You guys know how much I love my one pot meals. They’re easy, cozy, and always satisfying. This Chicken and Rice one pot meal is kind of a mash-up of two of my other favorite recipes, Cajun Sausage and Rice and Mushroom Rice, and it’s definitely moving to the top of my list of favorites. The rice is rich and flavorful, the chicken is super tender, and the whole dish comes together almost effortlessly.
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What’s in Chicken and Rice?
This super simple dish includes juicy chicken thighs coated in herbs and spices (not spicy!), sautéed onions, and long grain white rice cooked in vegetable broth. Because you cook everything in one pot from start to finish, no flavors are lost. Every bite is packed with rich and delicious flavor.
Can I Use Chicken Breasts?
I highly suggest sticking to chicken thighs for this recipe because chicken breasts can tend to dry out a bit with the double cook (sear first, steam with rice second), and the fattier chicken thighs make the dish nice and rich. It can be done, but it definitely won’t be as juicy or tender as chicken thighs. And whichever you use, make sure it’s boneless because bone-in chicken needs more time to cook and may not cook through by the time the rice is finished.
What Else Can I Add to Chicken and Rice?
If you want to add some vegetables to the pot, I would try adding a ½ cup frozen peas when you add the broth, or sautéing some mushrooms after the chicken and before the onions.
What to Serve with Chicken and Rice?
Since I didn’t add any vegetables in the pot with my chicken and rice, I added some roasted broccoli on the side. I think roasted broccoli is the perfect side because the roasted flavor matches the coziness of the chicken and rice, plus the simple flavor doesn’t compete, leaving the chicken and rice to shine. You could also do some steamed green beans, sautéed zucchini, or a simple side salad.
One Pot Chicken and Rice
Servings 4Ingredients
- 2 tsp paprika ($0.20)
- 1 tsp dried oregano ($0.10)
- 1 tsp dried thyme ($0.10)
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp onion powder ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp pepper ($0.02)
- 1.25 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs (4-5 thighs) ($4.59)
- 2 Tbsp cooking oil, divided ($0.08)
- 1 yellow onion, diced ($0.32)
- 1 cup long-grain white rice (uncooked) ($0.32)
- 1.75 cups vegetable broth ($0.23)
- 1 Tbsp chopped parsley (optional garnish) ($0.10)
Instructions
- Combine the paprika, oregano, thyme, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Coat both sides of the chicken thighs in the seasoning mix.
- Add 1 Tbsp cooking oil to a deep skillet and heat over medium. Once hot, swirl to coat the surface of the skillet, then add the chicken thighs. Cook the thighs for a few minutes on each side, or until well browned. The chicken does not need to be cooked through at this point.
- Remove the browned chicken to a clean plate. Reduce the heat to medium-low, add an additional 1 Tbsp cooking oil to the skillet, then add the diced onion. Sauté the onion for about 5 minutes, or until softened. Allow the moisture from the onion to dissolve the browned bits from the skillet as you stir.
- Add the uncooked rice to the skillet and continue to sauté for 1-2 minutes more to toast the rice.
- Add the vegetable broth to the skillet and briefly stir to dissolve any remaining brown bits from the bottom of the skillet.
- Return the chicken to the skillet, setting it on top of the rice. Place a lid on the skillet, turn the heat up to medium-high, and allow the broth to come up to a full boil.
- Once boiling, turn the heat down to low and let the chicken and rice continue to simmer over low, without lifting the lid or stirring, for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, turn off the heat and let it rest, without lifting the lid, for an additional 5 minutes.
- Finally, remove the lid and fluff the rice around the chicken. Garnish with chopped parsley, if desired, then serve and enjoy!
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Equipment
- Deep Stainless Steel Skillet
- Measuring Cups Spoons
- Liquid Measuring Cup
Nutrition
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How to Make Chicken and Rice – Step by Step Photos
Combine 2 tsp paprika, 1 tsp dried oregano, 1 tsp dried thyme, ½ tsp garlic powder, ½ tsp onion powder, ¼ tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper in a bowl. Coat both sides of four or five boneless, skinless chicken thighs with the seasoning mix.
Heat 1 Tbsp cooking oil in a deep skillet over medium. Once hot, swirl to coat the surface, then add the seasoned chicken thighs. Cook for about five minutes on each side, or until well browned. The chicken does not need to be fully cooked at this point, just well browned on the surface. While the chicken cooks, dice a yellow onion.
Remove the browned chicken to a clean plate. Reduce the heat to medium-low, then add another 1 Tbsp cooking oil and the diced onion to the skillet. Sauté the onion until soft, allowing the moisture from the onion to dissolve the browned bits from the bottom of the skillet.
Add one cup of uncooked long-grain white rice to the skillet. Continue to sauté with the onion for 1-2 minutes to slightly toast the rice. You should hear it crackling and popping.
Add 1.75 cups vegetable broth to the skillet with the rice and onions. Briefly stir to dissolve any browned bits that might remain stuck to the bottom of the skillet.
Return the chicken thighs to the skillet, placing them on top of the rice. Place a lid on the skillet, turn the heat up to medium-high, and allow the broth to come up to a boil. When it reaches a full boil, turn the heat down to low and let it continue to simmer on low, without lifting the lid or stirring, for 20 minutes.
After simmering on low for 20 minutes, turn off the heat and let it rest for five minutes without lifting the lid. After resting, it should look like the above photo.
Fluff the rice with a fork and stir the onions back into the rice (it tends to float to the top while simmering). Garnish with chopped parsley and serve!
It’s a good recipe. Next time I might reduce the spices a bit. It definitely needs more salt. Otherwise it was quite good.
The ratio of rice to chicken is off. If I were to make this recipe again I’d use 1/2 as much rice.
It went exactly as planned and turned out just like the picture! Savory and filling (and good for leftovers). We will be making this a regular meal
How would you reheat the leftovers?
Honestly, we just reheat most things in the microwave for 1-2 minutes!
I just made this for my family and my daughter, who hardly ever likes what we have for dinner and who generally eats like a bird, had 4 helpings! Amazing! The only thing I did differently is I doubled the spices that I coated the chicken with.
I made this last night and really enjoyed it. It seems like it’d be a good template to tweak and make other one-pot chicken rice dishes. Maybe next time I’ll use cumin, cardamom and garam masala with golden raisins for a more Indian flair. I did sub celery and oyster mushrooms for the onion to make it low-FODMAP and I think it turned out pretty well. Heads up, though: I think the recipe assumes you’re using a bouillon cube for stock, so if you don’t you’ll need to add more salt.
We subbed boneless skinless chicken breasts and chicken broth as well as doubled the seasoning mix and added broccoli. Big hit with our family of 4 and so flavorful!
Overall, this is a great recipe. I had no issues with the amount of flavoring; I measured out each one according to the recipe instructions and it was delish. I’ve finished the dish with a final sprinkle of salt and some lemon juice and that was great too.
One thing to note: I’ve made the dish twice on my gas stove in my preheated cast iron skillet. The first time I had fairly uncooked rice at the top. The second time, I stirred it halfway, added more broth, and let it go for longer and I still had undercooked rice. I don’t see this issue in the comments, so I’m thinking it’s something to with my setup. I’ve seen similar recipes where you bake the combined chicken and rice in the oven rather than the stove, so I may try that in the future.
Just chiming in to say that I had the exact same issue – preheated, cast-iron pan on a gas stove and rice was under cooked. Such a bummer. Maybe we can’t use cast iron?
So good! Made exactly as described and added spinach at the very end. Thank you! Added to our rotation.
The family absolutely loves this recipe!!! Only change is, I just sprinkle a little more salt on the thighs before I cook them!!!! Have made this recipe plenty of times!!!
Great recipe, I love the flavor profile!
My daughter and I made this tonight, as written and thought it was delicious! I can see us making this again. It’s just as good as the chicken and orzo recipe that is similar.
Super yummy and since it’s one pot, the rice gets all the flavors from browning the chicken. Very easy and just what I was looking for.
We liked this recipe. Quick and easy. I used chicken stock and added 1 cup of frozen peas. I will make it again and add a little more salt.
This dish was very delicious, we really loved it…after reading reviews and deciding to make some adjustments.
I knew just by looking at it that the seasonings wouldn’t be enough to also flavor the rice which is always very bland by itself.
I at least tripled all the spices (until it “looked good”) and used the salt & pepper to taste. This was really helpful in giving more flavor, especially since I increased the rice to 1.5c & chicken broth to 2.5c.
This was a really big hit, it came out great! And super easy to make.
Word to the wise, even for just my husband and I, it did not make 4 servings. We had very little left over, even after making extra rice and having a couple of sides with it. Just depends on your portion sizes I suppose.