With this delicious One Pot Chicken and Rice, not only will your whole family love it but it’ll become one of your go to recipes.
Chicken and Rice
When it’s 4pm and I’m not sure what to cook for dinner, I go to my old stand by recipes. I’m drawn to easy, one pot meals and easy dinner ideas/ easy weeknight dinners. Sometimes I feel bad that my family doesn’t have gourmet meals but mostly I just try to remember that I’m providing meals and that’s what matters. Right? You with me on that?
This chicken and rice recipe falls into the easy, quick and delicious category. You only need one pot to make it happen and not a lot of work. Plus it has broccoli in it so it has some vegetables in it.
How to make Chicken and Rice
One thing I love about this recipe is that it is straight forward. There aren’t any complicated instructions. If you know the basics of cooking, you can make this one in a snap. You will use a large skillet or pan for this recipe. Other items you need: knife, cutting board, and I love using my spurtle.
- After chopping some onions, you will add them to your pan on medium heat with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Let them saute and soften as this will add tons of flavor and make your house smell divine!
- While the onions are cooking, cut up your boneless, skinless chicken into bite size pieces and season with salt and pepper.
- Once the onions soften, add the chicken pieces and up the heat to medium high. Your chicken will brown between 8-10 minutes per side, depending on the size of your pieces. This is when you add the minced garlic to the pan and let it cook for an additional minute.
- To make give even more flavor, push the chicken and onions to the side and add an additional tablespoon of EVOO to toast the rice. This will bring out the nuttiness of the rice as well. Yum!
- Saute that rice for a few minutes. You’ll then add chicken broth to the pan and bring it to a boil.
- Lower that heat to a simmer and cover the pan with a lid to suck in all of the moisture.
- At this point you cook this for 12 minutes. It will look something like this:
Can’t you just see all of the flavor in this dish already? This is where the broccoli comes to play. Sprinkle in bite sized pieces into the dish and stir it. Then cook for an additional 8 minutes on low.
The only thing that can make it better now is some ooey gooey cheese. So add 1/2 c of cheese and mix it in. Then add another 1/2 a cup of cheese and put the lid back on to melt over the top of the dish. And there you have your one pot meal!
Scroll to get the entire recipe below.
What to serve with Chicken and Rice?
Because this dish has rice, chicken, broccoli and cheese, it’s really filling. But having a few sides will help balance out the meal. Here are some suggestions:
- the Best Dinner Rolls
- Homemade Biscuits
- Baked Zucchini or Roasted Zucchini Spears
- Oven Baked Corn on the Cob
For other easy one pot meals check out
- Porcupines in a Skillet
- One Skillet Mushroom and Meatball
- Chicken and Broccoli Pasta
- One Skillet Lasagna
Chicken and Rice Recipe
Chicken and Rice
Ingredients
- 3 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 yellow onion diced
- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into small pieces
- 2 cloves garlic, minced I use jarred minced garlic
- 1 tsp kosher salt more to taste
- black pepper to taste
- 1 c long grain white rice uncooked
- 2 1/2 c chicken broth
- 2 1/2 c broccoli, fresh cut into bite size pieces
- 2 c shredded cheddar cheese I prefer mild cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Sauté onions in two tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat in a medium- large pan.
- Season bite sized pieces of chicken with salt and pepper.
- Soften onions (should take a few minutes) and turn the heat to medium high, add chicken to pan.
- Brown the chicken pieces in the pan. (about 8 minutes per side, depending on the size of your chicken pieces)
- Add minced garlic and cook for an additional minute.
- Move chicken to one side of the pan and add 1 more TBSP of olive oil to the other side.
- Add the uncooked rice in the olive oil and saute it for a couple of minutes. This will toast the rice and give it more flavor.
- Add the chicken broth to the pan and bring the mixture to a boil.
- Once boiling, lower the heat to a simmer and cover the pan with a lid.
- Cook the covered chicken and rice mixture for about 12 minutes.
- Distribute the broccoli evenly over the chicken and rice mixture and stir to combine.
- Continue to cook covered another 8 minutes on low, or until broccoli and rice are both tender.
- Remove from heat and stir in half a cup of cheese.
- Sprinkle remaining cheese on top and cover with a lid, letting it sit for 1-2 minutes or until cheese has melted.
Source: The Girl Who Ate Everything
