One tray, Greek-style chicken and rice

One tray, Greek-style chicken and rice

In this season of life—tired, exhausted, just scraping by— I’m leaning hard into my one-tray bake era. Chicken and rice is always a favourite combination, and this Greek-inspired version stands out with its simple, approachable flavours.
I like to marinate the chicken in yoghurt to tenderise the meat. Crispy skin, tender meat—that’s the goal. Overnight marinating is great, but if you only have 30 minutes, that’s fine too, especially since everything else just gets dumped into the tray. The rice cooks alongside silverbeet, zucchini, olives, and feta, making this dish a complete meal. Whilst optional, I love to make this herby, green sauce to brighten the whole one tray dish up.

I prefer chicken thigh cutlets (skin on, bone in) for that crispy skin and extra-tender meat. It really makes a difference. As for the rice, basmati works best for its shape and texture—no glug here. It crisps up beautifully on top while staying perfectly cooked underneath. I’ve worked hard on the ratios here to get the rice texture right – I don’t wash my rice as if not washed properly (read – over 8 times, until water is very clear- which I never do, then there’s not much point – this is backed by the great Samin Nosrat). The zucchini and silverbeet add extra moisture too, balancing it all out. Ideally it's chicken stock but water and a stock cube is fine.

If you're too tired to make the dill-packed green sauce (though it's worth trying), simply top with fresh dill and serve with yoghurt and lemon. Hope you enjoy this one!

Serves 4

  • Ingredients

    4-6 chicken thigh cutlets – skin on, bone in.
    1/3 cup Greek yoghurt
    1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to drizzle
    1 teaspoon salt
    1 teaspoon garlic powder
    1 teaspoon smoked paprika
    1 tablespoon, or so of dried oregano

    1 ½ cups basmati rice
    100g (1 big handful) of silverbeat, finely chopped
    300g (2 medium) zucchinis, grated
    ½ cup green olives, pitted and halved (can you kalamata olives if you prefer)
    125 g Greek-style feta
    435ml (1 ¾ cup) chicken broth, or water (1 chicken stock cube)

    Herby, green sauce

    1 bunch dill, finely chopped

    ½ bunch parsley, finely chopped

    4 spring onions, finely sliced

    1 garlic clove, minced

    1 tbs toasted sesame seeds

    1 lemon – juice and zest

    ½ cup of olive oil

    Lemon cheeks to serve

  • Method

    To marinate, throw the chicken into a bowl with yoghurt,
    olive oil, salt, garlic powder, paprika, oregano, and lemon zest. Toss to
    combine. Keep in the fridge. Marinate for as long as you can—overnight is
    ideal, but often it’s just 30-20 minutes.

    Preheat the oven to 200°C.

    In a deep tray, dump in the rice, silverbeet, zucchini, olives, and crumble over the feta. Toss to combine, then settle everything in the dish. Pour in the chicken stock or water with stock cube. Nestle the chicken cutlets into the mix, ensuring the skin side is facing up. Push down any exposed rice to ensure it’s covered in liquid. Drizzle with a little extra olive oil.

    Place in the oven and cook for 50 minutes to 1 hour. The rice should be crispy on top and perfectly cooked underneath, while the chicken should be crispy and tender. Leave one tray to rest for 10 minutes to allow rice to settle.

    In the meantime, combine all the ingredients for the herby green sauce and set aside.

    Serve the chicken and rice with a generous dollop of herby green sauce and extra lemon wedges on the side.

Resting the dish is important as the rice needs that time to settle.
If you do run into trouble with your rice (perhaps oven is too hot) and you suspect your rice needs a little extra liquid after the baking time, you can pop 1/4 cup and cook for 10 more minutes before resting.

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