The myth of the one pan meal is something that is very popular in the Internet food world, but it can be hard to find a TRUE one pan meal. This chicken and orzo bake is exactly that. It’s truly an all-in-one bake that needs nothing else to serve with. It’s a full meal on it’s own and one that is great for any weeknight dinner for late summer or fall.
Need a GOOD baking pan for this dish? Here’s an assortment of great MISEN baking dishes that you can choose from. I prefer the 13” roasting pan. Use the code NICK10 at checkout for 10% off!
The best Baking Pan
I was on the hunt for a new baking dish recently and found the Misen roasting dish. This is a 13” roasting dish that has medium-height walls to keep juices in. It’s perfect for one pan dishes like this.
Check out this pan and their assortment of baking dishes. I like this one because it’s stainless steel, very sturdy, and easy to clean.
How to prepare the chicken
While you could use chicken breasts for this recipe, I prefer chicken thighs. I got boneless skinless ones for this recipe and just seasoned them generously with Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and salt.
If you use chicken breasts, you could probably get away with just three or four as they tend to be much bigger. You are shooting for about 1 1/2 pounds of chicken for this orzo bake, regardless of cut.
How to prepare the orzo for this bake
I went with an easy, and kind of novel way, to prepare the orzo for this dish. Basically, I just stirred everything together in a bowl and then dumped it into the baking dish. I was worried that this wouldn’t distribute stuff easily, but it worked great.
Not a fan of orzo? Try this recipe with white rice or pearl couscous! It’ll work great although you’ll need to adjust the cooking time up a few minutes or white rice.
Cooking the chicken and orzo bake
This is a dumb-simple dish to make once you have everything seasoned. Just add the orzo mixture to the baking dish and make sure it’s evenly distributed around the dish. Then nestle in your chicken pieces and dot with cherry tomatoes.
I recommend drizzling some olive oil over it as well.
This is what my ready-to-bake dish looked like!
It looks a bit messy at this stage, but trust me it’ll bake up perfectly!
I baked mine at 375˚F for about 30 minutes. You’ll want to test a chicken piece (165˚F in the thickest part) and also test the orzo to make sure it’s tender.
When the dish comes out, be sure to let it rest for a few minutes so the liquid can soak into the orzo and chicken. Then it’s ready to serve with some basil and extra parmesan on top!
Substitutions
There are some easy substitutions you could make for this recipe.
– Use a different starch like rice, pearl couscous, or quinoa.
– Use whole chicken thighs for a more substantial dish.
– For a vegetarian version, add a can of chickpeas to the dish along with some halved cremini mushrooms tossed with the seasoning mix for the chicken.
Leftovers
This dish makes incredible leftovers. It’s basically the same on day two. I recommend just reheating it in the microwave with a splash of stock or water in a microwave-safe dish (not the roasting pan) for about 90 seconds.
If you wanted to reheat the entire dish, pop it back in the oven for 15 minutes at 350˚F.
One Pan Chicken and Orzo Bake
Equipment
Ingredients
Chicken thighs:
- 6 chicken thighs, boneless and skinless
- 2 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Orzo Mix:
- 1 ¼ cups orzo pasta, about 8 ounces
- ½ medium white onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes
- 2 ½ cups chicken stock
- ½ cup parmesan cheese, divided
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Fresh basil, garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375˚F. For chicken, spread thighs out on a clean plate and season well with Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, stir together orzo, onions, garlic, 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese, salt and pepper, and chicken stock.
- In a 9×13, high-walled-baking dish, add olive oil and pour in the orzo mix, distributing it evenly over the pan. Nestle the chicken thighs in the orzo and dot with cherry tomatoes.
- Bake the dish for about 30 minutes or until chicken registers 165˚F in the thick parts of the thighs. Orzo should be tender and most of the liquid absorbed as well.
- Remove from oven and let rest for a few minutes. Garnish with extra parmesan cheese and basil. Serve while warm.
Jackson
This chicken and orzo bake looks incredible and perfect for busy weeknights! While waiting for it to finish baking in the oven, I usually unwind with a quick game like Spacebar Clicker. Definitely adding this recipe to my dinner rotation!