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
Lemon-oregano chicken with courgette orzo
Oregano chicken with soft courgette, orzo and fresh lemon zest.
By The foodose editorial team. Nutrition calculated from USDA FoodData Central. Checked on paper on 12 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 the orzo cooks in 10 to 12 minutes in 300 ml of stock
- Photograph the finished pan
- Time
- About 30 min
- estimated
- Serves
- 2
- see below
- Energy
- 420 kcal
- per serving
- Protein
- 40 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.
Cooking steps
Warm the oil in a deep frying pan or shallow casserole over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, turning, until the outside is no longer pink.
Stir in the oregano, then the orzo, courgette and stock. Bring to a simmer.
Cover and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring two or three times so the orzo does not stick, until the orzo is tender and the chicken cooked through. Add a splash of water if the pan runs dry before the orzo is done.
Cooked when: 74°C / 165°F in the thickest part. A food thermometer is the reliable way to tell.
Take the pan off the heat, stir in the lemon zest and parsley and leave it to stand for 2 minutes before serving.
The useful detail
Keep the simmer gentle so the orzo absorbs liquid evenly. At a hard boil the outside of each grain turns to paste while the middle stays chalky, and the pan catches underneath.
Make it work for you
One serving is Half the pan: 140 g of chicken (raw weight) with orzo and courgette. 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.
Green beans instead of courgette
Firmer, and they keep their bite. Cut them into 2 cm lengths.
Per serving: about 15 kcal more, about 1 g more protein, about the same fat.
Turkey breast instead of chicken
Leaner and a little firmer. The safe endpoint is the same.
Per serving: about 10 kcal less, about 2 g more protein, about 2 g less fat.
Gluten-free pasta
Add it later than the orzo, as most gluten-free shapes cook faster. Nutrition is not recalculated.
Allergens: Removes gluten.
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-pan dinner with the protein in the chicken and most of the carbohydrate in the orzo. The courgette adds bulk for very little energy.
| Energy | 420 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 40 g |
| Fat | 10 g |
| of which saturates | 2 g |
| Carbohydrate | 42 g |
| of which sugars | 5 g |
| Fibre | 3 g |
| Sodium | 660 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| olive oil | 9 g | FDC 171413Oil, olive, salad or cooking | 80 kcal | 0.0 g |
| chicken breast | 280 g | FDC 171077Chicken, broiler or fryers, breast, skinless, boneless, meat only, raw | 336 kcal | 63.0 g |
| dried oregano | 1 g | FDC 171328Spices, oregano, dried | 3 kcal | 0.1 g |
| orzo | 100 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. | 371 kcal | 13.0 g |
| courgette | 200 g | FDC 169291Squash, summer, zucchini, includes skin, raw | 34 kcal | 2.4 g |
| chicken stock | 315 g | FDC 174536Soup, chicken broth, ready-to-serve | 19 kcal | 2.0 g |
| lemons | zest of ½ | Not calculatedThe zest of half a lemon weighs a few grams and adds flavour rather than measurable energy. | · | · |
| parsley | 5 g | FDC 170416Parsley, fresh | 2 kcal | 0.1 g |
| Whole recipe | Divided by 2 | 845 kcal | 80.7 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. Ingredients marked “Not calculated” are excluded and could add at most 3 kcal to the whole recipe. 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 in the fridge, so expect it to be 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