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Easy Oven Baked Chicken And Rice with garlic butter mushrooms mixed through will have you feeling like a winner, winner chicken dinner! No, but seriously, this chicken is so easy to put together, you’ll wonder why you haven’t tried it before.
Mouthwatering baked chicken thighs, coated in a beautiful rub, baked on top of fluffy soft rice, all made in the oven. Dinner doesn’t get any better than this one dish wonder! An oven baked chicken and rice recipe filled with onions, garlic and other goodies.
In this oven baked chicken and rice recipe, I’ll also be giving you the option to add in plump garlic butter mushrooms that rival even our famous Garlic Mushrooms recipe!
OVEN BAKED CHICKEN AND RICE
I mean, who doesn’t love perfectly baked chicken and steamy, fluffy rice? Two ingredients that were meant to be together; kind of like Garlic Naan and Butter Chicken or Chocolate and Strawberries.
Oven baked chicken and rice all cooked together in one dish is possibly one of the most loved dinners in my home. I know in my heart of heart, this will become your new favourite too!
BAKED CHICKEN
Normally, one pan chicken and rice recipes start on the stove top first to sear chicken and render out the fat to get it ultra crispy, just like our much-loved Spanish Chicken And Rice or our One Pan Tomato Basil Chicken & Rice. Other recipes fry onion and garlic first before adding in rice. With this oven baked chicken and rice recipe, there is no need for any of that!
How? You’re going to use skinless chicken thighs (with the bone-in if you can find them for extra juicy chicken pieces), coated in an incredible flavoured rub. You can use any additional seasonings you like: dried basil or oregano, rosemary, onion powder or whatever you have on hand!
HOW TO MAKE OVEN BAKED CHICKEN AND RICE
- Bone-in chicken thighs bake in the same time as rice, which makes them the perfect cut of chicken for this recipe. They also guarantee the chicken will not dry out. There’s nothing worse than dry chicken!
- Skin-off thighs work so much better than skin-on thighs. During testing, we found leaving the skin-on resulted in gluggy, sticky and half raw rice. Too much chicken fat seeped into the rice while baking.
- Chicken drumsticks can be used with skin on or off. Both work well as the amount of skin/fat on drumsticks is much less than thighs. Taste wise, we preferred skin off drumsticks.
- If you prefer using boneless chicken breasts or boneless thighs, add them in after the rice has had 20 minutes of baking in the oven (this allows the rice to cook halfway through first as boneless chicken only needs 20-30 minutes baking time).
- Arrange your chicken over the rice as the image above shows. We found chicken must be placed over the middle section of the rice to make sure the rice completely cooks. Leaving the middle section uncovered resulted in a few crunchy grains.
WHAT RICE TO USE FOR BAKED CHICKEN AND RICE
Long grain rice is the best rice to use and cooks evenly. Basmati rice or jasmine rice can be substituted using the same liquid ratio and cooking time. Please do not use short grain rice, medium grain rice, risotto, paella or minute rice.
Once your oven baked chicken and rice is cooked, broil it for an extra 2-3 minutes just to get your chicken golden and browned with crispy edges and a buttery, crunchy crust on the top of your rice!
GARLIC MUSHROOMS
While your rice is broiling, you can get your garlic mushrooms cooking (this is completely optional – BUT SO GOOD to include them). Then, when your mushrooms are done, mix them through the rice, taking in the mouthwatering aromas that are going to smack you right in the face.
During testing, we added the mushrooms at the beginning of the baking process and didn’t enjoy them at all. They need that buttery, garlic, pan fried cooked flavour mixed through the rice for the best results.
This rice dish is SO darn good with the buttery, garlicky, soft and tender rice, with ALL the chicken flavours baked right in!
An easy, low-fuss dinner.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH OVEN BAKED CHICKEN AND RICE
The beauty of this dish is that it is a complete dinner on its own. If you do want a little something extra on the side, try a Soft Dinner Roll or a light side salad like our Balsamic Chickpea Avocado and Feta Salad.
Oven Baked Chicken And Rice Recipe on Video!
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RECIPE UPDATE FOR BEST RESULTS
We tried and tested this recipe many times since posting, as a few readers are having trouble comprehending the directions. We found adding boiled (hot) chicken broth to the rice allows the cook time to be reduced while giving you perfectly cooked rice.
Please pre-boil your broth while preparing the rest of your ingredients, ensuring hot boiling chicken broth is being added in step 3. If you don’t have chicken broth, use 2 3/4 cups boiling water and mix in 3 teaspoons of chicken bouillon or stock powder.
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Oven Baked Chicken and Rice
Ingredients
For Chicken
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons light brown sugar option for keto: use a brown sugar substitute
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano or dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon mild sweet paprika or hot
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cracked pepper to taste
- 6 skinless chicken thighs bone in or out
For Rice
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 4 tablespoons oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cracked pepper
- 1 1/2 cups hot chicken broth or stock
- 1 1/4 cups hot water
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 1/2 cups long grain white rice
For Mushrooms (OPTIONAL)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 14 ounces button mushrooms quartered
- 1/4 cup chives or green onions, divided
- 1/4 teaspoon salt to taste
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped to garnish
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
- In a shallow bowl, mix together the olive oil, sugar, oregano, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, thyme, salt and pepper. Add the chicken and coat each piece evenly with the seasoning. Set aside, allowing the flavours to absorb into the meat. If time allows, marinade overnight for a deeper flavour.
- Spray a large baking dish (10-inch x 15-inch OR 25 x 35 cm) with nonstick cooking oil spray. Add the onion, garlic, oil, salt, pepper, HOT boiled broth, hot water and butter into the dish. Mix well to melt the butter and combine. Stir in the rice.
- Arrange thighs in the dish over the rice, cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover, spray chicken with oil and bake for an additional 25-30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked right through to the bone and rice is soft. Change oven setting to broil to brown the chicken and crisp rice (only needs 3-5 minutes).
- Remove chicken thighs, mix the rice through, then arrange the chicken back on top of the rice. Cover and allow it to rest for 10 minutes to set all of the flavours in the hot dish. The rice will finish off cooking while resting.
- While chicken is resting, prepare mushrooms (OPTIONAL):Heat butter in a pan over medium-high heat. Sauté garlic until fragrant (30 seconds) and add mushrooms; cook until softened. Stir in 2 tablespoons of chives and season with salt and pepper.
- Transfer chicken onto a plate; fluff rice with forks, then mix the mushrooms through the rice. Arrange chicken back onto the rice in the dish, garnish with remaining chives and chopped parsley. SERVE and enjoy!
Notes
- Bone-in chicken thighs bake in the same time as rice, which makes them the perfect cut of chicken for this recipe. They also guarantee juicy chicken pieces without drying out. There's nothing worse than dry chicken.
- Skin-OFF thighs work so much better when compared to skin-ON thighs. During testing, we found leaving the skin-on resulted in gluggy, sticky, half raw rice. Too much chicken fat seeped into the rice while baking.
- You can use bone-in chicken breasts in this rice casserole. Cook time is the same as chicken breasts are thicker than chicken thighs.
- Chicken drumsticks can be used with skin on or off. Both work well.
- Arrange your chicken over the rice as the image above shows. We found chicken MUST be placed over the middle section of the rice to ensure the rice gets cooked. Leaving the middle uncovered resulted in a few raw grains.
- Long grain rice is the best rice to use and cooks evenly. Basmati rice or Jasmine rice can be substituted with the same liquid ratio and cooking time.
- Please do not use short grain rice, medium grain rice, risotto, paella or minute rice.
FOR BONELESS CHICKEN THIGHS AND BREASTS
- Add rice into the baking dish WITHOUT chicken. Cover with foil and bake rice in the oven for 30 minutes.
- Remove pan from oven, uncover and arrange chicken over the top. Return to the oven, uncovered, for a further 20-25 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked though and the liquid has absorbed. Rice should be soft. Continue with the recipe.
PREBOIL LIQUID
We tried and tested this recipe many times since posting as a few readers are having trouble comprehending the directions. We found adding boiled (hot) chicken broth to the rice allows the cook time to be reduced while giving you perfectly cooked rice. Please pre-boil your broth while preparing the rest of your ingredients, ensuring hot boiling chicken broth is being added in Step 3. If you don't have chicken broth, use 4 cups boiling water and mix in 4 teaspoons chicken bouillon or stock powder.Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Can you use jasmine or basmati rice?
Hi Cheryl, Long grain rice is the best rice to use and cooks evenly. Basmati rice or jasmine rice can be substituted using the same liquid ratio and cooking time.
Really enjoy the recipe and have used it many times but my husband and I both have had issues with the cooking instructions. I would love to see a revised version of the cooking directions with more explanation on why or other options. For example, is the only reason you pre-boil the rice and broth is for saving time? Couldn’t you just cook the rice and broth on the stovetop and then add the rice and chicken to the baking dish? I accidentally spilled broth, rice and raw chicken all over the inside of my oven and floor trying to transfer the mixture to my oven and it was a nightmare trying to clean it up.
Really great meal. I included the mushrooms, which definitely added to the overall flavor. For first timers, when you pulled the foil off at 30 mins, don’t be shocked to see a lot of liquid still in the dish; it will bake out, give it time in the next 30 mins.