Lemon garlic chicken over rice
Golden, juicy chicken thighs in a bright lemon garlic butter, spooned over fluffy rice you’ll finally trust yourself to make.
- 30 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 2
- About $2.94 a serving
- 780 calories
- Good the next day
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: I’d make this on a weeknight. It’s on the table in 30 minutes.
Ingredients
For 2 servings.
- 1 cup jasmine rice
- 1 lb boneless chicken thighs
- 2 tbsp butter
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 1¼ cups water
- 1 tsp salt, divided
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Each serving has about 780 calories, 52 g protein, 78 g carbs and 28 g fat, and costs about $2.94 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No jasmine rice? Long-grain white rice or basmati rice works.
- No boneless chicken thighs? Chicken breasts or chicken tenderloins work.
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No lemons? Limes work.
- No fresh parsley? Cilantro works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the rice in a strainer under cold water, swishing it with your fingers, until the water runs mostly clear, about 1 minute.
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Dolly’s tip: Rinsing washes off the loose starch that makes rice gummy.Put the rice, 1¼ cups water and ½ teaspoon salt in a medium and on high, uncovered.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Stir once, cover, turn the heat to low and cook 15 minutes. Then move the pot off the heat and leave the lid on while you cook the chicken.
Low heatTimer: 15 min
Dolly’s tip: No peeking. The trapped steam finishes the rice, and lifting the lid lets it out.the garlic, and juice the lemon, and the chicken dry with paper towels.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Zest. Zest is the thin, colored outer layer of citrus peel, rubbed off on the smallest holes of a grater. It holds the fruit’s fragrant oils, so it adds bright flavor without the sourness of juice.
How you’ll know: You see bright flecks and smell citrus right away; stop when you reach the white layer, which is bitter.
Pat dry. Patting dry means pressing paper towels onto food to soak up the moisture on its surface. Wet food steams instead of browning, so this is how you get a good sear and crisp skin.
How you’ll know: The surface feels tacky, not wet, and the last paper towel comes away barely damp.
the chicken on both sides with ½ teaspoon salt and the pepper.
Season. Seasoning means adding salt, pepper or spices to bring out a food’s flavor. A little at a few stages tastes better than a lot all at the end.
How you’ll know: When you taste it, it tastes bright and like itself, not flat and not salty.
Heat the oil in a large over medium-high until it . Lay the chicken in smooth side down and , without moving it, 5 to 6 minutes, until deep underneath.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Shimmering oil. Oil shimmers when it’s hot enough to cook: its surface looks rippled and wavy, like heat over a road. That’s your cue to add the food, just before the oil would start to smoke.
How you’ll know: The oil looks wavy and runs thin like water when you tilt the pan, with no smoke yet.
Sear. Searing means cooking the outside of meat or fish in a hot pan, without moving it, until a deep brown crust forms. The crust is packed with flavor, and it only forms on a dry surface.
How you’ll know: It sizzles loudly the moment it goes in, and it lets go of the pan on its own when the crust is ready.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium-high heatTimer: 5 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: It sticks at first. When the crust has formed it lets go of the pan on its own, and that’s your sign to flip.Flip the chicken, turn the heat to medium, and cook 5 to 6 minutes more, until the thickest piece reads 165°F. Move it to a plate.
Medium heatTimer: 5 min 30 sec
Food safety: Chicken is done at 165°F in the thickest part. A thermometer is the only sure check. Without one, cut into the thickest piece: it should be white all the way through, with no pink.
Turn the heat to low, add the butter and garlic, and stir about 30 seconds, and pale gold.
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Low heat
Dolly’s tip: Garlic goes from gold to bitter fast. Pale gold is perfect.Add the lemon zest, lemon juice and 3 tablespoons of water, and with a wooden spoon. Let it bubble for 1 minute.
Scrape up the browned bits. It means loosening the brown bits stuck to the pan with a wooden spoon, usually right after adding liquid. Those bits are concentrated flavor, and they melt into the sauce.
How you’ll know: The bottom of the pan looks clean again, and the liquid turns darker and richer.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min
Fluff the rice with a fork, the chicken, and spoon the lemon garlic butter over the top. Scatter the parsley if you have it.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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