This one-pot chicken & rice is super easy to make in an evening after work. It’s bursting with smoky, spicy flavour and packed with vegetables and protein! Baking the rice allows some really nice, crispy edges to develop on the rice, which work so well with the flavours! This is a great option for meal preppingif batch cooking for the week. This recipe is based off my Mexican style tomato rice, with the addition of more vegetables and the chicken.

One-Pot Meals

One-pot meals are extremely popular these days! Most people live very busy lives, and simple and efficient meal choices with minimal washing up can really be a time saver. The appeal in these recipes can often overlap with other choices, such as meal prepping and lower calorie recipes. A lot of people in the modern world just want simple and tasty food that’s healthy and easy to make!

Just because a meal is cooked in a single pot, does not mean it can only be cooked a single way. By making use of good quality cookware you can easily move from the hob to the oven. These should be made of materials such as cat iron, carbon steel and stainless steel. This allows you get creative and develop flavour and textures while still keeping the washing up minimal. It is for this reason that I think having cookware such as a cast iron skillet and a dutch oven are essential!

My Baked Chicken & Rice

I think cooking rice in the oven is a really great way to do it! It can easily be done to create fluffy, individual rice grains. If you are making the rice with a sauce rather than water, it can also get some cripsy, caramelised edges. This is where the flavour is! By making chicken and rice in a dutch oven, you can first cook off the chicken in the pan. This will create fond, that will then deliver a punch of flavour into the rice as it cooks.

To make my recipe, you will do exactly this. The first step is to marinate the chicken. I do this in a blend of classic spices from Mexican uisine, with some lime and vinegar. The latter give great favour, but also help to tenderise the meat. You don’t want to marinate it for too long, or else the meat can break down too much! This is then fried off to get a sear on it and cook off the spices. The chicken does not need to be cooked through, as it will finish in the baking process.

Next, onions, garlic and bell peppers are cooked off in the pot. These will release water to deglaze the fond from the bottom of the pan. Sauteeing them off first helps to build the flavour in them, and ensure they are cooked properly before going into the oven. the last thing you want is undercooked onions in the rice!

Rice and kidney beans are then added, along with a mix of chicken stock and tomato puree. This cooking liquid forms the backbone of the flavour to the rice, and also lets those crispy edges form! I then mix well and place the chicken back on top to put in the oven and bake. To finish, a garnish of diced tomato and coriander adds a burst of colour, lightness and freshness to this to round it off nicely.

Easy & Tasty One-Pot Mexican Chicken & Rice

This one-pot chicken & rice is super easy to make in an evening after work. It's bursting with smoky, spicy flavour and packed with vegetables and protein!

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 39 minutes mins

Total Time 49 minutes mins

Servings: 4 People

Course: Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine: Mexican

Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients

  

For the Chicken

• 800 g Boneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs
• 2 tbsp Smoked Paprika
• 1 tbsp Groud Cumin
• 1 tbsp Ground Coriander
• 2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
• 2 tsp Garlic Granules
• 1 tbsp White Wine Vinegar
• 2 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 Lime

For the Rice

• 300 g White Rice Basmati or long-grain
• 450 ml Chicken Stock
• 1.5 tbsp Tomato Puree
• 400 g Kidney Beans
• 1 Red Onion
• 2 Bell Peppers
• 5 cloves Garlic
• 1 tbsp Smoked Paprika
• 2 tsp Ground Cumin
• 2 tsp Ground Coriander
• 1 Tomato
• 1 bunch Fresh Coriander

Equipment

• 1 Dutch Oven

Method

 

1. Mix all the marinade ingredients in a bowl. Add the chicken thighs in whole and mix well to coat. Cover and leave in the fridge for up to 2 hours.
2. Heat your oven to 180°C. Put your Dutch oven on the hob and heat to medium high.
3. Rinse and wash the rice until the water runs clear. Drain and set aside to dry.
4. Add olive oil to the pan and sear off the chicken thighs in batches to prevent overcrowding. Set them aside.
5. Finely dice your onion and add it to the pot. Cook them off for 3-4 minutes, until browning and the fond has lifted from the bottom of the pot.
6. Grate, mince or finely chop the garlic and add it in. Cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
7. Roughly chop the peppers and add them in. Cook for 2 minutes, until starting to soften.
8. Drain the kidney beans and add to the pot along with the rice and spices. Stir well and cook for 2-3 minutes to toast the rice off a bit.
9. Mix th tomato puree into the chicken stock and add it to the pan. Bring to the boil.
10. Place the chicken back into the pot along with any juices they have released. Cover with the lid and put the pot into the oven for 25 minutes.
11. Remove from the oven and leave to stand for 5-10 minutes to let the rice absorb the steam and fluff up.
12. Finely dice the tomato and chop the coriander leaves. Garnish and serve!