I’m declaring chimichurri the sauce of the summer. It’s so bright and vibrant, and as I’ve mentioned before it’s good on pretty much everything! This week I made this scrumptious one-pot Chimichurri Chicken and Rice, which was based loosely on Trader Joe’s frozen chimichurri rice and vegetables (a product that many of you suggested I try). I added chicken just to make it more of a full, one-pot style meal, but making this vegan would be super easy, too. Just swap out the diced chicken for a can of chickpeas and you’re good to go!
Hand Chop Your Chimichurri
I made a smaller batch of chimichurri this time and because of that I decided to just chop everything by hand instead of using my food processor. Surprise, surprise, I liked it a lot better than my super processed chimichurri!! So, I’ll be making it by hand from now on. And honestly, it was easier to finely chop all that stuff than it is to clean the food processor. :P
Tips for Cooking One Pot Recipes
As will all one-pot rice dishes, it’s absolutely critical to use a good quality pot with a thick bottom. If you use a thin pot or skillet you’ll get hot spots and cold spots leaving the rice uncooked in some areas and dry or burned in others. Even heat is critical. If you have a rice cooker, you could totally do this in the rice cooker, too. Just do all the sauté steps in a skillet, then transfer everything (chicken, vegetables, rice, water) to the rice cooker, cook per the machine’s instructions, then fold in the chimichurri at the end. 👍
Goes great with: Super Fresh Cucumber Salad, Vinaigrette Slaw with Feta, Lemon Butter Green Beans
Chimichurri Chicken and Rice
Servings 4 1.25 cups eachIngredients
CHIMICHURRI
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil ($0.52)
- 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar ($0.20)
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp cumin ($0.03)
- Pinch red pepper flakes ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1 clove garlic ($0.08)
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped ($0.30)
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped ($0.25)
CHICKEN AND RICE
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.13)
- 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast (3/4 lb.) ($1.42)
- Pinch salt and pepper ($0.05)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.41)
- 2 Roma Tomatoes ($1.00)
- 1/2 cup frozen peas ($0.21)
- 1 cup long grain white rice* ($0.66)
- 1.5 cups water ($0.00)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
Instructions
- Prepare the chimichurri first to allow time for the flavors to blend. Combine the olive oil, red wine vinegar, oregano, cumin, red pepper flakes, and salt in a bowl.
- Pull the parsley and cilantro leaves from the stem and finely chop them. Mince the garlic. Stir the parsley, cilantro, and garlic into the bowl with the oil, vinegar, and spices. Set the chimichurri aside.
- Cut the chicken breast into very small pieces, then season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a deep skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the chicken pieces and sauté until golden brown.
- While the chicken is browning, dice the onion. Remove the chicken pieces from the skillet once golden brown, and add the diced onion in their place. Sauté the onion until soft (about 5 minutes).
- While the onion is sautéing, dice the tomatoes. Once the onions are soft, add the diced tomatoes and sauté for about two minutes more, or until they begin to break down.
- Add the chicken back to the skillet along with the frozen peas, uncooked rice, water, and 1/4 tsp salt. Briefly stir to combine all the ingredients.
- Place a lid on the skillet, turn the heat up to medium-high, and let it come to a boil. As soon as it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low or medium-low, and let it simmer gently for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, turn the heat off and let it rest for 10 minutes.
- After letting the rice rest for 10 minutes, remove the lid and fluff with a fork. Pour the prepared chimichurri over the rice and fold it in to combine. Be careful not to vigorously stir the chimichurri into the rice because this will cause it to become sticky and mushy.
- Taste the chimichurri chicken and rice and season with extra salt if needed. Top with an extra pinch of fresh parsley or cilantro for garnish, then serve.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
How to Make Chimichurri Chicken and Rice – Step by Step Photos
Make the chimichurri first so the flavors have a little time to blend. In a bowl, stir together 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar, 1/2 tsp dried oregano, 1/4 tsp cumin, a pinch of red pepper flakes, and 1/4 tsp salt.
You’ll want about 1/2 cup loosely packed each chopped parsley and cilantro, so I just grabbed about 1/4 of each of my bunches. This recipe is super flexible so you don’t have to stress over getting the amount of parsley and cilantro right. But, if in doubt, more is better. Oh, you’ll also need a large clove of garlic.
Chop the parsley and cilantro very finely. Mince the garlic.
Stir the parsley, cilantro, and garlic into the oil and vinegar mixture. Set the chimichurri aside.
Cut one boneless, skinless chicken breast (about 3/4 lb.) into small pieces. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper.
Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a deep skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the chicken pieces and cook them until they’re golden brown, then remove them from the skillet.
While the chicken is cooking, dice an onion. After removing the chicken from the skillet, add the onion and sauté until they’re soft.
While the onions are sautéing, dice two Roma tomatoes. Add the diced tomatoes to the skillet and sauté for just a couple minutes more, or until they start to lose their shape.
Add the cooked chicken back to the skillet along with 1/2 cup frozen peas and 1 cup long grain white rice (I used jasmine).
Add 1.5 cups water and 1/4 tsp salt. Give everything a brief stir, then place a lid on top, turn the heat up to medium-high, and let it come to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low or medium-low and let it simmer gently for 15 minutes.
After simmering for 15 minutes, turn the heat off and let it rest for 10 minutes, undisturbed (lid in place). Finally, remove the lid and fluff it with a fork.
Finally, pour the chimichurri over the skillet and gently fold it to incorporate it into the chicken, rice, and vegetables. Make sure not to stir vigorously, or your rice will get sticky and mushy. Taste the dish and add more salt, if needed.
You can garnish the Chimichurri Chicken and Rice with a little extra parsley or cilantro, if you’d like
Just made this tonight with a can of diced tomatoes and a bit less water – it turned out great! (Though a bit more red in color)
Looks awesome! Does the recipe as it stands only serve one person? I see that one serving is 1.25 cups but if you extrapolate that out to the 4 servings I need, that’s a whole cup of olive oil. Thanks so much!!
I’m sorry about that, for some reason the total servings changed from 4 to 1, but I just fixed it! It makes four servings of about 1.25 cups each. :)
Made it tonight. Yum!
I have no clue when you added the serving adjustment feature on your recipes, but it is wonderful! It’s really nice that you took time an effort to add that feature. I know it will come in handy for lots of people!
Thanks! I’m in the middle of switching recipe plugins because the old one is no longer supported and has so many technical issues. The new one has great features like the serving adjustments. :) I only have a few recipes converted so far, but eventually they all will be in the new format!
I wanted to make a recipe for 2 (or even 4 like a lot of your other recipes) but noticed the number of ingredients just seemed really weird. I was confused at first but now realize what is going on. The plugin is just multiplying the ingredients by the number of “servings” put in. If your original numbers were meant for 4 (which I assume it is based on price), then you need “1” serving.
I also put in “4” servings and noticed the amount of ingredients seemed really high. Thanks for pointing that out, Kevin!
Sorry about that! I just fixed it. I’m not sure why the total servings had changed from 4 to 1. :P
We’re a family in which nobody likes peas — leave them out or sub for some other veggie:?
I’d just leave them out. :)
This looks like the perfect summer recipe! I love one-pot dishes too, makes weeknight cooking a lot easier. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Beth. Looks great and I’d like to make it. I know you have an instant pot. Do you think this could be done in it? I have just received one and am very excited to try it. Any suggestions?
Yep, I think you could just sauté the ingredients in the beginning using the sauté function, and then when you add the rice, water, peas, and chicken, use the rice function. Then just stir the chimichurri in at the end.
I just made this in my rice cooker and it turned out great! I used some ground turkey that needed a home and I’m really pleased with the end product!!
Looks like garlic is forgotten under the ingredients list, but it’s included in the instructions….
I only noticed because I’ve made the original sauce recipe you posted more than once. ;-)
Thanks for catching that! Fixing now. :)
Any thoughts on subbing brown rice for white? I’d like to use brown rice but am not sure how much to change the water amount and time. Thanks for any ideas.
Sure, just check the package that your rice comes in and use that water to rice ratio, and make sure to increase the simmer time to what is recommended on the package as well. :)
Looks great but how many servings does it make?
Sorry about that, I forgot to add that part to the recipe card. I’d call this one about 4 servings. 1.25-1.5 cups each.
I know you have an app coming out- I am hoping there will be a way for me to have a recipe box of your recipes I have tried, so I can just go to my recipe box to find my favorites without printing them, searching for them each time, or pinning them. I am OBSESSESSED with your website. I expect to feeel the same about the app.
Yes, with the app you’ll be able to create as many “cookbooks” of saved recipes as you’d like! :)
Your photos are really pleasure for my eyes and the dish is going to be the pleasure for man hungry mouths to feed today :-) Thank you so much !
how much chimichurri do you put in this recipe? I have some premade already in the fridge I’d like to use up!
Hmm, it was maybe 3/4 cup? If I were you I’d start with 1/2 cup and just add more to taste after that.
Looks yummy, and likely to show up on my table tomorrow night. My family LOVES chimichurri! I would personally hold the frozen peas until early in the “rest” period, and slightly before the chimichurri. They don’t need to cook long–or even at all since they were blanched before flash freezing. They loose color fast, and flavor doesn’t last much past the color. I also like my chimichurri with more garlic and a bit of chili–lots of recipes call for chopped fresh chilies of various sorts, but I tend to just dump in about 1 tsp of red chili flakes.
In retrospect, I think you’re 100% right about those peas! :)