Greek Chicken & Orzo Youvetsi in One Pan!

Print this recipe here: https://www.dimitrasdishes.com/youvetsi-braised-chicken-with-orzo-in-a-light-tomato-based-sauce/
Ingredients
2 pounds (1kg) boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 quart chicken broth, steaming hot
1/4 cup olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, grated
15 oz (425g) crushed tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cups uncooked orzo pasta
salt, to taste
freshly cracked black pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon or more crushed red pepper flakes
1 cinnamon stick (optional)
2 cloves
1 Bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried crushed oregano
Garnish:

Finely chopped fresh parsley (2 tablespoons)
grated or shredded Parmesan or Kefalograviera cheese
Serve with:

feta and olives
Greek salad
Instructions
Pat chicken dry and season both sides with salt and black pepper.

Place the broth in a pot and let it simmer on low heat.

Heat a large (5.5 qt) skillet over mediu heat and add the olive oil. Brown the chicken in a few batches until golden on both sides. Transfer the chicken to a plate. It will not be fully cooked.

Reduce the heat or turn it off completely if the pan is too hot and add the onion. Cook over medium-heat until soft and golden. Add the garlic and warm through for a few seconds until fragrant.

Add the tomato paste and warm through. I also like to add about a teaspoon of sugar to get rid of the acidity of the paste.

Add the tomatoes, cinnamon, cloves, bay leaf, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper. Cook for 3-4 minutes with the lid on.

Add the chicken, the orzo, and oregano. I add a teaspoon of salt per cup of orzo. Season to taste.

Add the steaming hot broth and mix.

Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cover the pot with the lid and simmer for 15 minutes until the pasta is al dente.

There will be a lot of liquid. As the dish cools the liquid will thicken and be absorbed by the pasta.

Optional: Turn the broiler on High and place the skillet (uncovered ) under the broiler for 7-8 minutes to get some color.

Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed. Garnish with parsley and shredded cheese.

Kali Orexi!

Notes
This dish tastes best fresh. If you’re making it ahead of time, add some warm broth when reheating so that it is not dry.

Music Used:
Greek Sun Time (With Intro)
ITEM ID: 66582698
By: tonyanthony

Its All Greek
ITEM ID: 84456733
By: LowNotes

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Hi everyone Yas to another episode of Dimitra dishes today I have another delicious one skillet chicken dinner for you it’s the traditional chicken yvetti that we make in in grease over and over again with chicken or with beef but I’m doing it with chicken so that way it

Could be on the table in under an hour it’s so delicious it’s a chicken and orzo Skillet and a light tomato sauce that’s super aromatic and flavorful let’s get started okay so we’re going to start off with the chicken I’m using boneless skinless chicken thighs you can

Use chicken thighs or chicken legs with the bone in skinless is better because it’s going to be in sauce so you don’t want the the skin being soggy originally I wrote the recipe for 2 lbs and that’s what I’m going to go with except I’m going to marinate all this chicken which

Is 4 lbs because it was all packaged together in a bag in the freezer but that’s another long story and I’ll use as much of it as can fit in the pan later on which is what I always do and then I end up usually regretting it but

Anyway we’re going to season it with some salt and black pepper on all sides and just give it a nice toss and then I have a big Skillet heating over medium high heat I’m going to add some olive oil to it and then I’m going to Brown

The chicken on both sides for about 3 minutes on each side or until it’s nice and brown or at least get some nice golden color on it then I’m going to lift it out and transfer it into a plate and I’m going to do this in a few

Batches cuz if you were to put all of the chicken in at once it’s not going to Brown it’ll just start releasing water water so don’t do that and do line your stove top with some foil so that way you don’t end up having to spend 30 minutes

Cleaning it afterwards next while the chicken is Browning I have one onion I’m just going to go ahead and finally chop it and set it aside as soon as the chicken comes out of the pan I’m going to turn the heat off because the oil is

Going to be super hot at this point and as a matter of fact by the time the final batch of chicken is cooking when I’ve turned it to the final side I usually turn the heat off and just let it cook in the heat that’s inside the

Pan so that way the oil doesn’t burn now I’m going to add the onion to the oil and then I’ll turn the heat back on to a medium low and I’ll cook the onion until it’s nice and golden and soft that’s going to take about 5 6 minutes because

That oil is really hot next I have four garlic cloves that I’ve grated I’m going to add those to the pan and I’m just going to warm them through for a few seconds um keeping them in here too long will burn them because they’re so finely

Ground now I’m going to add two to three cloves and one bay leaf and traditionally a cinnamon stick goes in here too but if I put cinnamon in my stews half my kids won’t eat it so I’m going to leave it out but you add it in

Because it really makes it nice and aromatic and you’re probably going to like it more than my kids do and I’m going to add one can of which is 15 oz of crushed tomatoes and a tablespoon of tomato paste which I forgot to add I’ll add that in right now after I started

Putting the chicken back in and give it a nice mix and tomato paste does tend to be a little bit acidic so I am going to add a little tiny Pinch of Sugar to it you could do honey if you want just a little bit like half a teaspoon will get

Rid of that acidity mix it up and then add the chicken back into the pan with all the juices that it’s going to have released it’s going to be so delicious now I’m not able to add all of this chicken in but I’ll add as much as I can

To create one even layer 2 lbs is the perfect amount if you’re making it in a skillet we’re doing this all in one pan other otherwise I would have just added all of the chicken in and then transferred it to a big baking pan which

Is what you should do if you’re making a bigger batch of this you could add a heaping teaspoon of oregano a little pinch of crushed red pepper flakes for heat so once the chicken is in I’m just going to cover the pan and I’m going to

Let this cook over the heat in that sauce for 5 minutes then I’m going to add two cups of uncooked orzo pasta to this and a little bit of salt about a teaspoon and a half of salt for the pasta and in a saucepan on the side I

Had four cups of chicken broth warming up you can use water instead just make sure it’s really really hot like steaming hot so that way everything continues cooking go ahead and add that to the pot it might seem like a lot of liquid the but the pasta is really going

To drink it all up and you want there to be some sauce at the end of this so once it comes to a boil then you’re going to reduce the heat to a low so that way it can simmer put the lid back on the pot

And let this cook for about 15 minutes or until the orzo pot is completely cooked through uncover the pan and give it a mix you can taste it and see if it needs a little a little bit more salt and pepper which if it does you can add it at this point and

Then what I like to do is turn the broiler element in my oven on high and just stick this under the broiler for a few minutes so it can get some beautiful color on it like traditional yvetti usually gets in the oven and then I like

To top this with some cheese I have some shredded parmesan cheese you can use keal geal graier then you can just serve this with some feta cheese on the side some olives and just a sprinkling of finally chopped parsley and it’s ready to serve so it turned out that

Everything fit in this pan thankfully I sometimes go crazy I could have even added the other two pieces two or three pieces of chicken I was just afraid that everything would kind of be too full to um mix but anyway once it comes out of the oven even once it goes under the

Broiler it’s still going to look like there’s a lot of broth in there a lot of liqu liquid and you’re going to be amazed after 30 minutes it’s all going to be gone and there’s just going to be a tiny bit left you need a little bit of

Sauce in it otherwise it’s going to be kind of dry and you can even add a little bit more hot chicken broth later on if you’re serving it later on in the evening or later on in the day and you want a little more sauce in it that’s a

Little trick so I garnish mine with just some fresh parsley and some Parmesan cheese it smells amazing time for the taste test and before you serve it if you can find the little cloves and the bay leaves and just pick them out so nobody bites into

Them that is such a homey and comforting food the kids are going to love this adults are going to love it it’s so good the orzo is not overcooked the sauce is just warm and delicious the chicken melts in your mouth I love using chicken thigh meat whenever I’m making things

Like this just because it’s stays juicy and soft and it never gets overcooked the exact measurements are on the website Demetrius dishes.com let me know what you guys think if you have any recipe requests post them down below thank you so much for spending time with

Me today I’ll see you all next time yes s