One Pan Greek Lemon Chicken Rice with Roasted Garlic

Courtesy of Closet Cooking

One pan dinners are a must for the busy weeknights when you just need dinner on the table quick and with minimal clean up necessary. I recommend using a cast iron skillet for large dishes that are one-pan, but any big skillet will do. Because this dish is so simple and minimal in ingredients, I highly recommend using fresh lemons, fresh herbs, and a really nice chicken broth/stock. I chose chicken breast but chicken thighs or even skin-on, bone-in would add even more flavor. I topped the dish with fresh parsley, goat cheese and kalamata olives but feta would also work great as well as other toppings such as pine nuts, green olives, capers, etc. I love a punch of acidity, so I made sure to squeeze extra lemon on top.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

1 pound chicken (breasts, thighs, drumsticks, legs etc.)

1 onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 cup long grain rice

2 cups chicken broth

1 teaspoon oregano

1 lemon, juice and zest

2 heads garlic, top 1/4 cut off

1 teaspoon olive oil

Directions:

Step 1: Heat the oil in a large oven safe pan (a cast iron skillet is nice) over medium-high heat, season the chicken with salt and pepper and cook in the pan until the chicken is golden brown, about 2-4 minutes per side, before setting aside.

Step 2: Add the onion to the pan and cook until tender and lightly golden brown, about 3-5 minutes.

Step 3: Add the garlic and rice to the pan and cook until fragrant, about a minute.

Step 4: Add the broth and deglaze the pan by scraping up the brown bits on the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon while the broth simmers.

Step 5: Mix in the oregano and the lemon, add the chicken and heads of garlic with the cut sides up and drizzle the oil on the garlic before covering the pan and roasting in a preheated 375F/190C oven until the rice is cooked and the garlic is a light golden brown and tender, about 30-45 minutes.

Step 6: Squeeze the garlic out of the heads and mix it into the rice serving the chicken on the lemon garlic rice.