the method they use. I also covered the casserole with parchment, then foil. The dish turned out flavorful! I did wind up cooking it at least 50 minutes and broiling it once the rice was cooked to get some color on the chicken and broccoli. I will make this again with these modifications.
Hey Jeannie,
Fantastic!🎃👻 I am so glad to hear this recipe turned out well for you, thanks so much for making it! Thanks for sharing your notes!
All in all, this was a good, easy recipe! Some edits, based on other people’s notes:
• To the chicken marinade, I added the juice of half a lemon.
• To the rice + broccoli, I added a large handful of fresh, chopped dill and the juice of half a lemon.
• I cooked the dish in two cups of chicken broth (rather than water).
• I cooked for 30 minutes covered, and then I tried the rice. It was still a little underdone, so I added 1/2 a cup of water and cooked for an additional 15 minutes, covered. I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs, so I did not need to worry about cooking uncovered to get crispy skin.
• I topped it with a little bit of feta, extra pepper, and another squeeze of fresh lemon!
Hey Amber,
Thanks so much for your comment! I appreciate you trying this dish and sharing your notes on what worked best for you! I’m glad it was enjoyed:)
What a disappointment! I planned this meal for a night when we were coming home from a late soccer practice, prepared everything in advance and even pre-soaked the rice so it would cook faster. I read a ton of reviews and made changes accordingly: increased the salt, added broth instead of water, covered the baking dish, cooked the broccoli separately… Length of time in the oven ended up being twice what the recipe called for, and the whole thing was tremendously bland. I had planned to take off the lid and broil the top to get crispy skin on the chicken thighs but it was so late and we were all starving so my family just pulled the soggy skin off and added soy sauce to flavour the rice. What a waste of time and ingredients. I’ve been disappointed with several recipes that have come to my inbox lately and may consider unsubscribing from the HBH newsletter, unfortunately.
Hi Nicole,
Very sorry to hear this recipe was not enjoyed. Thanks for trying it and sharing your feedback. I hope you’ll try another recipe soon!
Rice cooked in the oven needs to be covered. Steam is what helps the rice cook. So don’t expect your chicken thighs to be golden brown. If you’re using skin-on thighs, you might want to brown them before adding to the rice mixture. I used skinless thighs. They taste fine, but the presentation is nothing like the photo. I’ve baked a fair amount of rice over the years, and baking it is great for individual, fluffy grains. It’s rather bizarre that the instructions to this recipe don’t call for covering it with foil. Oh, and it needs more salt.
Hi Linda,
Thanks for trying this dish and sharing your feedback, so sorry to hear you didn’t love it. Hope you are having a great Monday!
I used chicken breasts and had to bake for 50 min (in an oven that runs hot). At this point, the rice is still a little hard, the broccoli is pretty firm and overall it’s a little bland. The chicken tastes nice, but the rice and broccoli aren’t very flavorful.
Hey Arlene! Thank you so much for this input, I really appreciate it! Hope you have a great week! xT
I used chicken broth rather just water and squeezed lemon juice on top and that gave the rice a lot more flavour! I also sprinkled some parmesan on top
Hi Alice! So glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Thanks so much for giving it a try! 🙂 xT
The seasoning was very tasty! I used 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts and followed the directions but found it to be very dry. The rice was fully cooked but it needed more flavor/juice.
Hi Jetta! So glad you enjoyed this yummy one pan recipe! I appreciate the feedback, thank you for the input because it helps me improve recipes! 🙂 xT
LOVE this!! This was a big hit with my family!!
Thank you SO much! So glad you and your family enjoyed this recipe! 🙂 xT
The chicken was pretty good, I used Chicken Tenders as the store was out of Thighs, but the rice was very undercooked at 40 minutes even tho it was submerged, and by the time the rice was more tender, the Chicken and broccoli was overdone. If I made this again, I would pre cook the rice first. Fun to try a new recipe, just not as good as I’d hoped.
Hey there! Thank you so much for the input, I’m so sorry this recipe didn’t turn out as well as you’d hoped! I really appreciate the feedback! 🙂 xT