This Yellow Rice Chicken Skillet combines one of my favorite foods in the world, Yellow Jasmine Rice, with a couple of items that I found in the back of my freezer. I found some chicken thighs in my freezer (leftover from Lemon Pepper Chicken with Orzo) and I added some peas for extra color, flavor, and texture (another “back of the freezer” find). Everything cooks in the same skillet for more flavor and less cleanup. I love it when you can cook the main dish (chicken) and the two sides (rice and peas) all in one vessel. Hello, Yellow Rice Chicken Skillet!
Can I Use Boneless Chicken?
Yes, but keep in mind that boneless cuts of chicken cook much faster than bone-in chicken, so you run the risk of overcooking the meat. With chicken thighs this isn’t as big of an issue since the meat is fattier and does not dry out as quickly, but if you’re using boneless chicken breast it may become slightly dry.
Tips for One Pot Rice Dishes
Cooking rice can be a little tricky for some, and the same is true for one pot rice dishes where you are cooking rice in the same pot with meat and vegetables. Here are a few tips to help your one pot rice dish a success:
- Use thick, heavy cookware. If you are using thin cook ware you are more likely to have hot and cold spots in the pot which will lead to pockets burned and/or undercooked rice. Thicker cookware heats and cooks more evenly.
- Use a pot or deep skillet that is close in size to the burner. If the burner is too small for the bottom of the pot, you again run the risk of it heating unevenly and the rice in the edges of the pot undercooking.
- Make sure the liquid maintains a simmer. You may need to adjust the heat slightly up or down to keep the liquid simmering, depending on the characteristics of your range top and cookware. If the liquid isn’t simmering the rice will not cook through.
What Kind of Skillet Should I Use?
I’m using a 4 quart stainless steel deep skillet for this recipe, but this recipe also works great with a Dutch oven (affiliate link). The two most important things you need in a piece of cookware for this recipe are: that it is thick and heavy so it heats evenly and it has a lid. And you’ll probably want something that at least 3 quarts in volume.
Can I Use Plain White Rice?
You can substitute plain long grain white rice in place of the jasmine rice, but you will lose out on some of the fantastic flavor that jasmine rice has. To find the best price on jasmine rice, check the bottom shelf of the rice aisle for the larger 5 lb. bags of jasmine rice. Avoid the small specialty packages, which are usually found on higher shelves.
Yellow Rice Chicken Skillet
Servings 4Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.02)
- 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs ($3.48)
- 1 pinch salt and pepper ($0.05)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced ($0.16)
- 1 tsp turmeric ($0.10)
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon ($0.03)
- 1.5 cups long grain jasmine rice ($0.78)
- 1.5 cups frozen peas ($0.72)
- 2.5 cups chicken broth* ($0.33)
- 1/4 bunch fresh cilantro (optional) ($0.32)
Instructions
- Pat the chicken thighs dry with a paper towel, then season both sides with salt and pepper.
- Heat a large deep skillet over medium heat. Add the oil, then tilt the skillet to spread the oil over the surface. Place the chicken thighs in the skillet, skin side down, and allow to brown before flipping (about five minutes). Flip the thighs and let brown on the second side (another five minutes). Remove the browned thighs to a clean plate.
- If there is excess oil in the skillet, pour it off into a bowl to cool, leaving about 1 tablespoon of oil and fat in the skillet. Add the minced garlic, turmeric, cumin, and cinnamon to the skillet. Sauté for about one minute, or until the garlic is soft and fragrant.
- Pour the chicken broth into the skillet and use a wooden spoon to dissolve any browned bits off the bottom of the skillet. Once the browned bits are dissolved, add the frozen peas and rice, and give it a quick stir to distribute the broth and spices. Nestle the browned chicken thighs into the rice and peas.
- Place a lid on the skillet and turn the heat up to medium-high. allow it to come to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low (or just above low) and let the skillet simmer for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, turn the heat off and let it sit undisturbed for an additional 10 minutes. Finally, remove the lid and fluff the rice with a fork, mixing the peas in as you go. Top with fresh cilantro, if desired.
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Equipment
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Chicken and Yellow Rice – Step by Step Photos
Start with four bone-in chicken thighs, with skin. Pat them dry with a paper towel, then season both sides with salt and pepper. Drying the surface helps them brown better in the skillet.
Heat a large deep skillet over medium flame. Once hot, add 1 Tbsp vegetable or canola oil. Tilt the skillet to spread the oil over the surface. Add the chicken thighs, skin side down, and allow them to brown before moving them (they will actually kind of stick to the surface until they are brown, at which point they usually “release”). Flip the thighs and brown on the other side. Once both sides are browned, remove the chicken to a clean plate.
If a lot of fat rendered off of the chicken thighs, pour some out until there is about a tablespoon or so left in the skillet. Add 2 cloves of minced garlic, 1 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp cumin, and 1/4 tsp cinnamon. Sauté the garlic and spices for about a minute, or just until the garlic is soft and fragrant (but has not browned).
Deglaze the skillet with 2.5 cups of chicken broth. “Deglaze” just means to use the chicken broth to dissolve any browned bits (called fond) off the bottom of the skillet. The browned stuff is the good stuff.
Finally, add 1.5 cups of frozen peas and 1.5 cups long grain jasmine rice. Give the skillet a quick stir to distribute the spices among the peas and rice.
Return the browned chicken to the skillet, nestling it into the rice and peas.
Place a lid on the skillet and turn the heat up to medium high. Allow it to come to a boil. Once it boils, reduce the heat to low (or just above low – so that it doesn’t stop simmering) and let the skillet simmer for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, turn the heat off and let it sit undisturbed, with the lid on, for ten more minutes. The photo above is what it looks like after simmering and resting.
Use a fork to fluff the rice and stir it up a bit. All the peas and many of the spices float to the top while it simmers, so use the fluff time as a way to make sure everything is evenly mixed.
Top with fresh cilantro, if desired. YUM!
Of course, I divided my Yellow Rice Chicken Skillet up into individual containers so I could just grab one at a time and microwave it to reheat. These also freeze decently well.
Do this all the time with Zataran’s Yellow Rice, dice up some onions too, maybe some red/green peppers. Saute the onions/peppers, brown boneless thighs down, put in broth, rice package, etc.. cook until almost done, throw in the frozen peas(yep I like peas in my rice!). Works nice with Spanish rice too except instead of peas I use diced tomatoes, — since it’s Spanish rice it’s sort of required.
You gave me an idea, Mike!! Thanks!!! :-)
I wish you were my personal chef! That looks very tasty!
I wish I could get my husband to eat dark meat poultry. Fortunately one of my local supermarkets here in NC always has boneless/skinless chicken breasts for $1.99. While bone in chicken will definitely have more flavor, the boneless cuts do cook faster and easier. I did this recipe, but skipped the browning step to avoid overcooking the chicken and added diced onion to the aromatics. And for the person who doesn’t like peas, you can add just about any veggie–some diced tomatoes or carrots would add color and flavor. Black beans and corn strike me as another fun variation
Do the skins stay crispy after cooking with the rice? I love crispy chicken and your rice recipe, but I can’t stand the skin if it’s not crispy.
Also, do you think corn would work well instead of peas? My fiance doesn’t like peas. Thanks!
Five minutes under a broiler on high will crisp the skin right up. (It will also revive skin that was once crispy but got soggy in the fridge overnight – 2 minutes in the microwave followed by 5 under the broiler = nearly instant crispy skin.)
The skin doesn’t stay crispy, but like Lemonsharks said, you can remove the chicken, place it on a baking sheet, then place it under the broiler for a couple minutes. Corn would be okay with this, but I think green vegetables make a better match. Maybe frozen green beans or broccoli (although the broccoli won’t stay bright green through all that simmering).
Great, thank you!
With all the talk recently about how good Turmeric is for us, I’m excited to try out this recipe with such a mix of delicious flavors. It’s always nice to have one-skillet meals, too, for less clean up. :)
Looks yummy, I love spicy rice, and such a great idea to make your own microwave meals! You can’t beat a homemade ready meal
Nice recipe! I made almost the same one this weekend with the addition of safran!
I would add the peas right before serving. Frozen peas don’t need much time to be ready. That way they would look more green and fresh and would probably contains more vitamins.
I’m not a huge fan of peas in my rice. You have any other suggestions for a vegetable to add?
Carrots might be a good substitute.
Frozen broccoli would work. Fresh would need less cooking time to stay crunchy-ish.
Frozen artichoke hearts would be lovely too, if you like those. How would you feel about canned beans? Navy, Great Northern, chickpea might work.
Thank you for the suggestions! I love broccoli so I’ll be trying that.
Have you ever tried pigeon peas? They are canned and in the Ethic isle (with Jamaican and/or Hispanic food items). The price is slightly higher (around $1.40 – $1.70/can), but this would be much cheaper at an international food market (if you have one near by). I would add the pigeon peas towards the very end of cooking, as they only need to heat through.
I like my rice with lentils, doesn’t taste much but it’s a lot less boring than just plain rice!
I would steam some asparagus but only !/2 way and add it at the last 5 min
This looks amazing! If I used chicken breast tenderloins, would I cook them first until completely done or do they keep cooking in the rice (I’m new to cooking!)?
They do keep cooking while the rice simmers. :)
Could we use boneless skinless chicken thighs and still make this work?
They won’t brown quite the same, but it will work.
Would this work with boneless skinless thighs, too. I know it won’t taste the same, but will the process still work?
They won’t brown quite the same, but it will still work.
This looks really good, but I don’t eat meat. Do you think it would be good with chickpeas?
Heather, do you eat tofu? I would replace it with tofu pressed and cubed then browned in the oil. Then I would remove it to a plate, cook the rest as directed and stir the tofu back in at the end. I have a vegetarian daughter and she (and we, too) will use tofu in place of the meat, very often. Other wise, I think garbanzos sound delicious too.
Yes, chickpeas would be good. It would be kind of similar to this Spanish Chickpeas and Rice recipe. :)
I have been meaning to buy some chicken thighs ever since your last recipe for them with the orzo but never did because I’m not the biggest fan of orzo. Now with this yellow jasmine rice I absolutely will, I looove jasmine rice as well.
Beth, your yellow jasmine rice is one of my absolute faves. Im happy to see this complete meal recipe. I’m trying this this week. I even have some chicken thighs in the freezer.
I’m a HUGE fan of one pot meals!! I do remember making the Lemon Pepper Chicken with Orzo, but I used rice as a substitute. Honestly, it was delicious!! Can’t wait to make this recipe!!! :-)