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31 Recipes to Cook in January 2026.
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The perfect winter dinner—quick, easy, colorful, and so comforting. Grainy Dijon–coated chicken is pan-seared in butter, then roasted together with orzo, carrots, celery, fresh herbs, and broth. The result is chicken-soup vibes with mustardy roasted chicken, all cooked together in one easy pot.
When I’m cooking dinner with my mom in mind, I always keep things simple—she can be a little picky. And when I really want to comfort her, I usually make something along the lines of chicken soup or a basic roasted chicken with rice.
She’s always loved chicken noodle soup more than most. When I was a kid, she could happily eat bowl after bowl all winter long. It was her favorite lunch, always with a side of air-popped popcorn.
Since I started sharing my cooking with her, she’s fallen in love with the combination of chicken and orzo. When creating this recipe, I wanted a simple mustard-roasted chicken with lemony orzo, but with extra broth so it eats almost like a cozy chicken soup.
I love a brothy orzo dish, and roasting chicken with white wine, chicken broth, and butter creates the most incredible flavor. Add in the orzo and vegetables, and suddenly it really does feel like chicken soup in a pot—with golden mustard chicken on top.
It’s easily one of the simplest dinners to make, and it’s so good served with a crusty loaf of warm ciabatta on the side.
These are the details
The Ingredients
- Dijon mustard
- whole grain mustard
- smoked paprika
- garlic powder
- crushed fennel seed
- salt and black pepper
- chili flakes
- chicken breasts or thighs
- salted butter
- an onion
- carrots
- celery
- dry orzo pasta
- fresh thyme
- white wine – try Lanark Lane Sauvignon Blanc
- broth
- lemon juice
- fresh parsley
Kitchen Tools
For this dish, you’ll need a large round Dutch oven or oval Dutch oven.
These are the steps
Step 1: Season the Chicken
In a bowl, toss the chicken with the Dijon mustard, whole grain mustard, paprika, garlic powder, fennel, and a generous pinch of salt, pepper, and chili flakes.
I love adding flavor right from the very start.
Step 2: Sear the Chicken
Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven set over medium heat. Add the chicken and sear on both sides until golden, about 3 minutes per side. Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside while you cook the vegetables.
Step 3: Cook the Vegetables and Orzo
To the same pot, add the onions, carrots, celery, orzo, and thyme. Cook, stirring often, until the orzo is lightly toasted, about 2 minutes.
It should be smelling really good at this point.
Step 4: Add the Liquids
Pour in the white wine, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Add the chicken broth, season with salt and pepper, and bring everything to a boil.
Step 5: Add the Chicken Back
Nestle the chicken and any accumulated juices back into the pot. Stir in the lemon juice and parsley.
Transfer the pot to the oven and bake. You want the chicken sitting on top of the orzo with plenty of broth still in the pot so everything stays nice and cozy.
Serving
When the dish comes out of the oven, finish with extra fresh thyme, parsley, or dill.
I love serving this with warm ciabatta on the side and a little grated Parmesan. It’s a true crowd-pleaser—beautiful straight from the oven and even better smelling.
Perfect for easy weeknight dinners or casual entertaining, this dish really brightens the table on a cold day!
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Lastly, if you make this One Pot Mustard Chicken and Orzo, 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!
One Pot Mustard Chicken and Orzo
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 437 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons whole grain mustard
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon crushed fennel seed
- salt and black pepper
- chili flakes
- 2 pounds boneless chicken breasts or thighs
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 cup chopped carrots
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
- 1 1/2 cups orzo pasta
- 1/2 cup white wine I use Lanark Lane Sauvignon Blanc
- 4 cups broth
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley
Instructions
- 1. Preheat oven to 425°F.2. Toss chicken with both mustards, paprika, garlic powder, fennel seed, salt, pepper, and chili flakes.3. Melt the butter in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sear the chicken until golden, about 3 minutes per side. Remove.4. Add onions, carrots, celery, orzo, and thyme. Cook until orzo is toasted, 2 minutes. Add wine, then broth; season with salt & pepper and bring to a boil.5. Return chicken and juices to the pot. Stir in lemon juice and parsley. Bake uncovered 15 minutes, until chicken is cooked through. Serve with fresh thyme.
Notes
I really like using Lanark Lane Sauvignon Blanc from our HBH Collection. This Sauvignon Blanc is bright, zesty, and vibrant — the acidity and citrus notes will cut through the richness of the mustard and butter in your chicken dish while complementing the lemony orzo and herbs beautifully. Its food-friendly nature makes it perfect for a one-pot dinner with broth and herbs.
This post was originally published on January 14, 2026
This dish was a little weird to me. It was like half soup, half not. It all turned out pretty mushy and just a kind of all over the place dish.
Hi Sam,
Thanks for giving this dish a try and sharing your feedback, sorry to hear it was not enjoyed!
This was a total miss.
Hey Stephanie,
Sorry to hear you did not enjoy this recipe. Is there something specific that I can help with? Please let me know!
Have a great weekend!
The smoked paprika and fennel were not good additions to this dish.
Thanks for your feedback, Lisa!
This didn’t turn out well for me at all. Unfortunately I won’t be adding it to my favorites!
Hi Tammy,
Very sorry to hear this! Is there something specific that went wrong or something that I can help with? Please let me know!
I just watched you IG stories and came here for the recipe. Confused a little, first the cooking time seems off, says 40min in the recipe but it is really a little over 20 minutes. Also you say in the recipe you used Lanark Lane Sauvignon Blanc, but in your stories you are using a different brand pinot grigio. So which wine do you really use?
Hey Molly,
If I have it on hand, I used the Lane Sauvignon Blanc, but any white wine that you enjoy will work:) I hope you love this dish!
Very flavorful recipe! I liked it! I was out of fresh thyme so I substituted 1 tsp of dried thyme. As much as I enjoyed the orzo (always delicious), next time I’ll try pearl barley as suggested by one of your other followers.
Hey Blanche,
Happy Friday! Thanks a lot for trying this recipe and your comment, so glad it was enjoyed!☃️
I really wanted to like this one but it was a total bust for me
Hi Marissa,
Thanks for trying this recipe, sorry to hear it did not turn out for you. Here there anything that I can help with? What went wrong? Let me know:)
I made this tonight and it was not a winner. My chicken was so dry and tough. I thought it would be really flavorful but it was not. I’ve tried a lot of your recipes and love 99.9%. Something about this wasn’t what I was hoping, tried GF orzo instead of regular as well. That cooked up well.
Mine didn’t look anything like you’re either lol. Maybe I’ll try the lemon cream sauce smothered chicken and orzo next.
Hi Laurie,
Thanks for trying this dish and sharing your feedback, very sorry to hear it was not enjoyed. Have a great Friday!
I just made this for dinner and loved the flavoring! It was delicious and pretty easy to pull together. There were a few negative comments about the orzo….After 15 min in the oven, mine was still too watery, but I just put the cover on the dutch oven and left it in 10 more minutes and it came out perfect. She said it would be soupy, but thats how she meant for it to be. I have to agree with her it is a very comforting dish served this way! I will def be making it again.
Hey Kathy,
Happy Friday! Thanks a lot for trying this recipe and your comment, so glad it was enjoyed!☃️
I made this recipe last night too! Mine was still too watery as well, so I left in the oven for another 15-20 minutes. Turned out great!
I feel like something needs adjusted with this recipe. The cook times did not work and the orzo ended up mushy while some of the other things were not fully cooked. I will not be making this one again.
Hi Maggie,
Thanks for trying this dish and sharing your feedback, I’m sorry to hear you had some issues with the orzo cooking.
I was pretty disappointed with this one
Hi Sharon,
Sorry to hear you did not enjoy this recipe. Can I ask what went wrong or how I can help? Please let me know!
I would like to make this ahead of time, however I’m concerned if I add the orzo and liquid together too soon all the liquid would get absorbed. Where would you stop the process if you wanted to make this ahead? Cook the chicken and the veg and set it aside?
Hey Barb,
Sure, that will work nicely for you! I hope you love this dish, let me know if you give it a try!
I need at least some idea of how much Thyme should be used. I likely will sub dried thyme and will make the conversion based on the amount of fresh.
Hi Christy,
You can use 2 tablespoons of fresh thyme. I hope you love this recipe!
When substituting dried for fresh, you typically use half the amount. If a recipe calls for 2 T. fresh herb, you would use 1 T. dried herb. I made this recipe last night and decided on using 1 tsp. of dried thyme just to see where the flavor profile ended up after baking in the oven. Next time, I will use 1 T. dried thyme. The dish can handle it.
We had it for dinner last night and it was delicious. I swapped the orzo for pearl barley (healthier) and it was yummy. Another winner 🙂
Yay! Thanks so much, Alicia! So glad to hear this dish turned out well for you. Love the barley idea!
Hi Tieghan, I just noticed the Parmesan rind(s?). It would be really helpful if you could detail out everything you do to make your recipes instead of telling us after it’s posted that we can do that if we want. I want to make the recipe as you intended it with everything included. Which means I have to head to the grocery store again tomorrow!
Hey Valerie,
So sorry for any confusion here. I would not make a special trip to the grocery store just for the parmesan rind, the dish is perfectly delicious without it as well:)