One Pot Chicken and Rice Recipe

One Pot Chicken and Rice is the perfect weeknight recipe made with bone-in chicken thighs, peas, white rice, and seasoning, then topped with Parmesan cheese. It’s ready in only 40 minutes in just one pot!

I love quick and easy one pot weeknight dinner recipes, like my Sheet Pan Crispy Baked Chicken Thighs, Gluten Free Pasta & Veggies Skillet, and Chicken Broccoli Alfredo Bake!

One Pot Chicken and Rice

One Pot Chicken and Rice is a really simple and easy weeknight dinner, made with bone-in chicken thighs, onions, peas, rice, and seasoning. I like to top this with Parmesan cheese for extra flavor, but it’s optional if you want to leave it off. You can also use vegetable or chicken broth, either will work. The chicken thighs are what gives this dish a lot of flavor. Sometimes I’ll use a lower sodium broth, depending on who’s coming to visit for dinner.

Can you cook raw chicken and rice together?

You can cook raw chicken and rice together, as long as you make sure the chicken comes to an internal temperature of 165 F for food safety.

Also keep in mind that the quality of your dish depends on what type of chicken you’re making. Obviously, you don’t want to put a whole chicken in with rice at the same time, because your chicken will take 1-2 hours to cook, and the rice will be well overdone by then. But smaller pieces, like chicken thighs or chicken breast, work really well with one pot rice recipes.

How long does it take to cook rice on the stove?

It takes rice about 10-15 minutes to cook on the stove, depending on the type of rice you’re using.

How can I make rice taste better?

If you want extra flavor, you can add the dry rice to a hot pan with some butter and salt and stir, until it starts to smell toasted. Then add the water and bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and cover the pot, leaving a really small space for some steam to escape. Fluff the rice before serving.

You can also use broth instead of water to cook rice, or add some butter and salt to the pot as it’s cooking. My favorite part about this dish is that the chicken sits on top of the rice, so the drippings add a lot of extra flavor to it as the dish cooks.

Is chicken and rice fattening?

Chicken and rice can be fattening if you add a lot of oil and use chicken with the skin-on, but you can also make a lighter version with chicken breast and low fat broth. You can also use 1/2 the amount of rice (remember to adjust your water), and add more vegetables to this chicken and rice recipe, to lighten up the calories.

How to Make Chicken and Rice in the Slow Cooker

• In a pan over medium-high heat, add butter and brown chicken on all sides.
• Add broth, seasoning, onions, peas, and rice to the slow cooker and stir together. Place chicken on top, spread out as much as possible.
• Cook on high for 4 hours, or on low for 6-8 hours.
• Chicken and Rice is done when the rice has absorbed the liquid, and the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 F.
• Top with Parmesan and serve.

How to Make Chicken and Rice in the Instant Pot

• Set the instant pot to saute mode, and add butter. Brown the chicken on all sides, then remove from the pot and set aside.
• Add the onions until they soften. Add the seasoning, broth, peas, and rice, stirring together. Then add the chicken back in.
• Lock the lid in place, then on manual setting cook on High for 8 minutes, then natural release (about 5-10 minutes).
• Make sure chicken has reached an internal temperature of 165 F.
• Fluff the rice, top with Parmesan, and serve.

Tips For Making Chicken and Rice

• You can make this recipe with any cut of chicken you have, just adjust the cooking time up or down depending on the size of the pieces.
• Add 1 cup of shredded mozzarella on top to make a cheesy rice, then have the Parmesan on the side for later.
• I like to add peas to this dish, but you can use other vegetables instead like carrots, zucchini, or broccoli. This is a great way to use up leftover veggies from the night before!
• This will store well in the refrigerator for 3-4 days, in an airtight container.

Can you freeze Chicken and Rice?

You can freeze chicken and rice if you want to make it ahead of time, but the rice may be mushy when you reheat it. If you’re going to make this ahead to freeze it, I would under-cook the rice slightly by leaving out some of the liquid, and finish it off with some extra liquid when you reheat it in the oven.

Please note that the chicken should be cooked all the way the first time, for food safety.

To reheat, take it out of the freezer the night before and refrigerate it. Then pour about 1 cup of broth over the rice, and cook at 350 F for 30-40 minutes, or until heated through.

More Chicken and Rice Recipes!

• Slow Cooker Chicken and Sausage Paella
• Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
• One Pot Greek Lemon Chicken and Rice
• One Pot Lemon-Garlic Chicken w/Yellow Rice
• One Dish Chicken Thighs w/Mushroom & Sage Rice

 

 

 

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