Crispy chicken with lemon orzo from Modern Comfort Food (page 111) by Ina Garten

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Ingredients

orzo pasta
lemons
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Where’s the full recipe - why can I only see the ingredients?

Always check the publication for a full list of ingredients. An Eat Your Books index lists the main ingredients and does not include 'store-cupboard ingredients' (salt, pepper, oil, flour, etc.) - unless called for in significant quantity.

Notes about this recipe

rachel_pjtrgo on April 02, 2026

Medium low heat when chicken is on the skillet and lower the temperature to 400 when it goes in the oven. Otherwise very delicious!
SpatulaCity on January 11, 2023

Enjoyed the chicken - very easy preparation with crispy skin as promised! Next time I'm going to brine the chicken in advance so it has more flavor. Husband is sensitive to lemon, so the side pasta was just okay for us. We added a lot of extra dill and parsley for freshness
Soulkitchenjen on December 05, 2022

Absolutely delicious. Only sub was chicken thighs for chicken breasts. My daughter was literally sucking the chicken off of the bone. The salad was nice and bright next to the chicken.
JJOca on February 13, 2022

This is a wonderful soul-warming recipe that makes one feel safe and loved, really it does. I have made this numerous times, for my family and for guests coming over mid-week. It is always a success and there is never any chicken leftover, however much I cook. I have made one variation, which is to use bone-in chicken thighs, I increase the time in the oven by 5 minutes and that seems to get the chicken cooked though. Crispy skiing and juicy, tender meat. …and I would recommend utilising the full amount of butter in the recipe.
julesamomof2 on December 28, 2021

I love Ina, but this was a miss for me. Way too much butter and oil and while that did produce perfect chicken skin we don't eat that anyway, so it was a waste. I added an entire bag of baby spinach to give the orzo some greens, which was a nice addition. The end result was a bit dry, but I wasn't about to try to create pan sauce out of the grease at the bottom of the skillet. Not a repeat for us.
jgreenheck on November 13, 2021

This is an easy weeknight dinner…and leftovers work as a nice lunch.
stef on January 15, 2021

I just made the lemon orzo. We really liked it. I think it would be nice to serve cold in the summer.
Kag2020 on November 07, 2020

Great method for cooking boneless chicken breasts with the skin on. I will use the method again because the skin is perfectly crisp and the meat was very juicy. However after cooking the chicken in the 4 tablespoons of butter and a bit of oil I couldn’t bring myself to add the other 5 tablespoons of butter to the pan. The recipe may have been amazing with the extra butter but I don’t think it’s necessary.
anya_sf on October 31, 2020

I cooked 3 chicken breasts, using 3/4 of the other ingredients, but still in a 12" skillet. There was definitely enough flour mixture, oil, and butter for 4 breasts. I didn't bother removing the tenders and just used the longer cooking time at the end. The orzo was quite salty, so I didn't sprinkle the chicken with extra salt, but definitely would if not serving with the orzo (or using less salt in the orzo). This method yielded super crispy skin as promised.