One-pot smoky chicken and rice
Golden chicken thighs finish cooking right on top of smoky, tomatoey rice, so dinner and its side come out of the same pot.
- 55 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $3.06 a serving
- 600 calories
- Good the next day
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1½ lb boneless chicken thighs, boneless and skinless
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1½ cups long-grain white rice, long-grain
- 2¾ cups chicken broth
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 lemon, cut into wedges
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 2 tsp smoked paprika, divided
- 1½ tsp salt, divided
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Each serving has about 600 calories, 43 g protein, 71 g carbs and 15 g fat, and costs about $3.06 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No boneless chicken thighs? Chicken breasts or chicken tenderloins work.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No red bell peppers? Yellow bell peppers work.
- No long-grain white rice? Jasmine rice or basmati rice works.
- No chicken broth? Vegetable broth or bone broth works.
- No frozen peas? Frozen mixed vegetables work.
- 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 until it runs mostly clear, then leave it to .
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.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Dolly’s tip: Rinsing washes off the loose starch that turns rice gummy.the chicken dry and both sides with 1 tsp of the smoked paprika, 1 tsp of the salt and the pepper.
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.
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 pot or deep with a lid over medium-high heat until it , then lay in the chicken.
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.
Medium-high heat
Cook for 4 to 5 minutes without moving it, until underneath, then flip, cook 3 minutes more, and move it to a plate.
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: 8 min
Dolly’s tip: It won’t be cooked through yet, and that’s fine. It finishes on top of the rice.Add the onion and bell pepper and cook for 5 minutes, and , until soft.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
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: 5 min
in the garlic, tomato paste and the rest of the smoked paprika and cook for 1 minute, .
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
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.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min
Add the rice and for 1 minute to coat every grain, then pour in the broth and the rest of the salt and .
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
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
Nestle the chicken back on top of the rice with its juices, cover, to low, and cook for 20 minutes without lifting the lid.
Reduce the heat. It means turning the burner down, usually to medium-low or low, so food cooks gently instead of hard. Electric burners cool slowly, so lift the pan off for a moment if it’s bubbling hard.
How you’ll know: Within a minute the bubbling calms to a gentle simmer, or the sizzle turns quiet.
Low heatTimer: 20 min
Dolly’s tip: Don’t stir and don’t peek. Lifting the lid lets out the steam that cooks the rice.Turn off the heat, scatter the peas over the top, cover again, and let it sit for 5 minutes, until the chicken reads 165°F in the thickest piece.
Timer: 5 min
Dolly’s tip: No thermometer? Cut into the thickest thigh: white all the way through with clear juices means it’s done.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.
Fluff the rice around the chicken with a fork and serve with lemon wedges and parsley.
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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