September 10, 2018 By Karina

Oven Baked Chicken And Rice

Name: Oven Baked Chicken and Rice
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 80 min
Yield: 6 people
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons olive oil; 1 heaping tablespoon light brown sugar, ((OPTIONAL. FOR KETO use a brown sugar substitute)); 1 teaspoon dried oregano (or dried parsley); 1 teaspoon mild sweet paprika ((or hot)); 1 teaspoon each garlic powder and onion powder; 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme; 1 teaspoon salt; 1/4 teaspoon Cracked black pepper, (to taste); 6 skinless chicken thighs, (bone in or out); 1 large onion, (finely chopped); 4 cloves garlic, (minced); 4 tablespoons oil; 1 teaspoon salt; 1/4 teaspoon cracked black 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; 2 tablespoons butter; 2 cloves garlic, (minced); 14 ounces (400g) button mushrooms, (quartered); 1/4 cup chives (or green onions), (divided); Salt and pepper, (to taste); 2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley, (to garnish)

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Easy Oven Baked Chicken And Rice With Garlic Butter Mushrooms mixed through is winner of a chicken dinner!

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 PLUS I’m giving you the option to add in plump garlic butter mushrooms! Mmmm, Mushroom Rice!

Chicken And Rice Recipe

I mean, who doesn’t love Baked Chicken? While I’m at it, who doesn’t love fluffy rice with crispy edges.

Oven Baked Chicken and Rice all cooked together in one dish is possibly one of the MOST loved family favourite dinners on the planet. I know in my heart of hearts this will become your new favourite.

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 (like our popular Spanish Chicken And Rice or this One Pan Tomato Basil Chicken & Rice), or to fry onion and garlic first before adding in rice. With this 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), rubbed in an incredible flavoured rub. You can use any additional seasonings you like! Dried basil or oregano, rosemary, onion powder, whatever you have on hand!

Tips To Make Perfect 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 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 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 gets cooked. Leaving the middle uncovered resulted in a few crunchy grains.

Rice

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.

Once your chicken and rice is cooked, I ask you to broil it for an extra 2-3 minutes just to get your chicken golden and browned with crisp edges, and an amazing buttery, crunchy crust on the top of your rice!

Mushroom Rice

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, being careful of the mouthwatering smells that are going to smack you right in the face.

During testing we added the mushrooms at the start of baking and didn’t enjoy them at all. They need that buttery garlic pan fried cooked flavour mixed through the rice for the best rice you’ve ever eaten.

The rice is SO GOOD. Buttery, garlicky, soft and tender (not smushy, gluggy or sticky), with ALL the chicken flavours being baked right in!

An easy and complete dinner!

Oven Baked Chicken And Rice Recipe on Video!

Love One Pan Meals? Try These!

One Pan Tomato Basil Chicken & Rice
One Pan Spanish Chicken and Rice
One Pot Italian Chicken and Rice

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 chicken bouillon or stock powder.

Oven Baked Chicken and Rice

Easy Oven Baked Chicken And Rice With Garlic Butter Mushrooms mixed through is winner of a chicken dinner! Chicken thighs bake on top of buttery, garlicky, soft and tender rice with crispy edges. ALL the chicken flavours bake right in! Dinner doesn't get any easier!

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Prep: 10 mins

Cook: 1 hr

REST: 10 mins

Total: 1 hr 20 mins

Serves: 6 people

Ingredients

For Chicken

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 heaping tablespoon light brown sugar, (OPTIONAL. FOR KETO use a brown sugar substitute)
1 teaspoon dried oregano (or dried parsley)
1 teaspoon mild sweet paprika (or hot)
1 teaspoon each garlic powder and onion powder
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon Cracked black 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 black 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 (400g) button mushrooms, quartered
1/4 cup chives (or green onions), divided
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley, to garnish

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

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

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