Weeknight meals can feel like a real chore sometimes. You’ve got the normal amount of flavor and servings to pack into a shorter amount of time. And, it can be all too easy to just have a lazy meal. The trouble is that these easy meals usually aren’t quite as tasty as a real, homemade dinner. Enter: one-skillet caprese chicken orzo. This recipe serves 4, takes only one pan, is ready in under 40 minutes, and has as much flavor as ordering Italian food.

To start making this meal you’ll need to cook your chicken breasts in a large skillet, making sure to season both sides of each breast. Then remove them from the pan and add in chicken broth, tomatoes, and garlic powder. Once this comes to a boil add in the orzo pasta.

This is one of my favorite pastas since it cooks nicely into a sauce and has a silky feeling when you eat it. It also absorbs excess liquid, which means your sauce actually cooks into the pasta.

Add the chicken breasts back on top and then cover until the pasta is done cooking and the chicken has reached a safe temperature. Then dot with torn mozzarella cheese pieces. If you only have shredded on hand it will work, but the real stuff- that gooey, creamy, thick cheese sold in brine- is what really makes this recipe come to life. Good mozzarella here is what gives it that caprese salad flavor.

Cover again to melt the cheese and then top with some shredded, fresh basil leaves just before serving. You want to avoid cooking the basil since the fresh, bright basil flavor perfectly balances out the rich mozzarella and the savory orzo.

This one-skillet recipe tastes so good you won’t mind making it on a busy night, but it’s so tasty that it could also be a wonderful celebration meal for special occasions. This versatile recipe is so delicious you might not believe it only takes one pan to make. But, when you’re doing the dishwashing at the end of the night you’ll certainly notice the lack of pots and pans to clean!