I love one pot meals, some of my favorites include chili mac, pizza pasta and this fresh and delicious Mediterranean chicken.
I love Mediterranean food – the flavors are bold and fresh and it’s also healthy. I often cook with ingredients that are found in the Mediterranean diet – whole grains, fruit and vegetables, beans, olive oil and herbs. I took all of my favorite Mediterranean flavors and turned them into a one pot meal, because by now you all know that I’m all about cooking in one pot whenever possible. This one pot Mediterranean chicken is a real winner and the kids enjoyed it too!
How do you make Mediterranean chicken?
This recipe starts with chicken thighs, which are browned and then combined with chickpeas, orzo, olives, roasted peppers and chicken broth. Everything goes into the oven to simmer until tender. Add a sprinkling of fresh parsley and dinner is served!
Tips for Mediterranean chicken
I like to use bone-in skin-on chicken thighs for this dish, but you can also use drumsticks or bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts. Orzo is a small rice shaped pasta that can be found with the rest of the pasta shapes at most grocery stores. You can use regular orzo or whole wheat orzo in this dish. This recipe calls for roasted red bell peppers – you can roast your own, or buy a jar of prepared roasted peppers to save on time. This dish is perfect as-is, but I sometimes like to serve it with a steamed vegetable on the side such as broccoli, green beans or asparagus. You can also do a mixed green salad tossed in Greek salad dressing.
Mediterranean Chicken Variations
There are so many different ways to vary the flavors in this dish to make your own creation!
Beans: Instead of chickpeas, try cannellini or Great Northern beans. Vegetables: Swap out the bell peppers for marinated artichoke hearts or sauteed mushrooms. Grains: Try bulgur wheat or brown rice instead of orzo pasta.
More than ever I have been relying on easy dinner options. I’d much rather be out in the yard with the kids instead of standing over a hot stove. This Mediterranean chicken is perfect for our hectic schedule because I can just combine everything in one pot, put it in the oven and walk away until the timer tells me it’s dinner time. Plus clean up is a breeze. Have you hopped on the one pot meal bandwagon yet? If not, this recipe is the perfect place to start.
More easy chicken recipes
Chicken and Green Beans Slow Cooker Chicken Drumsticks Hawaiian Chicken Chicken Casserole Braised Chicken with Carrots and Potatoes
This post was originally published July 16, 2015 and was updated on June 25, 2019 with new content.
