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.
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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
I don’t care for cilantro, according to a comment above I could just replace more parsley for the cilantro correct? Also is it step six where I would add everything to the rice cooker rather than the pot? Would the amount of water be the same?
Yes, you can definitely do all parsley instead of a parsley/cilantro combo. And correct again, step six is where you’d add everything to the rice cooker. :) I would probably try the same amount of liquid. Sometimes rice cookers can hold in more steam than cooking rice on the stove top, but each machine is a little different so it’s hard to guess.
Can you make this with brown rice? How do you think the time would need to be adjusted?
Yes, any time you swap brown rice for white rice in a recipe, you’ll need to add more liquid and increase the cooking time. I would need to test the recipe before offering specifics, though.
Hey Beth! I tried this recipe on Thursday, it was killer! Just a quick question. I have half a can of kidneybeans left from a chilli. And some Chimichurri left. I can swamp chicken for beans, right? Without destroying the flavor?
Sure, why not! :) Chimichurri makes everything taste good and beans and rice are a classic combo. :)
I made this last night for dinner, expecting to have leftovers for dinner tonight. But it was too good! My husband, son and I ate every last bit of it. SO delish! My only regret is that I didn’t make extra chimichurri sauce because it was outstanding. Thanks for another great recipe!
Just made this for dinner. It’s missing something. Flavors of the herbs are nice at the end but there’s no flavor at the beginning.
Most chimichurri recipes ive seen call for only parsley and no cilantro. Have you ever made it without the cilantro and how much difference in flavor if so. Thanks love your recipes.
You can do it either way. :) The flavor is different, of course, but it’s still great.
Wow! Really excellent recipe. I’ve made this twice: once following directions exactly and once subbing with things I already had in my kitchen (canned tomatoes instead of fresh, add extra chicken and peas to bulk it out). Both turned out incredible. Also made excellent leftovers.
I made this with a can of roasted garlic crushed tomatoes, swapping the fresh garlic + fresh roma tomatoes since that’s what I had on hand and it worked just fine (just was a little redder than the pictures).
I made this in the Instant Pot! Followed all instructions as written, using IP’s sauté function for the browning and sautéeing steps. (I did have some leftover homemade chicken stock so I used that instead of water.) Followed IP’s booklet’s guidelines for proportion of rice to liquid, cooked under pressure for 8 minutes then added chimichurri. Turned out PERFECT. I have a feeling I’m going to be eating it all summer. Thanks!
Could this be made with quinoa instead of rice?
Yes, you can definitely do something similar with quinoa! :) Just make sure to adjust the quinoa:water ratio and simmer time to what it suggests in the cooking instructions on the package of quinoa.
I took all of the sauce ingredients (except the oil) and added it to 1/2 minced onion, 1/2lb ground bison, 1/2lb ground round, and 1 egg yolk and made some killer burgers on the grill. Sauce of the summer indeed.
I made this the other day and it was SO good. I was surprised too because I made a number of modifications, but it was absolutely delicious–definitely gonna go in my summer dinner rotation.
My edits: I swapped out the chicken for 6 oz of pre cooked frozen shrimp i had on hand, and the tomatoes for a cup of frozen bell peppers, and the red wine vinegar for balsamic (I halved the tablespoon amount called for the red wine, since balsamic has a stronger flavor). It turned out really well, and I’m going to experiment with other proteins and veggies in the futures :)
Would balsamic vinegar work instead of Red Wine vinegar? I only have balsamic and a whole bottle of red wine vinegar seems like a lot since I never use it….
Yes, it will definitely impart a different flavor, but I think it would also be quite delicious.
This looks so good! I really like chimichurri, and I’ve found myself really adoring one-pot rice dinners! Thanks for coming up with this recipe.
I made this tonight without chicken – made 1.5x the recipe.. I used red onion and canned diced tomato because that was what I had on hand and a cast iron skillet with a lid. I waited until the rice was done to add the frozen peas, which cooked just as the dish was resting. Really delicious!!!! Easy to make.