Cooking a delicious and aromatic dinner can be a soothing task, but washing the dishes can be a real chore. Whether it’s a delicious vegetable soup or a creamy pasta dish, that’s what one-pot dinners are all about. And it’s no surprise that Ina Garten has added delicious recipes to the one-pot genre.
Ina took to Instagram to share her recipe for the perfect fall dinner, “Chicken in a pot with orzo.” go-to dinner, cookbook Garten released in October 2022. This book focuses on meals that are easy to make ahead of time at the end of a long day.
Commenters like Laura Linney and Julianna Margulies shared their excitement about trying this one-dish meal *and* all the other recipes included in Ina’s collection. One person wrote: “Received my review copy. Love it, love it, love it, Ina.” “It joins all the other cookbooks in my kitchen. It’s the one I actually use.”
To bring this recipe to your table, you’ll need to gather flavorful ingredients. The star of the show is the whole chicken, and Garten recommends using one that weighs about 4 pounds. You’ll also need carrots, celery, green onions, fennel, garlic, chicken stock, saffron threads, fresh thyme, fresh parsley, fresh dill, and orzo, as well as pantry staples like salt, pepper, and olive oil. If fresh herbs are not available, you can use dried herbs instead. But remember to use a light hand.Our brother brand simple recipes We recommend using 1 teaspoon of dried herbs for every tablespoon of fresh herbs called for in the recipe.
This dinner also requires a large plate and a sturdy Dutch oven. Here are some of our favorites. Ina says oven-safe pots should be medium-sized, or about 11 inches in diameter. Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. While it’s cooking, make sure to dry the skin and remove the guts from the chicken. Add the chicken, breast side down, to the pan and cook for about 5 minutes until the skin is golden brown. Then flip the chicken over and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pot and place on a plate.
Sauté the vegetables in olive oil for about 10 minutes until they begin to brown. Then add the garlic, cook for a minute, and return the chicken to the pot. Add the chicken stock and saffron to the pot and add water (as needed) until the liquid almost covers the chicken (the breastbone should be about 1 inch exposed). If using fresh herbs, tie them up with kitchen twine for easy access later. Add salt and pepper and bring everything to a boil. Bring to a boil, then cover and bake at 350°F for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
When the pot comes out of the oven, stir in the orzo, cover and let stand for at least 20 minutes, or until the pasta is tender. You may need to warm everything up on the stove, but you can speed up the process by holding a fork in each hand to carve the chicken. Ina recommends leaving the bones in the legs, but otherwise you can just pull the bones out of the pot when carving. Ina recommends serving this dish in a pasta bowl. Add lots of soup, pasta, chicken, and vegetables, and garnish with a little chopped dill for extra freshness.
For a meal that serves four, we recommend pairing your companions with refreshing salads like the pear, gorgonzola and walnut salad or the apple and cheddar side salad with mustard vinaigrette. It’s a simple, veggie-packed meal that everyone will love. .
