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
Followed the directions and the rice wasn’t soupy before adding the chimichurri, but it was definitely wet (if that makes sense) and then when I did add the chimichurri it almost was… creamy? Is that right?
Also would there be a benefit to using chicken broth instead of water?
We still gobbled it up – but I think it may take a time or two more with some tweaks to really love it/put it in rotation.
Super interested in any tips/ideas! Y’all are the absolute best.
The chicken broth gives it extra flavor. I love using it instead of water when I make rice. Hope that helps! Thanks Erika!
Just made this in a bigger quantity in my dutch oven and WOW! I used bone-in chicken thighs with skin, instead of chicken breasts, which were seasoned and browned on the stove top. Then, I all the vegetables in the chicken and eventually added the rice and water. Brought it up to a boil, dumped the chicken thighs back in, and in goes the dutch oven into a pre-heated oven at 375 F for 40 minutes. Adding the chimichurri made it so so much better, even though the rice already had all the flavor from the chicken thighs.
Oh great idea to swap and brown the thighs!
The flavor was incredible!
Only complaint is that the rice did not cook all the way when I doubled the recipe. I’ll make a single batch next time. :)
I haven’t made this yet but was wondering-can I use shrimp instead? My husband doesn’t eat chicken or beef!
Yes, definitely. That would be delicious! I would sauté them separately and add them at the end, though. If they cook with the rice and everything they will most likely over cook.
i added mole to this and it was awesome. i also doubled the recipe and added some better than boullion. Super delicious and tasty. But i kind of regret it since the flavor from the chimichurrin was overshadowed by the mole. I found that the rice at the bottom began to burn a little.
i made this a second time without mole, and i added poblano peppers, jalapeno peppers, and some other pepper in with the onions instead of tomatoes, peas, etc I also added a little lime to the chimichurri mix. Now it tastes awesome. Also it helps that i didnt keep the rice boiling too long which probably made it burn last time.
Very good one pot meal. I like the variety of spices and flavor you used in this. Definitely not boring.
This was my first experience with chimichurri, and it will not be my last! I loved the way all these ingredients combined to create something magically delicious. I did make a few adjustments, as I also thought this recipe had too much oil, but overall, I still kept it the way it was and greatly enjoyed it. Thanks for introducing me to new flavors!
This was really, really good. I have made it twice and the jasmine rice makes a HUGE difference in the flavor and texture. I also misread the recipe and used too much parsley and cilantro, but it didn’t matter. Had a little chimichurri leftover and used it to top my lunch the next day after warming it up. The dish was amazing and very economical.
This recipe was good, just way too oily. I would make it again and use shrimp instead of the chicken….i think the chimichurri sauce would pair better with shrimp. To avoid the oil saturation, I would add the chimichurri sauce separately to each plate as needed
THANKS A MILLION. THE CUMIN WAS A GREAT ADD. FABOULOUS EASY TO MAKE DISH
Great flavor but WAAAAAY too much oil!! After eating one serving, we ended up picking out the chicken and tossing the rest. I should have known better but I always try to make a recipe as written the first time to have it the way the author intended. Next time I’ll use 1/2 – 1 Tbsp of oil then check it t the end to determine if it needs more.
A definite 5 STARS! The best one pot meal I’ve ever made! I substituted with one pkg of boneless skinless chicken thighs and about a cup or so of thawed shrimp (its what I had on hand) and instead of frozen peas or tomatoes (my sons wont eat those), I added the juice of a lime to the water with the rice!! Delicious :) I’ve made at least 10 of your different recipes so far – each one a success and permanent new addition to our recipe collection…I adore your site!!
With a few tweaks, this recipe is fantastic! I recommend using boneless skinless chicken thighs instead of breasts. A good time saver: saute the chicken for a few minutes, then add the onions straight in and proceed with the recipe, no need to dirty another pan. I also thought it could use a little more tomato & peas, and of course chicken stock instead of water. Worked beautifully in my dutch oven served on a bed of spinach. Thanks!
Super delicious! Subbed chicken broth and omitted the salt. Almost considered skipping the sauce, which was lunacy, it makes the dish!
Main point: delicious recipe!! I’ll make it again for sure.
However, I tried to double it and use brown basmati rice. Cooked it on the stove top in a Dutch oven. Otherwise followed the instructions precisely, and when I lifted the lid to fluff, there was a LOT of liquid left. So I covered and cooked for another fifteen minutes. Still a lot of liquid! So I let it simmer with the lid off to let it reduce a good deal. The result? Probably mushier than if I hadn’t tried to double it and use the brown basmati. But once I stirred in the chimichurri and tasted it, I considered it a success, all things considered. Next time, I’m going to try to make a single batch with long grain white rice to get a better consistency and a more predictable result. But my “failure” was delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe!