The perfect traditional Greek rice pilaf (pilafi) recipe! Fluffy, fragrant rice and crispy, tender, fall of the bone chicken legs with a delicious lemon kick!
A very versatile and easy to prepare Greek dish perfect for your Sunday family dinner or quick mid-week meal. Ready in under 30 minutes, this is a traditional Greek rice pilaf recipe for you to easily recreate this delight from scratch.
For extra flavour Greek rice pilaf can be cooked with bits of onions and spices or Saffron (Krokos kozanis). This basic recipe is a great accompaniment for meat dishes, like souvlaki, gyros or biftekia.
Depending on local cuisine this classic Greek rice pilaf recipe may also contain vegetables, like sliced carrots, peas, corn etc. One very popular variation is gamopilafo, a festive Cretan specialty offered at weddings (gamoi), where the rice is cooked in lamb broth. Simply delicious!
For an everyday super-filling meal try preparing this Greek rice pilaf recipe with chicken legs or pieces of chicken breasts. Garnish with crumbled salty feta cheese and enjoy!
The perfect traditional Greek rice pilaf (pilafi) recipe! Fluffy, fragrant rice and crispy, tender, fall of the bone chicken legs with a delicious lemon kick!
To prepare this Greek rice pilaf recipe with chicken legs, start by washing thoroughly the chicken legs and pat them dry with some kitchen paper. Drizzle the chicken legs with olive oil, season well with salt and pepper and rub using your hands.
Heat a large pan over medium high heat and place the chicken legs inside. Let them colour and cook for about 6 minutes on each side, until the skin is nicely coloured and crispy. Remove the chicken legs from the pan and set side.
Place the lid on, turn the heat down and simmer the Greek rice pilaf for about 15 minutes, until the chicken and rice are cooked and all the liquid has been absorbed.
Finish off the Greek rice pilaf with a last minute squeeze of lemon juice, crumbled feta cheese and freshly ground pepper. Enjoy!
Love this recipe, really delicious. I also added the zest of the lemon in with the juice and stock. I was cooking for 4 and I used 200ml of rice and 400ml of liquid in total which was plenty for us. 1.5 cups of rice definitely would have been too much (even using the smaller US cups).
You’ll need to simmer the rice for 15 minutes with some water in a separate before adding the chicken pan to finish it off as brown rice takes a bit longer to cook through and soften the outside hard shell.
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Love this recipe, really delicious. I also added the zest of the lemon in with the juice and stock. I was cooking for 4 and I used 200ml of rice and 400ml of liquid in total which was plenty for us. 1.5 cups of rice definitely would have been too much (even using the smaller US cups).
Can I add garlic to this?
Of course you can!
If I want to use brown rice for this recipe, would I have to change anything?
Hi Brittany
You’ll need to simmer the rice for 15 minutes with some water in a separate before adding the chicken pan to finish it off as brown rice takes a bit longer to cook through and soften the outside hard shell.
Will do. Thank you for your quick response!
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