Buttermilk chicken thighs and lemon garlic orzo make a comforting dinner for any weeknight. The chicken is marinated in herb and garlic infused buttermilk then pan-seared and cooked together with lemon garlic orzo pasta. It is guaranteed there will not be any leftovers!
This is a one-pan dinner, under an hour, with mostly pantry staple ingredients.
Why this recipe sings
These buttermilk thighs are an easy, cozy dinner for any day of the week. Chicken, lemon, and orzo are a classic, delicious combination. Buttermilk is a fantastic marinade ingredient for chicken. The addition of honey, herbs like thyme and rosemary, and black ground pepper produce a tender delicious chicken.
Here is what you need
- Chicken thighs. Get free range, humanely raised chicken if possible. You can choose bone-in thighs with the skin on or skinless and boneless. This recipe will also work with chicken breasts. Use a meat thermometer to make sure the thickest part of the breast is fully cooked and at 165 °F.
- Orzo pasta. You can also use ditalini, casarecce, cavatappi, conchiglie or other small-size pasta you like.
- Broth. Vegetable or chicken broth works as well as a sustainable palm oil bouillon cube with 2.5 cups of water.
- Lemons. You can use regular lemons or Meyer lemons.
- Buttermilk. It is an excellent ingredient to marinate chicken. It comes out with a fantastic flavor and is very tender.
- Honey. If you want to substitute maple syrup for the honey, you can.
- Fresh thyme and rosemary.
- Garlic. It could not be a Mediterranean-inspired recipe without garlic.
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Olive oil. Please see the garlic note ☺️
- Salted butter. Unsalted may also be used. Adjust seasoning to taste.
Detailed measurements and instructions can be found on the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
Prep the chicken
Prepping these buttermilk chicken thighs is simple and begins the previous day or the morning of.
Mix all the marinade ingredients, add the chicken thighs and let them marinate for up to 48 hours. I usually prepare the marinade in the morning and leave the chicken in until about dinner time. The rest of the prep is easy and the meal comes together in about 30 minutes.
How to make it
Half an hour before you are cooking dinner take the thighs out of the fridge and place them in a wire rack (over a bowl or a pan) to drain most of the buttermilk.
Let chicken reach room temperature.
Pat skin dry with a paper towel.
Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a cast-iron or oven-proof pan over medium-high heat.
When the oil is hot and shimmering, add the chicken and sear on both sides until they are golden, about 3-5 minutes per side.
Remove the chicken and set it aside on a plate.
To the same pan, add the butter, garlic, and lemon slices.
Cook for about 2-3 minutes to infuse the butter with the lemon and garlic flavors.
Add the orzo.
Cook until the orzo is toasted for about 2-3 minutes.
Add the chicken broth and lemon juice and bring to a boil over high heat and stir gently.
Turn down the heat.
Return the chicken, and its juices left on the plate back into the pan.
Transfer to the oven and roast, uncovered for 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
Chicken is cooked when internal temperature reaches 165°F.
Serve the chicken with a sprinkle of fresh thyme with a Greek tomato salad.
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Check out my Greek pantry staples
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Buttermilk Chicken Thighs With Lemon Garlic Orzo
Equipment
- Large bowl or zip log bag for marinating
- Cast iron or oven proof skillet
Ingredients
For the marinade
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2-3 Rosemary sprigs
- 2-3 fresh thyme sprigs
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
For cooking
- 6 chicken thighs
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 2 garlic cloves sliced or minced
- 1 cup orzo pasta
- 2½ cups chicken stock
- 2 lemons
Instructions
Marinate
- Mix all the marinade ingredients, add the chicken thighs and let the magic happen.
Cook the chicken
- Half an hour before cooking, take the thighs out of the fridge and place them in a wire rack (over the bowl or a pan) to drain most of the buttermilk. Let chicken reach room temperature. Pat skin dry with a paper towel.
- Preheat the oven to 400° F / 200° C.
- Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a cast-iron pan over medium-high heat.
- When the oil is hot, add the chicken and sear on both sides until golden, about 3-5 minutes per side. Remove the chicken and set it aside on a plate.
- To the same pan, add the butter, garlic, and lemon slices. Cook for about 2-3 minutes to infuse the butter with the lemon and garlic flavors.
- Add the orzo. Cook until the orzo is toasted for about 2-3 minutes. Add the chicken broth and lemon juice and bring to a boil over high heat and stir gently. Turn down the heat.
- Place the chicken and the juices left on the plate back into the pan. Transfer to the oven and roast, uncovered for 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
Notes
Nutrition
Buttermilk and lemon garlic has convinced me already about this fabulous-looking recipe. I’m saving the recipe to make.
Thank you, Angie! Hope you will enjoy it!
What a delicious recipe! It’s so flavorful and makes a cozy dinner for any day of the week
It does indeed! Thanks so much, Linda! x
Thanks a lot for this amazing and super easy to make buttermilk chicken thighs with lemon garlic orzo recipe! It’s really tasty and very flavorful! Will surely have this again! Highly recommended!
Thanks so much, Allyssa! So glad you liked it x
This recipe was a hit with my family. So easy to make and so very delicious!
Thanks so much, Gwynn! x
I made this last night and it was a big hit!
Even my fussy eaters tried it!
The chicken was delicious, so much so that I am going to use the buttermilk trick again and make it again without the pasta if we ever want baked chicken thighs.
The orzo was delicious, my younger kids loved it as they can spoon it up, rather than struggling with spaghetti which is the standard pasta in our house!
I love eating orzo with a spoon too! Thanks so much, Claire! x
Loving these chicken thighs! So easy to make!
Thanks so much, Kayla x
This is the perfect dinner for a weeknight! The chicken turned out perfect and juicy. I never tried cooking chicken with buttermilk before, but I’m definitely going to start doing that more often.
Yes, start asap! Buttermilk is perfect for chicken. Thanks so much, Aya!
These chicken thighs are so flavorful and amazing! The recipe was so simple to make and the perfect weeknight dinner.
Thanks so much, LaKita! x
Talk about easy and super flavorful! Such a great recipe and definitely a must-make this week! Thank you so much for sharing!
Thank you, Lori! Hope you will enjoy it!
I love how easy this one-pan dinner is to make! It looks absolutely delicious!
Thank you Chenée, it really is good and so easy. x Jenny
Hi, do you think I could add a bit of the buttermilk marinade to the stock to cook the orzo ? Thanks
Hi Gail,
You could try it. As long as you cook it fully and nothing is raw it should be ok.
Let me know how you liked it if you try, I can add a note to the post and recipe.
Thank you so much!
x Jenny
Absolutely delicious!!!! So much flavour and the chicken was so tender!!! The whole family LOVED it!!! Just be mindful that if you happen to make more than 6 thighs or if your pan is too small, you ‘re going to have to sear them in batches as otherwise, if the pan is too crowded (which happened to me 😉 ), the thighs render too much liquid and they end up poaching instead of browning! I have a question: your recipe cards mentions 2 lemons in total, and also lemon slices and some lemon juice: what quantity of which, please? I juiced 1 lemon and sliced the 2nd one, but I’m not sure..Thanks!!
Excellent! and I love your suggestions, will add them to the post. Thank you Gail! x Jenny
Amazing. Best orzo I’ve had. Brushed chicken with Dijon before roasting. Turned out awesome. The marinade makes it happen. Thanks for the recipe!
What a great idea to add Dijon!
Thanks so much LL! x Jenny
Hi Jenny, thank you for the recipe and making it today for the family. A question: there are no guide lines for freezing in left overs in any of your recipes, would be helpful to know, especially as I tend to double batch cook. Many thanks SuzieB
Suzi
You are absolutely right, Suzie. We will start adding this info in all recipes.
Thank you so much for your support! x Jenny
Directions say to add lemon juice, but it doesn’t say how much lemon juice.
We will check on that asap! Thanks Maryann!