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South Korea Part Two: Going for Gold.
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When you need something bright, cozy, and low-effort, this one-skillet chicken and orzo hits the spot. Think crispy seared chicken, caramelized lemon, and garlicky, butter-kissed orzo that soaks up all the flavor.
It’s weeknight-easy, pantry-friendly, and pretty enough to bring right to the table. Grab a lemon (Meyer if you’ve got it), a handful of greens, and let the oven finish the work.
You guys, I am not going to lie, at this point I really don’t even know what day it is. This entire time I’ve been in South Korea, I think I have asked what day it is and what the time is over and over again. South Korea is one day and sixteen hours ahead of MST, so the jet leg struggle was, and is, real. Because of work, I needed to be going back and forth between US time and Korean time and for me, it just got way too confusing.
By the time you all read this I should hopefully be home, as I am heading out in a couple of hours with a few family members along with me. I am currently writing this post while sitting in a hotel room in Seoul, trying to catch up on work…and scrolling through all the AMAZING comments, social media tags, and press from the last three days. It’s truly amazing. Thanks for the support you all are showing my brother. He’s living up this gold medal win (well sort of, the jet lag on this quick trip cannot be fun) and traveling around with my brother Malachi, doing a quick US press tour. However, they’ll both be back on a plane to South Korea in a couple of days, as Red needs to start practice for Men’s Snowboard Big Air.
Crazy, crazy ride those two are on…
I mean, did you catch Red on Jimmy Kimmel Live Tuesday night? Here’s the link if you’d like to watch.
And that’s your quick Red and Kai update for the day. Let’s talk food, because you know, that is what I do best.
While the food here in South Korea has been awesome…there’s been a lot of Korean Beef, ramen, and we had some amazing dumplings yesterday in Seoul…I must say, I’m looking forward to heading home and cooking up some of my favorite comfort meals, like this easy one skillet chicken dinner.
I made this before we left for Korea and it was the perfect easy, healthy, cozy dinner to eat the day before a long flight. Plus, it’s full of carbs, lemon, and veggies, so very much my kind of food.
The chicken is pan seared along with some fresh lemon slices and a little butter. The chicken becomes crispy, and the lemon slices caramelize, making them sweet enough to eat. I am aware that eating the whole lemon, peel and all, is still a little odd to many of you, but try it out this way. I promise, it’s so good.
The chicken and lemon alone could be an awesome recipe, classic and delicious, but me being me, I needed to add a little more to the recipe, so in came the orzo.
I mean, obviously, you have to have the carbs, you just do.
You could certainly use quinoa or another grain, but if I were you, I’d go with the orzo. It’s just fitting with this recipe and so delicious in the lemon butter sauce.
This recipe is not only delicious, it’s also super easy…one skillet, under an hour, and uses mostly pantry staple ingredients.
Cool. Cool.
It’s a crowd pleaser, and actually comes out of the oven looking relatively pretty. I threw on some fresh dill for color and served the chicken and orzo up right out of the skillet. Perfect for easy weeknight dinners or even entertaining.
Also, I get a lot of questions about what my favorite cast iron skillet is…I always, always use Staub. The ten and twelve inch are my favorites, I used the twelve inch for this recipe.
If I wasn’t getting home so late tonight, I’d for sure be making this for dinner. Instead, this will definitely be on my table as Friday night’s meal.
Can’t wait to start getting caught up on everything at home. Sorry for being MIA with comments this past week, I will be catching up soon. Thanks for all the messages!
Watch the How To Video Here:
One Skillet Lemon Butter Chicken and Orzo
Servings: 6 servings
Calories Per Serving: 337 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pound chicken breasts or small thighs
- kosher salt and pepper
- 1 Meyer or regular lemon, sliced
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 clove garlic, minced or grated
- 1 cup orzo pasta
- 1/3 cup white wine
- 2 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1/2 a bunch kale, roughly torn
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.2. Heat the olive oil in a large dutch oven or cast iron skillet set over medium high heat. Season the chicken all over with salt and pepper. When the oil is shimmering, add the chicken and sear on both sides until golden, about 3-5 minutes per side. Remove the chicken from the skillet. 3. To the same skillet, add the butter and lemon slices. Sear the lemon until golden on each side, about 1 minute. Remove the lemon from the pan and add to the plate with the chicken. 4. To the same skillet, add the garlic and orzo. Cook until the garlic is fragrant and the orzo toasted, about 2-3 minutes. Add the wine to the skillet and de-glaze the pan. Add the chicken broth, kale, and lemon juice. Bring to a boil over high heat and stir. Slide the chicken, lemon slices, and any juices left on the pan back into the skillet. Transfer to the oven and roast, uncovered for 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.4. Serve the chicken topped with fresh dill and lemon zest. EAT!
Chicken dinner for the win…or the GOLD?! I dunno, but clearly I am still way too excited that my brother is an Olympic Gold Medalist. No big deal or anything…
This post was originally published on February 15, 2018
OMG! I am 62, so it’s rare I use that kind of response! I am old school when it comes to comments and always spell things out, no shortcuts! THIS dish though is just worthy of that universal response! I did use thighs of the boneless, skinless variety! confession rime— thighs just have that extra flavor and when cooked correctly just kind of melt in your mouth and make you go, what? Getting back to this dish…. just love orzo, thighs, substituted spinach Instead of kale… only change I made! This dish is good, hearty, and easy in preparation with ingredients most have on hand anyway! Put it this way, food is very important to my husband and myself, and after this meal he said he would definitely be keeping me around awhile longer, kind of an inside joke after 37 years! Thank you and I love your blog and am so grateful your brother was the first gold medalist in the 2018 Winter Olympics and CNN.com mentioned you in the article that featured his incredible feat! Blessing abound!! This is a must make dish!
I am SO glad you loved this Karen! Thank you so much! My family and I are so proud of Red, still cannot believe he won gold!
This is on the menu tonight for dinner! Can’t wait to try it. Loving your new cookbook too and that with your continued growth and success how down to earth you still seem to be and still taking time to reply to your readers. I’m from Cleveland and we are all so proud of Red. What a cool family!
Thank you so much Renee!
Made this last night, my family devoured it! My 9 year old daughter proclaimed it “dinner of the year!”.
Wow! Thank you Tina!
Hi there! I’d like be to try this with orzo, but my husband has trouble with gluten. Any major modifications that would need to be made if I substituted basmati rice? TIA and I can’t wait to try this! ?
HI! I don’t think you need to modify anything. The rice the should cook up pretty similar to the orzo. Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂
Loved this recipe. Very lemony which was awesome. Used dairy-free butter and served it with bread to soak up that deeeeelicious sauce. Loved the dill garnish. Seems like the perfect end of winter, waiting on spring meal. Definitely making it again.
Thank you Sarah! I am so glad you enjoyed this!
Made it, loved it – and so did my 5-year-old. Mission accomplished. Thank you for all the great recipes. I’ve basically narrowed many of my food blogs down to yours – and I actually MAKE your recipes on a regular basis. So great!
That is so nice to hear! Thank you Larissa, I hope you continue to love my recipes!
I made this tonight. Followed recipe to a T. It is excellent. I can’t imagine anyone not loving this. Thank you for easy deliciousness!
I am so glad you loved this! Thank you Michelle!
Made this last Sat for dinner and it was amazing! Easy to make and tasted fantastic.
That is so great! So glad you enjoyed this recipe, Liz!
Thanks Tieghan – this recipe was delightful! I used two Meyer lemons because they just looked so pretty and two garlic cloves because, well, garlic.
Thank you Ryan!
This is the perfect weeknight dinner idea – anything with lemon and dill is absolute perfection!
Glad you think so! Thank you Laura!
This looks awesome! The acidity of the lemons doesn’t mess with the seasoning of the cast iron?
Nope, it does not mess with it. Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂
How do I sign up to get your recipes delivered to my email? I found you on Instagram, and they all look so yummy. I’m making this tonight, but subbing in spinach, because that’s in my fridge, and I have everything thing else already!
Hi Annika! I am so glad you have been enjoying my blog and hope you love this recipe! If you go to the home page on my blog and scroll down you should see a place you can insert your email and name. It is almost at the bottom right past the cookbook. I hope this helps, but let me know if you still have questions! Thank you!
Made this last night for dinner and not only was it super easy (i love one pan meals) but it was delicious!!! My son asked “is this from Red’s sister, it’s really good!”
Awh that is so great! I am really glad you enjoyed this Eileen!
Just made this for dinner tonight- it was DELICIOUS! We will definitely make this again! AND Many CONGRATS TO RED and your family
Thank you so much Sarah!! I am so glad you enjoyed this!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was easy to make and it was delicious!! Thank you for the great recipe 🙂
Thank you Leah!