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This one-pan puttanesca chicken & orzo is the kind of dinner that feels impressive but asks very little of you. Crispy chicken, juicy tomatoes, briny olives and capers, all settling into creamy, saucy orzo. It’s weeknight-easy, deeply comforting, and exactly the sort of meal that makes you pause mid-bite and think, oh yeah, this works.
The colors alone are enough to sell it. This one-pan puttanesca chicken & orzo is inspired by my easy puttanesca sauce. It’s the kind of dinner that looks great on the table but feels totally doable for a weeknight. Crispy, well-seasoned chicken thighs nestle into creamy orzo with juicy tomatoes, buttery Castelvetrano olives, and briny capers. Prep is blissfully straightforward, everything simmers together in one pan, and you can clean up as it cooks—which means post-dinner relaxing is actually on the table. Imagine that.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love Puttanesca Chicken & Orzo
- Everything cooks in one pan
- Looks fancy, tastes fancy, but is really easy to pull off
- It brings on the essence of pasta alla puttanesca in a new and fun way
Ingredient Overview
A quick look at the essentials before we dive into the recipe card:
- Chicken: Use bone-in, skin-on thighs for a nice, crispy skin and tender, juicy meat.
- Orzo: It’s creamy and chewy in texture, and it cooks wonderfully in the pan along with the chicken.
- Anchovy fillets: Optional, but they add a fantastic salty flavor to the puttanesca sauce and you don’t taste any fishiness.
- Olives: Typically, a puttanesca sauce uses black or kalamata olives, but I absolutely love the flavor of castelvetrano olives in this mix. They’re sweeter, milder in flavor, and have a wonderful buttery texture.
Step-By-Step: How to Make Puttanesca Chicken & orzo
Step 1: Get Your Pan HOT
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
Step 2: Season & Cook the Chicken Thighs
Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Drizzle them with a bit of olive oil, then season them with a few pinches of salt, cracked black pepper, and a tablespoon of Italian seasoning (I like using my homemade Italian seasoning).
Place the chicken thighs in the skillet, skin-side down, and fry for about 7 minutes per side, or until the meat is no longer pink in the middle. Cook time will vary depending on the size of the thighs, so keep an eye on them. When the chicken is done, transfer them to a paper towel-lined plate.
Step 3: Sauté the Veggies
Add the onion, tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, capers, olives, chili flakes, anchovies, and fresh herbs to the pan. Cook for about 4 minutes, or until the onions are translucent. Add the garlic and simmer for another 30 seconds.
Step 4: Prepare the Orzo
While the veggies sauté, whisk together the chicken broth and tomato paste in a small bowl. Add the orzo to the pan with the veggies, along with the broth and the white wine. Give everything a good stir.
Step 5: Bring Back Those Chicken Thighs
Nestle the chicken thighs back into the skillet, reduce the heat to low, and let everything simmer for 20 minutes, or until the orzo is cooked and has absorbed all of the liquid.
Then, remove the skillet from the heat, top with fresh chopped parsley, and serve.
Substitutions & Variations
- Skinless, boneless thighs: these work, but note that they cook more quickly than bone-in thighs, so sear them in the pan for half the time. I don’t recommend chicken breasts, as they’re likely to be overcooked by the time the orzo is done, leaving you with dry chicken.
- Kalamata olives: You can use these instead of castelvetrano if preferred.
- Anchovies: Totally optional!
Storage & Reheating
- Fridge: Leftovers can be stored in the fridge in airtight containers for 3-4 days.
- Reheat: Transfer the chicken and rice to a microwave-safe plate and reheat in 25-second increments until warmed through.
What to Serve With It
Frequently Asked Questions
Puttanesca is a bold, unapologetic Italian sauce built on tomatoes, olives, capers, garlic, and anchovies, all sizzling in olive oil with a pinch of red pepper flakes and oregano. It’s briny, savory, a little spicy, and exactly the kind of sauce that doesn’t need much else to make its point.
In Italian, puttanesca roughly translates to “in the style of a prostitute,” which is… a lot, but also kind of perfect. The name is tied to the bold, punchy sauce made from tomatoes, olives, capers, anchovies, garlic, and chili—ingredients that come together fast and make a big impression. Some say it was meant to be quick fuel for busy sex workers, others claim the smell was so irresistible it drew people in from the street (arguably my favorite).
One-Pan Chicken Puttanesca with Creamy Orzo
Ingredients
- 2-3 TBSP olive oil
- 2 lbs chicken thighs, skin-on and bone-in, If you decide to use skinless and boneless, cooking time for the chicken will be less.
- Kosher salt and cracked black pepper
- 1 TBSP Italian seasoning
- 4 anchovy fillets, minced
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced
- 1/2 cup grape tomatoes, sliced in half
- 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 2 TBSP drained capers
- 1/2 cup castelvetrano olives, sliced in half, You can use kalamata olives or black oil-cure olives instead, if preferred.
- 1/4 tsp chili flakes
- 1 TBSP chopped fresh parsley
- 1 TBSP chopped fresh oregano
- 1 cup orzo
- 2.5 cups chicken broth
- 1 TBSP tomato paste
- 1/3 cup white wine
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning on the tops/skin.
- Place the chicken thighs, skin side down, into the skillet and fry for about 7 minutes per side, or until the meat is no longer pink in the middle. Cook time will definitely depend on the size of the thighs and your cooktop, so keep a close eye on them.
- When the chicken is done, carefully transfer it to a paper towel-lined plate or serving platter.
- Add the onion, garlic, tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, capers, olives, chili flakes, anchovies, and fresh herbs to the pan and cook for about 5 minutes, or until the onions are translucent.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the chicken broth and tomato paste.
- Add the orzo to the pan along with the chicken broth and white wine; give it a good stir.
- Nestle the chicken thighs back into the skillet, reduce the heat to low, and let everything simmer for 20 minutes, or until the orzo is cooked and has absorbed all of the liquid.
- Remove from heat, top with fresh chopped parsley, and serve.
Nutrition
If you make this one-pan puttanesca chicken & orzo, let me know how it went below with a comment and a rating—I love seeing what you cook. And if you want more recipes that are wholesome in ingredients and indulgent in flavor, you know where to find me.
This is just the kind of one pan dinner recipe I was looking for to make chicken thighs with orzo! I pretty much followed the recipe –where I veered off a bit was when I realized I didn’t have many olives left, so I threw in 1/4 cup of roasted peppers, and what was left in a small jar of marinated artichokes. Thank for our tonight’s dinner recipe! I’m looking forward to eating it shortly!
I’m sorry but I’m missing where the anchovies come in. I’m not seeing them in the directions anywhere.
Hi Teena, looks like it was missing. It’s been added: you include them when adding the garlic, tomatoes, olives, etc.
Hello! I can’t wait to try this recipe! Is there something I can substitute for the olives? I’m actually allergic. Thanks!
Hi Alyssa, I’m sorry about your olive allergy! You could definitely just omit the olives. The capers are there and offer up a nice briny flavor, so you should be good. Keep me posted, k? :)