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Marry Me Chicken Thighs with Orzo is one of my new all-time favorite recipes! All the "Marry Me" flavors you love are all present here in this one-pot, easy-to-make, weeknight chicken dish!
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Now that we’ve finished the housekeeping - let’s discuss this recipe!
Chicken Thighs are cheap and popular, it’s no secret that my most popular recipes are chicken thighs, in some kind of a cream sauce or with potatoes. They always pop off over on Pinterest. And for good reason! They’re amazing.
This dish is no different! It features all the delicious flavors of “Marry Me Chicken” but this time using thighs and orzo.
It’s amazing, you’re going to be amazing, and even more so when your family eats this one-dish wonder without complaint!
Ingredients + substitutions
- Chicken thighs - bone-in, skin-on for this recipe. You’re also welcome to use boneless, skinless thighs, the recipe and cooking time won’t change much, it may not take as long.
- Spices - you’re going to season your chicken thighs with a blend of garlic powder, Italian seasoning, kosher salt (be sure to use kosher salt, table salt has a metallic flavor that we want to avoid), and pepper.
- Olive oil - for drizzling into your pan and to use as needed.
- Orzo - it’s pasta that looks like long grain rice, if you haven’t tried it yet, you must try it (and in this recipe!).
- Cherry tomatoes - for some color and flavor.
- Sun dried tomatoes - for flavor, these are delicious and make everything better.
- Garlic - for flavor. You can swap them for half of a minced shallot if you’d like!
- Chicken broth - for deglazing the pan and to cook the orzo in.
- Parmesan cheese - freshly grated is best!
- Heavy cream - you can swap this for coconut milk if you’d like.
- Spinach - fresh and chopped (or whole) it doesn’t really matter!
- Lemon - for serving, it’s nice to squeeze a little lemon juice on this dish after cooking to brighten the flavors.
- Parsley - for serving. This is totally optional. Skip it if you don’t have fresh parsley.
How to make it, step-by-step
This recipe may seem like a lot of complicated steps, but I’m going to break it down (for the full list of detailed instructions, please scroll down to the recipe card).
- First preheat your oven, then season and sear your chicken thighs.
- Next remove the thighs from the pan and saute your orzo, tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, and garlic in the same pan.
- Then deglaze that pan with some broth, scrape up all the brown bits. Turn off the heat and add the parmesan cheese, heavy cream, and spinach.
- Add the thighs back to the pan and bake. Serve with lemon wedges and garnish with some chopped parsley.
Super easy, right? And if you make this dish once, I can guarantee the next time you make it (because you’ve done it before), it’ll go a little quicker.
Serve it with a salad!
You really don’t need a side dish - this recipe has it all! It has protein, starch, and veggies! But if you’d like, you can’t go wrong with a fancy salad on the side!
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Ingredients
- 6 skin-on chicken thighs
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp Italian seasoning
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 ½ cup orzo
- ½ cup halved cherry tomatoes
- ¼ cup sun dried tomatoes julienned
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 cups chicken broth
- ¾ cup Parmesan
- ¼ cup heavy cream or coconut milk
- 1 cup spinach chopped
- 1 lemon cut into wedges
- 3 tbsp fresh parsley chopped
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.
- Season your chicken thighs on both sides with the garlic powder, Italian seasoning, kosher salt, and pepper.
- In a large braising pan over medium-high heat, add olive oil to the pan and sear the thighs on both sides (for 5-8 minutes on each side). Remove them from the pan and set them aside.
- Don’t clean the pan, add the orzo, halved cherry tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, and garlic. Saute for a minute or two and then deglaze the pan with chicken broth.
- Turn the heat off. Stir in the parmesan cheese and heavy cream.
- Fold in the chopped spinach and return the chicken thighs to the pan.
- Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
- Top with lemon wedges and chopped parsley before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
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