Tarragon chicken with creamy white beans
Tender chicken in a creamy white bean sauce with fresh tarragon.
About 30 min · 375 kcal · 43 g protein per serving
One pan
Chicken, fennel and olive traybake with orzo
Chicken roasted over fennel and olives, with orzo cooked in the same tray.
By The foodose editorial team. Nutrition calculated from USDA FoodData Central. Checked on paper on 20 September 2026; not yet cooked in a test kitchen or photographed, so the times and yield are estimates. How we develop our recipes
What still needs a real kitchen
- Confirm orzo cooks through in 20 to 22 minutes in a covered oven tin
- Confirm the liquid ratio leaves the orzo tender rather than dry
- Photograph the finished tin
- Time
- About 47 min
- estimated
- Serves
- 2
- see below
- Energy
- 530 kcal
- per serving
- Protein
- 45 g
- per serving
Ingredients for 2 servings
Check off ingredients as you go.
Contains gluten. Check the labels on packaged ingredients:
- orzo. Most dry pasta is just wheat and water, but some contains egg; check the packet.
- chicken stock. Stock often contains celery, and sometimes gluten or soya; check the label.
- black olives. Olives are packed in brine and are salty; rinsing removes some of it.
Cooking steps
Heat the oven to 200°C / 400°F (180°C fan). Cut the fennel into wedges through the root so they hold together.
Toss the fennel with the oil in a roasting tin and roast for 15 minutes.
Stir in the orzo, hot stock, olives and oregano, spreading the orzo out evenly so it sits in the liquid.
Lay the chicken breasts on top and return to the oven for 20 to 22 minutes, until the orzo is tender and the chicken is cooked.
Cooked when: 74°C / 165°F in the thickest part. A food thermometer is the reliable way to tell.
Rest for 5 minutes, then slice the chicken and fork the orzo through before serving.
The useful detail
Cut the fennel through the root rather than across it. Cut across, the wedges fall apart into strands and disappear into the orzo.
Make it work for you
One serving is 150 g of chicken with half the orzo and fennel. You can switch to a smaller portion in the ingredients above; it is three quarters of this, and it contains correspondingly less energy and protein. It is an option, not a goal.
Small pasta shapes instead of orzo
Chunkier; check it 3 or 4 minutes later.
Per serving: about the same energy, about the same protein, about the same fat.
Leave out the olives
Much milder. Add a tablespoon of capers instead if you want the salt back.
Celery instead of fennel
Less sweet and without the aniseed note. It softens faster.
Per serving: about 20 kcal less, about 1 g less protein, about the same fat.
Estimated nutrition
Per standard serving, calculated from the ingredients above. Nutrition changes with substitutions, brands and how much oil stays in the pan.
A one-tin dinner where the orzo cooks in stock rather than water, so the starch carries flavour and the portion does not need butter to be worth eating.
| Energy | 530 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 45 g |
| Fat | 13 g |
| of which saturates | 2 g |
| Carbohydrate | 57 g |
| of which sugars | 7 g |
| Fibre | 6 g |
| Sodium | 1,140 mg |
Show calculation notes
Each ingredient’s weight is multiplied by its USDA FoodData Central values per 100 g. The whole recipe is added up and divided by 2. Raw weights are used for meat, fish and vegetables; beans and lentils are drained weights. All of the oil is counted as eaten. Added salt is not included; sodium from stock, bread, cheese and tinned food is.
| Ingredient | Weight used | Source | Energy | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| fennel | 250 g | FDC 169385Fennel, bulb, raw | 78 kcal | 3.1 g |
| olive oil | 9 g | FDC 171413Oil, olive, salad or cooking | 80 kcal | 0.0 g |
| orzo | 120 g | FDC 169736Pasta, dry, enrichedFoodData Central records dry pasta as one entry rather than by shape. Orzo is the same durum wheat pasta, cut small. | 445 kcal | 15.6 g |
| chicken stock | 420 g | FDC 174536Soup, chicken broth, ready-to-serve | 25 kcal | 2.7 g |
| black olives | 60 g | FDC 169094Olives, ripe, canned (small-extra large) | 70 kcal | 0.5 g |
| dried oregano | 1 g | FDC 171328Spices, oregano, dried | 3 kcal | 0.1 g |
| chicken breast | 300 g | FDC 171077Chicken, broiler or fryers, breast, skinless, boneless, meat only, raw | 360 kcal | 67.5 g |
| Whole recipe | Divided by 2 | 1061 kcal | 89.5 g |
Per serving the energy is rounded to the nearest 5 kcal, grams to the nearest whole gram and sodium to the nearest 10 mg. Calculation method 1.0, September 2026. How the calculation works.
Storage and reheating
- In the fridge
- Cool, cover and refrigerate within 2 hours of cooking. Eat within 3 to 4 days. The orzo keeps absorbing liquid, so it will be much firmer the next day.
- In the freezer
- The FDA chart gives cooked poultry dishes 4 to 6 months in the freezer for best quality.
- Reheating
- Reheat until it reaches 74°C / 165°F, steaming hot throughout.
Checked against US Food and Drug Administration, Refrigerator and Freezer Storage Chart, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, Leftovers and Food Safety, FoodSafety.gov, Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures and FoodSafety.gov, Cold Food Storage Chart. UK guidance from the Food Standards Agency is shorter, at two days for most leftovers.
Try another recipe
Turkey meatballs with roasted pepper sauce
Tender turkey meatballs in a smooth pepper sauce, served with orzo.
About 40 min · 585 kcal · 42 g protein per serving