Dinner doesn’t get any easier and better than this oven-baked chicken and rice dinner! Juicy, tender, and flavorful chicken baked with fluffy butter rice. This is a family-friendly one-pot complete dinner that is loved all over the globe. and the best part? It’s entirely made in the oven (no stovetop!), and minimal prep and washing up is required. Perfect for lazy days!
Oven Baked Chicken And Rice
Dinner doesn’t get any easier and better than this oven-baked chicken and rice dinner! Juicy, tender, and flavorful chicken baked with fluffy butter rice. This is a family-friendly one-pot complete dinner that your whole family will love!
Equipment
- ▢8×12 inches baking dish (20x30cm)
Ingredients
For The Chicken
- ▢2 tablespoons olive oil
- ▢1 teaspoon salt
- ▢¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ▢1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ▢1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ▢1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ▢1 teaspoon garlic granules
- ▢6 (2 pounds, 900g) chicken thighs skinless, bone-in – See notes 1 & 2 below
For The Rice
- ▢1 onion diced
- ▢2 cloves garlic minced
- ▢2 tablespoons olive oil
- ▢2 tablespoons butter melted
- ▢1 and ½ cups (375 ml) vegetable or chicken stock hot, Note 3
- ▢1 and ¼ cups (315 ml) water hot
- ▢1 and ½ cups (280g) uncooked long-grain rice Note 4
- ▢1 teaspoon salt
- ▢¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.
- To a large mixing bowl, whisk the oil and seasonings, then add the chicken thighs and mix so that the chicken thighs are well coated. Marinate for 15-30 minutes if the time allows.
- To a baking dish, add onion, garlic, olive oil, butter, hot vegetable stock, hot water, rice, salt, and pepper. And give everything a quick mix.
- Place the chicken over the rice.
- Cover with foil and bake covered for 30 minutes.
- Uncover, spray the chicken with oil and bake for 30 more minutes. Broil for a few minutes to give the chicken golden and crisp edges and crust.
- Remove from the oven, and allow the chicken and rice to rest for 10 minutes. Fluff the rice (remove the chicken if needed then put it back in), garnish with fresh herbs and serve.
Notes:
- I use bone-in chicken thighs to make this recipe as it takes the same time as the rice to be ready. I remove the skin as I found that leaving the skin on makes the rice too greasy as the fat drips off the skin into the rice.
- Removing the skin off the chicken thighs is quite easy, and literally takes just a few seconds, plus it ensures that your rice is perfectly cooked so it’s well worth the effort.
- The vegetable stock or chicken stock and water MUST be hot for this recipe to work.
- Long-grain white rice works best in this recipe. I usually either use basmati or jasmine as they seem to work best. You can use brown rice, but the baking time will be different and you will need to add more liquid. Avoid risotto, paella rice, or quick rice as these will turn into mush.
- I like to add a lot of seasonings to the chicken, as it results in flavorful chicken AND rice. Feel free to use your favorite seasonings though.
- 8×12 inches baking dish (20x30cm) is what I use, but a slightly bigger dish works too.