by 
One Pan Chicken and Rice
If you’re looking for an easy and nutritious chicken and rice dish which your family will love, this recipe for an Asian-style One Pan Chicken and Rice is one you need to try! It’s loaded with flavours of garlic, ginger and soy sauce, plus everything is cooked in the one pan, which makes it an ideal dish to make during the busy week. I make this One Pan Chicken and Rice almost every week, and once you get into the rhythm of making such one pan rice dishes, it’s easy to vary the ingredients for something a bit different each time.
One Pan Chicken and Rice Recipe
If you are familiar with cooking rice on the stove, this recipe for One Pan Chicken and Rice simply requires a few more steps and ingredients so that you end up with a complete dish in one pan.
You start by searing the chicken thigh fillets to render the fat in the skin, and this fat is what adds loads of flavour to the rice. Aromatics in the way of ginger and garlic are also added to the rice, as well as chicken stock and soy sauce to provide maximum savoury flavours. And in the time that it takes to cook the rice, the chicken will have steamed to tender perfection.
Which Vegetables to Use
To make it a more complete dish, I like to sneak in vegetables, but not too many so that you don’t throw off the rice-to-water ratio. Below, I have used enoki mushrooms because I love how tender they become once cooked and almost melt into the rice. As you can see in the accompanying photos (or not!), the enoki mushrooms become almost camouflaged in the rice!
Some other vegetables that work great include:
- fresh corn kernels from one ear of corn
- 1-2 handfuls of frozen peas
- 1-2 handfuls of mixed frozen vegetables, such as peas and carrots
- roughly chopped broccoli
- roughly chopped cauliflower
How to Make One Pan Chicken and Rice
Step 1
Heat a cast iron pan or stainless steel pan (measuring 26 cm/10 inches) over medium-high heat. Add the oil, and then sear the chicken thighs with the skin facing down. Don’t worry if the chicken pieces overlap a little; the meat will shrink as it cooks. Cook for several minutes until the chicken skin is golden and crispy.
Meanwhile, generously season the meat facing upwards with salt and pepper.
Step 2
Once the chicken skin is nice and golden, turn the chicken pieces over. Cook for a few more minutes until the chicken is lightly browned. At this stage, the chicken will not be cooked through completely. Remove the chicken pieces to a large plate.
Step 3
If there is more than 3-4 tablespoons of fat in the pan, remove the excess oil. Add the ginger and garlic, and cook for about 1 minute until it is aromatic.
Step 4
Add the washed and rinsed rice to the pan. Turn the rice in the fat so that every grain is coated. Use a spoon to gently flatten the rice so that you have an even surface.
Step 5
Remove the pan from the heat temporarily (unless you move quickly in the kitchen). Arrange the enoki mushrooms on top of the rice, allowing for the chicken pieces to sit in between. Alternatively, simply spread the enoki evenly all over the rice. If you are using other vegetables, I would generally also sprinkle the vegetables evenly over the rice.
Step 6
Return the chicken to the pan and arrange the pieces on top of the rice. Pour any meat juices on the plate over the rice.
Step 7
Measure the boiling water, chicken stock cubes (or chicken stock powder) and soy sauce into a large jug.
Return the pan to the stove over medium-high heat. Pour the liquid over the rice.
Step 8
Bring the pan to a gentle simmer. As soon as the water starts to bubble, turn the heat down to low-medium. For my induction stove, I use a setting 5 out of 9 for a cast iron pan, or a setting 3 out of 9 for a stainless steel pan. If you are unfamiliar with cooking rice on the stove, you may need to experiment with the heat settings, but you generally want to cook the rice on a very low simmer.
Place a tight-fitting lid on the pan and cook for about 30 minutes, or until the rice is cooked through. After 30 minutes, turn off the stove, but leave the lid on the pan to allow the rice to further steam for about 10 minutes.
If crispy chicken skin is a must for you, heat some oil in a small pan over medium-high heat, and sear the chicken with the skin side down for about 1 minute until it has crisped up again.
Garnish with fresh coriander (cilantro) and spring onions (scallions) just before serving.
Tips for Making One Pan Chicken and Rice
- Use a cast-iron pan. I like to cook rice in a cast-iron pan because it conducts the heat evenly. A stainless steel pan works just as well, but you may need to cook at a lower temperature.
- Use a glass lid. When cooking rice on the stove, it is helpful to use a glass lid so that you can see how the rice is cooking and when it is done.
- Use boneless chicken thigh. Chicken thigh is more tender and succulent than chicken breast, especially in a recipe like this one. I like to leave the skin on to create more flavour when rendering the chicken fat, but remove the bone so that the meat cooks in the same time needed to cook the rice.
- Vary the vegetables. Use any vegetables that can steam to tenderness in 30 minutes, such as mushrooms, corn, peas, or finely chopped carrots, broccoli or cauliflower. Once you have made this dish once or twice, it’s fun to experiment with the flavours and textures.
One Pan Chicken and Rice
Ingredients
- 5-6 chicken thigh fillets, skin on and bone removed
- 1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- sea salt
- black pepper, freshly cracked
- 1 tablespoon ginger, grated
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 350 g (1 ⅔ cups) Jasmine rice, washed and drained
- 200 g (7 oz) enoki mushrooms, optional, see Kitchen Notes below
- 500 ml (2 cups) boiling water
- 1 ½ teaspoons chicken stock powder, or 1 ½ chicken stock cube
- 1 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
- coriander, (cilantro) finely chopped
- spring onions, (scallions) finely chopped
- Homemade Chilli Oil
Instructions
- Heat a cast iron pan or stainless steel pan measuring 26 cm/10 inches over medium-high heat.
- Add the oil to the pan.
- Place the chicken thigh fillets into the pan with the skin side down. Don’t worry if the chicken pieces overlap slightly; the chicken will shrink slightly as it cooks. Cook the chicken for several minutes until the skin is golden and crispy, and most of the fat has rendered.
- Whilst the chicken is cooking with the skin side down, season the meat facing upwards generously with salt and pepper.
- Once the skin is nice and crispy, turn the chicken pieces over.
- Cook for a few minutes until the meat is lightly browned. The chicken does not need to be fully cooked at this stage.
- Remove the chicken pieces to a large plate.
- At this stage, there should be a lot of fat in the pan from rendering the chicken skin. If it looks like there is more than 3-4 tablespoons of fat, remove the excess oil.
- Turn the pan down to medium heat.
- Add the ginger and garlic, and cook for about 1 minute until it is fragrant.
- Add the washed rice and stir it through the aromatics until all of the grains are coated in the oil.
- Remove the pan from the stove.
- Use a large spoon to gently flatten the rice to create an even surface.
- Arrange the enoki mushrooms on top of the rice. If you are using other types of vegetables, arrange the vegetables evenly on top of the rice.
- Return the chicken to the pan and arrange them on top of the vegetables. Pour any meat juices which have collected on the plate onto the rice.
- In a large measuring jug, mix together the boiling water, chicken stock cubes and soy sauce.
- Return the pan to the stove on medium-high heat.
- Pour the liquid over the rice.
- Bring the pan to a gentle simmer. As soon as the liquid starts to bubble, turn the stove down to low-medium heat. For my induction stove, I use setting 5 out of 9 for a cast-iron pan, or a setting 3 out of 9 for a stainless steel pan. If you are unfamiliar with cooking rice on the stove, you may need to experiment with the heat settings, but you generally want to cook the rice on a very low simmer.
- Place a tight-fitting lid onto the pan (preferably made of glass so you can see how everything is cooking).
- Cook for about 30 minutes, or until the rice is fully cooked.
- After 30 minutes, turn off the stove, but keep the lid on the rice to allow the rice to continue steaming for about 10 minutes.
- This next step is optional, unless crispy chicken skin is a must for you. After steaming, the chicken skin will be soft but still delicious. If you want to crisp up the chicken skin, simply heat a small pan with some oil, and sear the chicken pieces with the skin facing down for about 1 minute until the skin has crisped up again.
- Garnish with coriander (cilantro) and spring onions (scallions) before serving.
- Serve with Homemade Chilli Oil.
Kitchen Notes
- VARIATIONS
My recipe above uses enoki mushrooms, but feel free to substitute with other vegetables of your choice. Just make sure the veges are chopped small so that they steam in the time it takes to cook the rice. Some veges I like to use include:
* fresh corn kernels from one ear of corn
* 1-2 handfuls of frozen peas
* 1-2 handfuls of mixed frozen vegetables, such as peas and carrots
* roughly chopped broccoli
* roughly chopped cauliflower - OVEN & STOVE TEMPERATURES
All recipes on this website have been tested on an induction stove and/or with a conventional oven (i.e. an oven without fan). All recipes on this website use temperatures for a conventional oven, unless otherwise mentioned. Convection ovens (i.e. fan-forced ovens) are typically 20°C/70°F hotter than conventional ovens, but please check your manufacturer’s handbook. - CONVERSIONS
To convert from cups to grams, and vice-versa, please see this handy Conversion Chart for Basic Ingredients.
Wow fantastic recipe! Loved the flavors and the rice was perfectly cooked. This will for sure become a regular in our home.
Hi Luis,
That’s wonderful to hear that you liked this recipe!
I’ve made this at least 4 or 5 times now and we love it!
Very delicious flavors.
Hi Amy,
So glad you enjoyed this recipe 😊