I have been meaning to put this recipe together for weeks now and now that I have come to do it…I can’t really remember what I put in it! Helpful isn’t it?! This was something I made up as I went and definitely needs a little tweaking but it’s a delicious one pot wonder (actually two as you have to marinate it first) perfect for mid week dinners. I will try my best to remember but it’s a fly by the seat of your pants kind of dish – tweak and flavour as you go and if it’s not perfect, it’s an excuse to make it again right? Right!
One pan Green lemon chicken with yoghurt & risoni
1-2 cups of natural greek yoghurt
2 lemons (zest and juice and sliced)
2-3 garlic cloves
Chicken thighs (I used bone in)
Dried oregano and thyme
1-2 cups of risoni
2-3 cups chicken stock
Spinach
1. Into a bowl mix together the natural yoghurt, dried herbs and minced garlic cloves. Add in some lemon juice, zest, salt and pepper and give those chicken thighs a bath in that yoghurt for an hour or so covered in the fridge. You can add in as much herbs as you like – more is more!
2. When you are ready to cook pre heat the oven to 180-190 degrees fan forced, add the marinated chicken thighs into a roasting pan and top with a few slices of extra lemon (this probs was too much lemon flavour for me so you can skip this if you like or just literally add some more zest and lemon juice instead) and bake for about an hour or until you get some good colour. It’s like the old chicken chorizo dish here…watch and act according to what’s going on in your pan rather than what I say. Too much liquid, cook longer, not enough colour, cook longer etc
See? Crunchy risoni on top rather than delicious like it is on the left there so add more stock and stir…I’ll do that next time.
3. When you think you have about 20-30 mins left add in a few cups of risoni with a cup or so stock, give it a star and place back into the oven to finish. I didn’t add enough stock so my risoni was crunchy rather than slippery and delicious so check it’s got some liquid to cook in and maybe even stir it once or twice during that last 20 mins. When you have a few mins to go whack on some handfuls of baby spinach and let the residual heat wilt it down to stop through. You can do this either back in the oven or on the bench
4. Devour and enjoy!
One pan Greek lemon chicken with yoghurt & risoni
Ingredients
- 1-2 cups natural greek yoghurt
- 2 lemons zested, juiced and sliced
- 2-3 garlic cloves minced
- Chicken thighs (bone in if you can no worries if not) allow 2 per person
- Dried oregano and thyme
- 1-2 cups risoni
- 2-3 cups chicken stock
- 2-3 handful baby spinach
Instructions
- Into a bowl mix together the natural yoghurt, dried herbs and minced garlic cloves. Add in some lemon juice, zest, salt and pepper and give those chicken thighs a bath in that yoghurt for an hour or so covered in the fridge. You can add in as much herbs as you like - more is more!
- When you are ready to cook pre heat the oven to 180-190 degrees fan forced, add the marinated chicken thighs into a roasting pan and top with a few slices of extra lemon (this probs was too much lemon flavour for me so you can skip this if you like or just literally add some more zest and lemon juice instead) and bake for about an hour or until you get some good colour. It's like the old chicken chorizo dish here...watch and act according to what's going on in your pan rather than what I say. Too much liquid, cook longer, not enough colour, cook longer etc
- When you think you have about 20-30 mins left add in a few cups of risoni with a cup or so stock, give it a star and place back into the oven to finish. I didn't add enough stock so my risoni was crunchy rather than slippery and delicious so check it's got some liquid to cook in and maybe even stir it once or twice during that last 20 mins. When you have a few mins to go whack on some handfuls of baby spinach and let the residual heat wilt it down to stop through. You can do this either back in the oven or on the bench
- Devour and enjoy!
Apologies in advance for the haphazard nature of this recipe…it’s been done once and I only published it in this form as I had a lot of people asking about it even though it was merely a story a few weeks ago. Have a crack and adjust and make your own. The flavour combos are great and the yoghurt makes the chicken tender. The risoni bulks her up a bit but you could add any kind of rice I’m sure. Hope you enjoy!
Looks delish Beth I’m going to try it this week. Silly question but ate the chickens thighs skin on? Thanks!
Hope you got my reply about this one – skin on or off doesn’t matter!
Looks delish? Could you just add the risoni in under the chicken/yoghurt at the start then add a bit of stock towards the end? That might cook the risoni better….
Good idea – thanks!
I made this tonight and it was delicious!
I did tweek the recipe a little. I put a cup of risoni and stock in the baking dish then placed the yogurt chicken on top, baked for an hour and it turned out perfect.
I only used one lemon juiced and zest and that was enough for me.
Thanks for this one!
Hi Beth this looks like a great one to add to my repertoire – any thoughts about some extra veggies I could throw in there with it? I love one pan meals but need more veg in my diet.
Thanks
Always lots of leafy greens for me at the last minute back into the oven to wilt!
Thanks for the recipe Beth. I should have read the comments first. Made this tonight for the family with thigh fillets – I used too much lemon but otherwise risoni was cooked (added more stock and extra cooking time) – the family ate but didn’t rate well. My fault not the recipe – I’m very heavy handed with lemon – I also added chilli flakes as my oldest (kidult) loves it.