food & beverage

one pot chicken and rice recipes

By on Tuesday, October 25, 2022
One Pot Chicken and Rice recipes

One Pot Chicken and Rice recipes

Hello & welcome to solsarin. Our discussion is about “One Pot Chicken and Rice recipes”. Please stay with us until the end of the text.

 

One Pot Chicken and Rice recipes
One Pot Chicken and Rice recipes

 

ONE POT CHICKEN AND RICE

Quick and easy one pot chicken and rice recipe, made with simple ingredients on stovetop. It’s is a healthy 30 minute meal, packed with Cajun seasoning, peppers, corn.

Among the many chicken and rice recipes I make, my family says this one pot chicken and rice recipe is their absolute favorite. I never ever have any leftovers! It’s just as good as this One Pot Sausage and Rice.

It does have a little bit of spicy kick to it because of the Cajun seasoning but that can be easily adjusted, based on how much spice you can handle.

Leftovers of this chicken and rice one pot meal make a great lunch the next day.

WHY YOU WILL LOVE THIS RECIPE

  • It is simple, quick and fast
  • Uses simple pantry ingredients
  • Minimal prep: 10 minutes tops!
  • While this is stove top recipe, it can be oven baked too.
  • Totally customisable to taste
  • Depending on the type of rice, you are using, this recipe would be ready in 30 minutes. See why you have to love a one-pot dinner? It is totally awesome!
  • It stores well in the fridge at least for up to 5 days, I like to keep it for 3 days maximum for optimum freshness. You can also freeze it too!

CHICKEN AND RICE INGREDIENTS

Uncooked Basmati rice: swap for jasmine rice or long grain rice. I used golden sella basmati rice which cooks like long grain rice.

Bone-in skinless chicken thighs: I removed the skin off the chicken myself as we hardly eat chicken with skin on. Also, to make this recipe healthy, it is best to cook without the skin.

Mixed herbs: swap for Italian seasoning or herb de Provence

Smoked paprika: substitute for sweet paprika

Salt and black pepper

Onion powder

Garlic powder

Olive oil: substitute with vegetable oil, coconut oil, avocado oil or any other cooking oil of choice.

Unsalted butter

Low sodium chicken stock.

Green onions for garnish: substitute for chives, parsley or even coriander.

HOW TO MAKE CHINESE CHICKEN AND RICE

This is a straightforward recipe but there’s a few things I specifically do to achieve the tastiest outcome with the least effort – this is, after all, a quick and easy meal but that’s no reason to skimp on quality!

A) SEPARATE STEMS FROM LEAFY PARTS of Asian greens.The purpose of this so we can add the stems to cook with the rice, then just wilt the leafy part using residual heat while the rice is resting.

Apply this rule to any vegetables you use in this recipe. Cook things like carrots, peas, capsicum/bell peppers, broccoli, cauliflower and corn with the rice, and wilt delicate things like baby spinach while the rice is resting.

B) SEAR marinated chicken to brown the outside, but keep it raw on the inside – it will finish cooking with the rice. Caramelisation not only adds flavour to the chicken but the browning left in the pot forms part of the flavour base for the rice.

C) Place the CHICKEN ON TOP of the rice to finish cooking while the rice cooks. This way, the juices drip into the rice and we can preserve the caramelised surface on the chicken which would sweat off if fully submerged in the liquid.

D) REST RICE and WILT Leafy Greens. Resting the rice for 10+ minutes is a key step with any rice dish. That is how to ensure your rice comes out fluffy rather than gluey.

In this particular recipe, I use the residual heat trapped in the pot while the rice is resting to wilt the leafy part of the Asian greens.

Then, once the rice is rested and ready for fluffing, the leafy greens are wilted and can be tossed through the rice.

Recipe Notes

1. Chicken breast can also be used but try to marinate for at least 20 minutes or overnight (will keep it juicier). Cut each breast in half horizontally to make 2 thin steaks then cut those in half (to make similar shape to halved thighs).
One Pot Chicken and Rice recipes
One Pot Chicken and Rice recipes

2. Chinese Broccoli is also known as Gai Lan. Try to get ones with thick stems so they don’t become overly soft when cooked in with the rice. If yours are thin, scatter them on top of the chicken instead of stirring into the liquid.

Other Vegetables:
Other Asian Greens – like pak choy, bok choi etc Cut per recipe but scatter across top of chicken, do not stir into liquid (because they’re more delicate so will cook to mush if mixed in liquid).
Frozen or fresh diced veg – stir into liquid and cook per recipe.
Cauliflower – stir into liquid and cook per recipe.

3. Rice – Any ordinary white rice is suitable for this recipe. Long grain, medium grain, short grain, Japanese rice, sushi rice, jasmine, basmati. Long grain, jasmine and basmati will yield the fluffiest rice, the others are a bit stickier as they are supposed to be.

Recipe is NOT suitable for: paella or risotto rice.

Brown ricewill require the following adjustments: Add extra 0.5 cup of water, do not add stems or chicken in. Cover and cook rice for 30 minutes on low. Stir through stems and top with chicken. Cover and cook 10 minutes, remove from heat, follow recipe to wilt leafy part and stand 10 minutes before serving,

4. Chinese Cooking wine– Sold at Asian grocery stores and the Asian section of some supermarkets (Coles, Woolies in Australia). Dry sherry and mirin are excellent substitutes. For a non alcoholic version, leave it out and add 1/2 tsp chicken stock powder into Sauce.

5. Dark soy sauce has a more intense flavour and colour than light soy sauce and ordinary all purpose soy sauce. This is what stains the rice in this recipe. It can be substituted for light or all purpose soy sauce.

NUTRITION

Calories: 441kcal Carbohydrates: 43g Protein: 23g  Fat: 24g  Saturated Fat: 7g  Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g  Monounsaturated Fat: 12g  Trans Fat: 1g  Cholesterol: 82mg   Sodium: 112mg   Potassium: 442mg   Fiber: 2g  Sugar: 2g  Vitamin A: 561IU  Vitamin C: 4mg Calcium: 43mg Iron: 2mg

HIGHLY VERSATILE RECIPE

Like many recipes on my site, this recipe lends itself to all sorts of variations. It can take more vegetables, it can be made with mince meat (ground meat) rather than chicken pieces – just cook it with the sauce then proceed with the recipe as written.

You could even make it with fish and/or prawns/shrimp – but I’d cook them separately first and only return them to the pot while the rice is resting just to warm them through.

I often get messages on recipes where readers hesitantly say “I hope it’s ok that I tinkered with your recipe….” and I always respond – “YES OF COURSE!!!” I love that you can make my recipes your own and adapt it to your taste.

OTHER FLAVOR VARIATIONS FOR EASY CHICKEN AND RICE RECIPE:

  • One Pot Chicken Thighs and Rice– Use chicken 4 or 5 chicken thighs instead of chicken breast pieces.
  • Chicken Breast and Rice– Use whole boneless chicken breasts, strips or cubes.
  • Fried Chicken and Rice– Stir fry the leftovers the next day (stale rice works best in stir fries) in some oil in a wok.
  • Creamy Chicken and Rice– Lower the amount of heavy cream and balance it with some heavy cream or half and half or even cream cheese.
  • Chicken and Brown Rice– Replace regular rice with brown rice but the cooking time will need to be increased since brown rice takes longer to get cooked.
  • Chicken and Rice soup/ Chicken and Wild Rice Soup– Add more broth and water to create a soup-like consistency. Also, increase the quantity of cajun seasoning. Also, use wild rice instead of regular rice.
  • Mexican Chicken and Rice– Use taco seasoning instead of cajun seasoning.
  • Chicken Rice and Beans– Add 1/3 cup canned beans in this recipe.
  • Chicken and Rice Recipe with Cream of Mushroom Soup– Add 1 small can of cream of mushroom soup in this recipe and reduce the amount of brother by 1/4 cup.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION

Can I bake chicken and rice in the oven?

Absolutely, all you have to do is preheat the oven at 180C/350F. follow all the steps above but instead of cooking on the stove, bake in the oven covered for 50 minutes to 1 hour.

 

One Pot Chicken and Rice recipes
One Pot Chicken and Rice recipes

 

Is chicken and rice healthy?

Yes, it is, but as with everything in life, you have to eat it in moderation regardless of how delicious it is. It contains protein and carbs that is good for the body.

type of rice

  • You can make this dish using brown rice in place of white rice but you will need to increase the cook time from 15 minutes to 35-40 minutes.
  • white rice, jasmin, and basmati will all work here

low sodium chicken stock

  • This isn’t 100% necessary but I do recommend using a low sodium stock so you can have a little more control over how salty your final dish is. If you don’t have any low sodium stock then just makes sure to reduce the amount of added salt at the end.

make it low fodmap

  • Use a fodmap friendly stock (like this Roasted low FODMAP Vegetable Stock) and leave out the garlic powder.

a hot pan

  • Make sure to heat up your skillet before adding the chicken so that the chicken will form a nice brown crust.

 

 

Random Posts
0
Related Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *