One Pot Chicken Orzo Recipe

This one pot chicken orzo recipe has officially earned a spot in our dinner rotation list.  One new trick I learned with this dish is toasting orzo.  I never thought to toast orzo before cooking it, but its a good trick to have in your back pocket.  It gives the dish an unexpected, very subtle smoky flavor.

I love my yellow dutch oven so much and when I can find a recipe, like this chicken orzo pasta, to utilize it, I'm super happy.  Also whenever I see the words "one pot" in the recipe name, I immediately have confidence that it will be doable and not overwhelming, as was the case with this delicious recipe.

I've mentioned before my love for kalamata olives, and they represent very well in this dish.  I added them into the dish whole, but you can slice them in half as well.  They gave such a great punch of flavor as they always do.

I normally choose chicken breasts when I'm shopping for a chicken dish.  This recipe called for thighs, however,  and I can see how they work best.  They do not dry out as quickly as chicken breasts and their flavor is richer which complements the tomatoes, basil, and feta very well.

There are many chicken orzo recipes out there, but for fabulous taste and ease of preparation with the one pot, I highly recommend this one.

This might be a dish I'll wind up making every two weeks, its so good and so easy.

Enjoy!

Recipe

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One Pot Chicken Orzo Recipe

Author Five Silver Spoons

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 ½ pounds boneless chicken thighs
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 cup orzo
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 8 ounces grape tomatoes halved
• 1 ½ cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon capers
• 2 tablespoons Kalamata olives halved
• ¼ to ½ cups crumbled feta
• Fresh basil chopped
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Drizzle of finishing olive oil

Instructions

1. First, toast the orzo.
2. Heat a large skillet or a Dutch oven and heat olive oil over medium-high heat.
3. Toast the orzo until it is lightly browned, but before it gets too fragrant. I toasted for about 2 minutes.
4. Spoon the orzo into a bowl and set aside. Next up is the chicken.
5. Pat the thighs dry and season with oregano, paprika, salt, and pepper.
6. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the skillet or Dutch oven on medium-high heat until it is nice and hot and beginning to smoke.
7. Brown the chicken for roughly three minutes on each side, then remove it and set it aside. Turn the heat down a notch and add in the other tablespoon of oil and the minced garlic.
8. Cook for 30 seconds, until fragrant, but be careful not to burn it. Then pour in the broth and throw in the tomatoes and orzo.
9. Give the mixture a good stir and bring it to a boil. Finally, add the chicken back in, cover the skillet/Dutch oven, and let it sit on medium-low heat until the orzo is tender and the chicken is cooked through.
10. This will take 15 minutes or so. Be sure to check on the dish from time to time as you don’t want the orzo to become mushy and overcooked. When ready, turn off the heat and add in the capers, Kalamata olives, feta, and basil.
11. Top it all off with a drizzle of nice finishing oil, give it another good stir or two and you’re ready to serve!

Recipe Notes

Source: Food52