This Lemon Chicken Orzo is one of the best dinners I have ever made and it makes for an excellent meal prep recipe as well. It is easy, tangy, creamy, absolutely delicious and made in ONE pan! This meal also uses boursin cheese and it took the internet by storm as one of my first viral recipes!
This one pan boursin cheese recipe is great year round and it is definitely a crowd pleaser. Having people over you want to impress and not sure what to make? This recipe will be your go to! It is a show stopper without all the added steps and time.
If you love this recipe you will love my one pan chicken feta orzo which was inspired by this recipe or my one pan chicken and zucchini orzo.
Jump to:
Ingredients
- Chicken breast, diced into 1" cubes
- Avocado oil
- Salt
- Pepper
- Garlic powder
- Smoked paprika
- Italian seasoning
- Fresh herbs (basil, dill, thyme), minced
- Garlic Cloves, minced
- Zest & Juice of one lemon
- Lemon Sliced (optional)
- Sun-dried tomatoes
- Boursin cheese
- Chopped frozen spinach or fresh spinach
- Orzo, dry
- Chicken Bone Broth or Chicken Broth
- Water
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
1. Preheat your oven to 400 F and set your rack to the middle position.
2. Grab a large baking pan (9x13). Add your diced chicken breast, avocado oil and seasonings. Next add your garlic, fresh herbs, lemon zest, lemon juice, and sun-dried tomatoes.
3. Create a hole in the center and add your Boursin cheese. Next add in your frozen spinach, orzo, bone broth and water. Use a spatula to push down your orzo into the liquid and make sure everything is evenly distributed.
4. Place in the oven and bake for about 35-40 minutes or until your orzo is cooked through! Let set for 10 minutes before serving. Mix and serve!
Hint: The dish may appear watery upon pulling the dish out of the oven. Do NOT Panic! This is very normal. Orzo takes some time to absorb all of the water, so trust the process and wait 10 minutes before serving. The orzo will soak up the water and it will come out perfect!
Hint: If you are using fresh spinach, wait to add the spinach at the end before mixing!
Substitutions
If you are interested in making this one pan boursin cheese recipe but you have dietary restrictions, you can make the following substitutions:
- Dairy-Free - Boursin has a dairy-free option that you are welcome to use to make this recipe dairy-free.
- Vegetarian- Skip the chicken and use vegetable broth to make this recipe vegetarian.
- Vegan- Skip chicken, use vegetable broth and substitute for the dairy-free boursin to make this recipe vegan.
- Gluten-free- try using rice instead of orzo to make this recipe gluten-free (I have personally not tried this therefore can not say with certainty this will work).
- Frozen spinach- you can substitute for fresh spinach, I only used frozen because that's all I had on hand!
Variations
- Spicy - add red chili flakes to make this recipe spicy.
- Kid friendly - this recipe is kid friendly on it's own!
- Chicken- Substitute chicken for diced tofu as a plant based alternative protein source.
Equipment
All you need to make this one pan lemon chicken orzo recipe is a 9x13 ceramic baking dish or pan.
For those that are looking for something similar to the pan I used in my reel, here is a baking dish I found on amazon with great reviews.
If you are meal prepping this boursin cheese pasta, these are some of my favorite glass bento box containers.
Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, which means I make a small commission if you choose to purchase through qualifying links.
Storage
You can store this one pan lemon chicken orzo in the fridge in an air tight container for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Top tip
Dish may appear watery but trust the process and cook just until your orzo is cooked through. Once you remove your pan let it rest for 5 minutes before serving and this will soak up the excess liquid.
FAQ
You can use whatever herbs you have on hand but I used basil, thyme and dill. I think chives and rosemary would also fit nicely.
I think rice should work as a substitute for orzo but I have not yet tried this so proceed with caution when trying.
One Pan Meals
Looking for other easy one pan meals like this? Try these:
Meal Prep
Looking for some other easy meal prep recipes like this? Try these:
Jump to: Recipe
One Pan Lemon Chicken Orzo
Equipment
- 1 9x13 ceramic baking dish
Ingredients
- 1 pound Chicken breast diced
- 1 tablespoon Avocado oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ⅓ cup fresh herbs dill,thyme, basil, minced
- 3-4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 lemon zested & juiced
- 1 lemon sliced to top (optional)
- ½ cup Sun-dried tomatoes
- 1 Boursin cheese
- 6 oz or ½ a bag chopped frozen spinach or fresh spinach
- 1.5 cups orzo dry
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 F and set your rack to the middle position.
- Grab a large baking pan (9x13). Add your diced chicken breast, avocado oil and seasonings. Next add your garlic, fresh herbs, lemon zest, lemon juice, and sun-dried tomatoes.
- Create a hole in the center and add your Boursin cheese. Next add in your frozen spinach, orzo, bone broth and water. Use a spatula to push down your orzo into the liquid and make sure everything is evenly distributed.
- Place in the oven and bake for about 35-40 minutes or until your orzo is cooked through! Mix and serve!
- Hint: The dish may appear watery upon pulling the dish out of the oven. Do not Panic! This is very normal. Orzo takes some time to absorb all of the water, so trust the process and wait 10 minutes before serving. The orzo will soak up the water and it will come out perfect!
- Hint: If you are using fresh spinach, wait to add the spinach at the end before mixing!
Video
Notes
Substitutions
-
- Dairy-Free - Boursin has a dairy-free option that you are welcome to use to make this recipe dairy-free.
-
- Vegetarian- Skip the chicken and use vegetable broth to make this recipe vegetarian.
-
- Vegan- Skip chicken, use vegetable broth and substitute for the dairy-free boursin to make this recipe vegan.
-
- Gluten-free- try using rice instead of orzo to make this recipe gluten-free (I have personally not tried this therefore can not say with certainty this will work).
Variations
-
- Spicy - add add red chili flakes to make this recipe spicy.
-
- Kid friendly - this recipe is kid friendly on it's own!
-
- Chicken- Substitute chicken for diced tofu as a plant based alternative protein source.
Equipment
All you need for this recipe is a 9x13 ceramic baking dish or pan. For those that are looking for something similar to the dish I used in my reel, here is a baking dish I found on amazon with great reviews. If you are meal prepping this meal, these are some of my favorite glass bento box containers. Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, which means I make a small commission if you choose to purchase through qualifying links.Storage
You can store this one pan lemon chicken orzo in the fridge in an air tight container for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.Top tip
Make sure to slice your chicken into larger chunks so that they do not dry out in the cooking process.Nutrition
Food safety
- Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
Alicia says
So So good! Made it for dinner tonight. My husband asked that this be added to normal dinner rotation.
Kristi Bajjali says
This was the easiest recipe and it was DELICIOUS! Can't wait to make it again!
Vanessa Sotelo says
Loved this receipt! First time cooking Orzo but it was very easy! My kiddos also loved it, they rarely ask for seconds and they went for thirds! Will defiantly be making again!
Nayla says
Incredible recipe and delicious too!
Hillary Whitfield says
SO GOOD! This was so easy for me to make during nap time, and reheated really well. The chicken was tender and so flavorful. Big hit with my toddler, too! Loved feeding my family a flavorful and nutritious meal with this recipe. Thanks!!
Katy says
SO GOOD!
Jen F. says
I tried this recipe last night and it passed the test with my teen boys!! We are adding it into the rotation. It had amazing flavor!!
Lauren says
I made this as meal prep for lunches this week and it is SO good.
I doubled it to make 8 servings - it probably could have made 10, but I always make my boyfriend’s servings bigger, so 4 for him and 4 normal size servings for me haha. I used basil and dill for the fresh spices, and instead of spinach used yellow squash and zucchini. I salted those and let them drain some before adding them in, but also left out the water in the recipe since zucchini and squash release a lot of water when cooked. 12/10 recommend.
Lindsey says
This is so darn good!
I wanted a little char on my chicken, so I seasoned it, cooked it in a cast iron skillet, then chopped and mixed it in the baked orzo mixture at the end.
I will be making this a lot!
christina.klapper says
I’m so happy that you loved it!!!!!
Chelsea says
Very good! All the kids, including very picky four year old ate it. Dinner win. Will be making the other recipes next!
Nancy D'Amato says
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I had all the ingredients, prepped and ready yesterday, but my daughter was dying for Chinese takeout, so I just saved everything for today. Then I tested positive for Covid but, with a mask on, I threw everything in my Pyrex and told my husband to take it out in 45 minutes. It is delicious! Unfortunately, we will forever called his dish Covid chicken. 🤣
Nicole C says
While easy to make, we all felt like something was missing. Chicken was also very dry. If I try it again, I might use chicken thighs instead of breasts.
christina.klapper says
Hey Nicole! Thank you for the feedback! Just curious, did you bake it in a ceramic dish? Also how long did you bake for?
Jenn says
Just made this for dinner. It’s excellent, I’ll definitely be adding this dish to our regular rotation.
ELizabeth Rowbotham says
I loved recipe but felt chicken was dry - any suggestions on how to cook without overcooking chicken?
christina.klapper says
Hey Elizabeth! How long did you end up cooking the chicken for? I think sometimes people worry about the extra liquid that's left in the pan, they end up cooking the dish longer and end up drying out the chicken rather than removing the dish from the oven and letting it rest for 7-10 minutes until the orzo is soaks up the liquid! Another thing is trying to choose higher quality (or further from the sell by date) chicken! I chose a chicken at the store that was a day or 2 from the sell by date and it ended up being SO dry when I was taste testing another recipe with a similar cook time but when I chose a higher quality chicken and further from the sell date, it was perfect!
I hope that helps!! You can also try just cooking the chicken separate in a pan and adding in after if you have the time!
Joy says
Same results in a glass pan vs. ceramic?
christina.klapper says
Hey Joy! Great question! I have not tried this with a glass pan but I think many other people have and have posted that it turned out great!
Daizia Williams says
Yum! This is the second recipe I’ve tried after finding the Easy Eats Dietitian Instagram page, and my family is so pleased! As a busy, full-time working, exclusively pumping mama to three kids, cooking had fallen by the wayside lately. After getting tired of fast food and seeing the number on the scale start to creep up I was wanting to eat more real food but felt at a loss for where to start. This recipe and the boursin tortellini recipe have both been easy to make even while exhausted after a long work day, and both have tasted delicious! The whole family was going back for second and third helpings, and it was so great to have leftovers for lunch as well. Looking forward to continuing to try more recipes and eating more veggies and balanced meals! Thank you!
christina.klapper says
Wow this is such a sweet comment. This is what this page is all about 🥹 so glad you’re here and thank you so much for taking the time to review this recipe!!!!
Lauren says
The Boursin cheese I got has garlic in it. Should I still use the garlic powder and garlic cloves?
christina.klapper says
If you love garlic, yes!! I always do 🙂
canadian pharcharmy online says
I don't even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was good. I do not know who you are but certainly you're going to a famous blogger if you aren't already 😉 Cheers!
Mickala Parsley says
Excited to say that this is a new favorite meal in our house! I love that it’s low key prep, being that it is only a one pan meal. It has elevated ingredients and flavors that makes it seem like you spent hours in the kitchen. I especially loved the lemon! We couldn’t stop eating it. Thanks so much for sharing
Becky Weatherford says
I just made this and it is delicious. The only ingredient I skipped was the lemon slices. My family loved this recipe!!! Tastes so fresh and very filling but in a healthy way. The lemon flavor was perfect. I will definitely add this to my meal rotation.
Emily says
Can you use fresh spinach?
christina.klapper says
Hey Emily, Yes you can absolutely use fresh spinach! I would just chop it so that it fits in the pan easier 🙂
Haley Capps says
I have probably made this 10x now. An absolute staple in our house now. Quick, filling, and hobby approved.
Mark says
What about the 1/3 cup of fresh herbs? Is this amount right? I don’t understand how it doesn’t overpower everything and in the video doesn’t look like 1/3 cup
christina.klapper says
When I re recorded the video that’s all the basil I had but usually I add in dill basil etc and it is 1/3 cup! I chop the herbs and it really isn’t as much as it sounds because of the serving size!
Kelly Beeler says
This was such a great recipe! Very lemon-y but we added just a touch more garlic (we’re big seasoning/garlic people) and loved it! Next time, I’m going to try fresh spinach as I feel like frozen spinach sometimes has a distinct taste.
Overall, an impressive dinner that was easy to make and will continue to be part of our rotation!
Stacie says
I absolutely love this recipe! It is my go to and my husband’s favorite dish! Thank you for sharing all these great recipes.
christina.klapper says
I’m so glad you and your family love it!!!!
Courtney says
I want to try this with gluten free noodles, instead of orzo. Do I need cook the noodles first?
christina.klapper says
Hey courtney,
I have not tried this so I can’t say for sure. I would think if they have a similar cook time to regular orzo, it should be fine to cook it together, however, if the instructions are different you may want to cook orzo separately and make sure not to add the bone broth and water to the pan.
Cindy says
This was amazing. I used risotto as we have a celiac in this family and it turned out really well.
christina.klapper says
I’m so glad to hear you loved it Cindy!!!
Patricia says
The dish tastes great. My problem is that everything over cooked by the time the orzo was done. I also didn't see the note about adding fresh spinach at end, so some was crispy. I would try again, but I would definitely change some things.
christina.klapper says
Hey Patricia! I’m curious, did you use a ceramic dish? Also how long did you end up baking for?
Paige Reel says
For the fresh herbs, is it 1/3 cup of a combination of the three or 1/3 cup of each herb? Seems like that would be a lot so I’m thinking a combination. Making this tonight!
christina.klapper says
Yes 1/3 cup total herbs!!
Jill Black says
Love this dish!!! Fam fav. What is we use leftover smoked turkey chunks? Maybe add toward the end of orzo cooking time?
christina.klapper says
Yes!! You can add half way through or honestly at the beginning!! Should be fine!
Amanda says
Too much lemon in this recipe!! The lemon overpowered all the other flavours unfortunately. I would use half a lemon or even less.
christina.klapper says
Hey Amanda!
Yes, this is definitely a lemon forward dish and for those who love super lemony flavors!!! You can definitely reduce the amount of lemon you use per preference!
Natalie says
Love this recipe! Is there any recommendations on a different type of tomato to use? We aren’t big fans of sun dried tomatoes. Even so, we loved this! It was a little too much lemon for our liking, so I might add a little less next time. But overall, so good! And EASY!
christina.klapper says
Hey Natalie! You can use regular cherry tomatoes instead! Yes, it’s super lemony so feel free to adjust as needed!!! So glad you enjoyed it!!!
J west says
Hi! I’m looking forward to using this recipe for a week-long stay of guests. I’d like to prep it about 5-6 days beforehand. Would you suggest freezing it before it is cooked, or after it is cooked for best results?
christina.klapper says
I would recommend making this fresh for best results! However, if you have to, I would probably make it first. Allow to come to room temperature within recommended time frame, then freeze in an air tight container. Just keep in mind the dish can only be reheated one time (the time you serve it).
Kelly says
Delicious! Everyone loved it including my toddler. Great way to give him more spinach in his diet! It fully cooked in under 30 min for us, and the chicken was perfect and not overcooked or dry at all. Definitely needed the 10 min rest, that’s when I added the chopped up fresh spinach
christina.klapper says
Yay!!! I’m so happy you and the family loved it!
Angela says
While my picky husband and son were not a fan (they don't like their foods touching, so a casserole is not for them) I absolutely LOVED it! So flavorful. I couldn't find orozo so I had to use arborio (first time ever having it) so I am not sure if I missed out as I have never had orozo either.
Thanks again for the easy and delicious meal!
christina.klapper says
Haha that's okay, can't win them all but thank you so much!! I am so glad you enjoyed it!!! Thank you for taking the time to leave this review 🙂
Melissa says
To confirm you Dice the chicken and put it in raw correct? don't cook it before?
christina.klapper says
correct!
Heather says
Have you ever subbed the orzo for rice? I realized I was out after starting the recipe. I just popped it into the oven with basmati rice and hope it turns out. This is my second time making it.
christina.klapper says
I have not tried this but I think it should still work!! How did it turn out??
Kristin says
This is our favorite recipe of yours! Sometimes I add extra veggies I have on hand and it always turns out great. The best part is that it’s just as delicious the day after! It’s definitely a regular in our meal rotation.