One Pot Lemon Chicken Orzo
This post contains affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.
One Pot Lemon Chicken Orzo is flavorful and so easy to prepare! Cubed chicken, peas, lemon, and orzo make for a delicious high protein meal.
If you’re looking for a fresh and bright dinner – you’ll love this lemon chicken orzo! It has peas, perfectly seared chicken, toasted orzo, and fresh squeezed lemon juice. This is a simple and delicious weeknight meal the whole family will enjoy!
High protein, veggie loaded and easy to make in one pan – you’ll love this dinner!
Tyler’s Tips for the Best Lemon Chicken Orzo
- Brown your chicken to develop flavor! Getting a hot pan coated in olive oil and making sure your chicken gets that beautiful brown caramelization will add depths of flavor to all of your recipes. Use some paper towels to discard excess liquid released from the chicken during the cook.
- Add fresh lemon juice and citrus at the end of the cooking process to make sure you maximize the citrusy flavor! Cooking citrus for long periods of time can break down the flavor and lose it’s luster.
- Meal Prep! This lemon chicken orzo skillet recipe is so easy to reheat in the microwave, toaster oven, or a pan. Double up the recipe and enjoy it for leftovers all week long.
Ingredients:
substitutions
Extra Virgin Olive Oil: You could use avocado oil or beef tallow, but we really recommend extra virgin olive oil for this recipe.
Chicken Breasts: You can substitute with cubed boneless chicken thighs or cubed chicken tenders but we like the texture of the chicken breasts the best. We have not tried this with cubed pork tenderloin or cubed pork chops but that may also work.
Onions and Garlic: We don’t recommend substituting for the onions and garlic but you can use 1 teaspoon garlic powder and 1 teaspoon onion powder in place of these if necessary.
Orzo: We love the texture of the orzo in this recipe but most small pasta shapes will work great like orecchiette, rotini, ditalini, and bowties. You may need to adjust the cook time if the pasta instructions call for longer than 10 minutes. We have not tested this with rice but it could be a good option and may require a few more minutes of cook time.
Spices: Dried basil and dried parsley work great with this flavor profile but feel free to substitute for dried rosemary, oregano, or thyme! Fresh spices work well too I would just recommend adding these at the end.
Chicken Broth: Any broth or stock (broth and stock are the same) can be used in any soup recipe. Beef Broth, Chicken Broth, or vegetable broth all work interchangeably. I always use low or no salt broth.
Lemons: Lemon Zest and Lemon Juice add some delicious fresh flavor and acid to the dish, lime juice could be a good option or if you are out of citrus then you can use an 1/8 cup of white wine vinegar or red wine vinegar. The vinegar will help maintain that acidity in lieu of the lemon.
Frozen Peas: Fresh peas can work just fine, I don’t recommend canned peas as they may get mushy. Easily swap the peas for diced asparagus, diced green beans, or even sugar snap peas!
Parmesan Cheese: Swap the parmesan cheese for asiago cheese, fontina cheese, or mozzarella for that cheese pull in a bowl!
How to Make Lemon Chicken Orzo
- In a skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium high heat. Add salt and peppered chicken pieces and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set aside
- Reduce to medium, cook onions and garlic for 3 minutes. Add the uncooked orzo, stirring for one minute.
- Stir in cooked chicken, chicken broth, spices, and lemon zest. Cover and cook over medium low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Orzo should be fully cooked.
- Stir in the lemon juice, parmesan cheese and peas to the pan. Serve!
What to Serve with this Recipe:
This recipe is a full balanced meal packed with high protein, vegetables, and carbs but you can easily add a side salad for some extra veggies and nutrition!
Try our Mediterranean chickpea salad or this spinach blueberry salad. It’s also great with fresh sourdough bread on the side!
storage
Storing: This easy lemon chicken orzo recipe is great for meal prepping and storing. Pack away in an airtight container in thew fridge for up to 4 days.
Reheat: Reheat this in the microwave, on the stovetop, or in the oven. If you’re reheating on the stovetop you may need to add a little bit of chicken broth to the pan.
Freezing: We don’t recommend freezing this recipe as the pasta and peas will get very mushy upon reheating.
We hope you love this easy chicken dinner as much as we do!
One Pot Lemon Chicken Orzo
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut in ¼ inch square pieces
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup diced onions
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 cup dry orzo pasta
- 2 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ¾ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 cup peas
Instructions
- Season chicken cubes with pepper and salt, set aside.
- In a large sauté pan or pot, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium high heat.
- Add the chicken to the pan and let it cook for 10 minutes or until you get a nice golden brown color on the exterior. Make sure to stir occasionally to brown all sides.
- Note: If there is some excess liquid released while the chicken cooks, remove some of the liquid by placing a few paper towels in the bottom of the pan to absorb the liquid and immediately discard. Removing some of the liquid will allow for a nice golden brown exterior on the chicken.
- Once your chicken has browned, remove it from the pan and set aside in a bowl.
- Reduce the heat to medium. Add onions and garlic to the pan and cook for 3 minutes or until soft and translucent. If you need to add a splash of oil to the bottom of the pan to prevent sticking, go for it!
- Add the uncooked orzo to the pan, stirring for one minute to give it a gentle toast.
- Add the cooked chicken, chicken broth, dried parsley, dried basil, and lemon zest to the pan and stir.
- Cover the pan and cook over medium low heat for 10 minutes, stirring every few minutes to make sure the orzo does not stick to the bottom.
- After 10 minutes, the orzo should be fully cooked.
- Add the lemon juice, parmesan cheese and peas to the pan and stir together.
- Serve warm.
This is my first recipe I’m trying and it was sooo good!! Definitely going to be a summer favorite. So bright and fresh but comforting, too!
Great supper dish!!! So easy and quick to prepare!!!! I did half a recipe and it was more than enough for the two of us!! I will definitely be making this again!!!
Loved this recipe! It was very good, super easy to make, and perfect for a summer dish. I’m excited to enjoy the leftovers tomorrow—it’s one I’ll definitely make again!