Whether you're seeking a hearty weeknight meal for the family or a crowd-pleasing dish for a special gathering, this Chicken and Rice Bake is sure to become a cherished favorite in your recipe repertoire. This comforting dish combines tender, succulent chicken with fluffy, aromatic rice, and is sure to warm up the soul!
Why choose between our Buttered Garlic Rice or our Ranch Chicken , when you can cook both, chicken and rice, at the same time! Make our Chicken and Rice Bake in an oven safe skillet and let the oven be in charge of dinner tonight!
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Ingredients
- Chicken Quarters (chicken thigh and drumstick together)
- Basmati Rice
- Carrots
- Red Onion
- Garlic
- Dijon Mustard
- Tarragon Leaves
- Chicken Broth
See recipe card for quantities.
Steps to make this Chicken and Rice Bake
The key to making this convenient recipe, is making sure you have an oven-safe skillet which has a lid. Start frying up the chicken and veggies and then letting it all cook together in the oven.
In your skillet with olive oil, fry 2 chicken pieces at a time. If too crowded, they will not become nice and crispy. Once nice and golden on each side, remove from the pan.
Add the chopped carrots and onions and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook for another 2 minutes.
Deglaze the skillet by slowly adding in the chicken broth. Scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to release any stuck on bits.
Add in the dry tarragon and stir in the Dijon mustard.
Once the broth starts to simmer, add in the uncooked basmati rice. Make sure that it is evenly distributed in the skillet.
Place the fried chicken quarters back into the pan and place the lid on the skillet. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes.
Serve this Chicken and Rice Bake on its own or serve it with more veggies. Our Broccoli Cauliflower Salad would go great with this dish!
Substitutions
- Chicken - using chicken quarters is usually very economical, but you can replace the 4 chicken quarters with 8-10 chicken thighs, following the same cooking steps.
- Broth - Chicken broth makes sense in this recipe, but using any kind of broth, will work for this recipe. Technically, water will also work, but the flavor profile will not be the same.
- Rice - this recipe uses basmati rice, but you can replace it with long-grain white rice, jasmine rice, or brown rice. Do not use instant rice for this recipe.
Personally, I LOVE adding tarragon to chicken dishes! If it's not your style, you are more than welcome to substitute it with, either thyme, or even oregano.
Storing the leftover Chicken and Rice
This one-pan Chicken and Rice Bake recipe makes great leftover. Place some rice and a chicken quarter in an air-tight container and refrigerate for 2-3 days. Heat it back up for a quick and comforting lunch option.
Looking for more rice recipes?
Try our delicious Cheesy Rice for a quick and easy rice dish. If you've got leftover rice, we recommend trying our Spam Fried Rice recipe for a quick and delicious lunch!
Recipe
Chicken and Rice Bake
Equipment
- 1 Cast Iron Casserole Skillet (with lid)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil , to cook chicken
- 4 Chicken Quarters
- 2 large Carrots , peeled and diced
- ½ large Red Onion , diced
- 4 cloves Garlic , minced
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 4 cups Chicken Broth
- 1½ tablespoon Dijon Mustard
- 1 tablespoon Dry Tarragon Leaves
- 2 cups Basmati Rice (not instant rice)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F.
- Prepare your veggies by chopping the onions and carrots and mincing the garlic. Pat the chicken quarters with paper towel to remove any excess humidity.
- Heat up the skillet oven medium-high heat. Drizzle the olive oil in the pan and only cook 2 chicken quarters at a time. Over crowding the pan will create too much steam and will prevent the chicken from crisping up. The chicken does not need to cook through at the this time. Once the chicken is nice and golden on both sides, place on a clean plate and reserve.
- Place the diced carrots and onion in the same skillet. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Add in the minced garlic and the salt and cook for another 2 minutes.
- Deglaze the pan by slowly pouring in the chicken broth. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up all the delicious, stuck on bits from the bottom.
- Add tarragon to the pan and stir in the Dijon mustard. Proceed with pouring in uncooked rice in the skillet, making sure that it is evenly distributed.
- Place the chicken quarters back into the skillet. Place the lid on the skillet and carefully place it in the preheated 350F oven. Bake for 45 minutes. After that time, remove the lid from the skillet and bake for an additional 10 minutes to crisp everything up. Remove from the oven and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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