Skillet Greek Chicken & Couscous

poultry

Jan 19

I’m a big fan of one pan meals, can you tell? They are the perfect answer to family style weeknight cooking, often using ingredients you have on hand. This one Skillet Greek Chicken & Couscous is another winner and a huge family favorite at our house!

When you have an ingredient like chicken, it’s so easy to change the flavors, herbs and ingredients to come up with an easy new dish. I like to marinate the chicken for anywhere between 30 minutes and up to 2 hours. If you make the marinade first, you can let the chicken marinate while you get the rest of the dish ready to go. With lemon juice in the marinade, if you leave it too long, it can turn white and the acid will actually start to “cook” the chicken.

This Skillet Greek Chicken & Couscous is full of bright flavors with fresh herbs, acidic lemon and the salty hint of feta sprinkled throughout. Yum! Plus, with one pan, less mess and less clean up…win-win! I hope that this will also be a family favorite of yours and you will make it again and again.

Prep Time

30 minutes

Cook Time

30 minutes

Total Time

1 hour

Course

Entree

Cuisine

Greek

Servings

6 servings

PRINT THIS RECIPE

Ingredients

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil plus more for sautéing chicken
8 chicken thighs skin on/bone in
2 lemons zested and juiced
1 Tbsp. fresh dill chopped, divided in 2
1 Tbsp. fresh oregano chopped, divided in 2
3 garlic cloves minced

kosher salt
black pepper
2 cups chicken stock
3 oz. feta cheese small cubes or crumbled
1 shallot minced
1-1/2 cups couscous

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375F.
Make the marinade in a medium bowl, add 1/4 cup EVOO, lemon zest, lemon juice, half of the chopped fresh dill and oregano, one clove garlic minced and salt and pepper. Add the chicken and turn to coat, marinate 30 mins – 2 hours.
Heat a deep edged saute pan over medium heat for a few minutes dry, then add a few Tbsp. of EVOO and heat 1 minute. Remove chicken from marinade and sear skin side down for about 4 minutes. This is typically when I salt and pepper the underside of the chicken. You don't want the heat too high so that you can allow the chicken skin to brown and not burn. Then flip and cook for another 4 minutes on the other side. Remove to another plate and continue cooking the chicken in batches, about 4 pieces at a time so the pan is not overcrowded.
Add the minced shallot to the pan for about 2 minutes over medium low heat. Then add the remaining 2 cloves of minced garlic for 1 minute. Stir with a wooden spoon, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Add chicken stock to deglaze and bring to a simmer, continuing to scrape the bottom of the pan until they are all released into the sauce.
Add the couscous and stir to combine. Then add the chicken thighs back in, nestling them into the couscous and leaving the skin side up exposed so it stays crispy.
Continue cooking in the oven for another 25-30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Check on it about halfway in, so that you can add more stock if needed, you don't want it to get dry. Cooking time will vary based on the size of the chicken thighs.
Remove and sprinkle with remaining fresh dill and oregano, lemon wedges and crumbled or small cubed feta cheese.

Notes

If you don’t have fresh dill or oregano on hand, you can also use fresh parsley and/or thyme.

Aly Romero