One Pot Chicken and Rice Pilaf – crispy chicken thighs with garlicky homemade rice pilaf.
One Pot Chicken Thighs and Rice Pilaf
Crispy seasoned chicken thighs cooked in one skillet together with homemade rice pilaf. It’s a simple comfort food meal absolutely loaded with flavor. This is great for dinner, or perfect for make ahead lunches for the week.
Ingredients for One Pot Chicken and Rice Pilaf
- Chicken Thighs – bone in, skin on chicken thighs. I really like the chicken thighs in this recipe, they are budget friendly and satisfying. Chicken breasts can be substituted as well. Cooking time will vary depending on thickness of breast.
- Olive Oil – for searing the chicken.
- Butter – for sautéing the onions and garlic and adding flavor to the rice pilaf. If you prefer, you can use any chicken fat released from the thighs when searing.
- Onions – finely minced for quicker cooking.
- Garlic – freshly minced for best flavor.
- Orzo Pasta – uncooked orzo is toasted and cooked along with the rice to make rice pilaf. You can also use vermicelli in place of orzo.
- Rice – extra-long grain rice, I generally use Mahatma extra long grain rice.
- Low-Sodium Chicken Broth – a quart sized container of low-sodium chicken broth. You can also substitute the chicken broth for water and chicken bullion, but be sure to reduce salt as needed if the bullion is full sodium.
- Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper
- Fresh Parsley
How to Make One Pot Chicken and Rice Pilaf
- Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper and pat dry. Sear skin side down until skin is well browned and crispy.
- Drain the excess chicken fat and add butter. Sautee onions, orzo, and garlic, and add rice. Deglaze with chicken broth.
- Return chicken thighs to pan and cook chicken and rice together until chicken is cooked through and rice is fluffy.
- Sprinkle with fresh parsley.
Recipe Tips
- If using a stainless steel pan, the chicken may seem like it’s sticking to the pan initially but will release once it is well browned.
- The recipe calls for cooking the rice on low. Depending on the size of your burner, you may need to adjust to medium low. Use whatever level you use when making rice.
- I only season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper before searing to avoid the spices burning.
HOW TO DOUBLE THE RECIPE
This recipe is easily doubled for more servings.
- Double all ingredients.
- Use a 6 quart dutch oven,
- Brown the chicken thighs in two batches.
- Cooking times will stay the same.
HOW TO STORE AND REHEAT LEFTOVERS
There are two options for storing and reheating leftovers. My preferred method with this particular recipe is to store the chicken thighs and rice in separate tightly covered containers. For crispy chicken thighs, reheat chicken thighs in an air fryer then microwave or warm rice on the stove top. It’s absolutely delicious! Alternatively, you can simply refrigerate the chicken and rice together and reheat on the stove over low heat or microwave until hot. Refrigerate all leftovers promptly and consume within three days.
Crispy chicken thighs with garlicky homemade rice pilaf.
- 4 large chicken thighs bone in, skin on about 2 pounds total weight
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup orzo uncooked
- 1 cup extra long grain rice uncooked
- 1/2 cup yellow onion finely diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- fresh chopped parsley for garnish
- Kosher Salt
- Freshly Ground Black Pepper
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Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper and pat dry. Heat olive oil on medium high heat and place chicken thighs skin side down. Let brown 7-8 minutes until skin is golden brown and crispy. Flip chicken and cook on other side for about 3 minutes.
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Remove chicken from pan and set aside, it will not be cooked through at this point. Spoon out any rendered chicken fat. (See recipe note) Reduce heat to medium and add butter to pan. Add onions and sauté until they start to soften. Add orzo and toast until light golden born. Stir in rice and garlic and sauté for about 2 minutes.
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Stir in chicken broth, 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper and bring to a boil. Add chicken thighs to pot, cover and reduce heat to low. Cook on low covered for about 20 minutes, or until rice is tender and chicken thighs are cooked through. Fluff rice pilaf with fork and top with fresh parsley.
Alternatively, you can use the chicken fat in place of the butter and skip adding the butter. Just make sure you have at least two tablespoons of fat left in the pan.
5 Easy Dinner Ideas for Busy Weeknights
My five FAVORITE recipes for busy families!
- Quick to make
- Light on your budget
- Easy to clean-up
- and...most important...absolutely DELICIOUS
Beth
I love recipes like this that make me LOOK fancy while actually being so easy. I whipped this up so fast, and no one realized how easy it was for me. Perfection.
Erin | Dinners, Dishes and Desserts
I recently prepared this and I was impressed by how well the chicken and rice cooked together! I’ll surely repeat this soon!
Catalina
I made your One Pot Chicken and Rice Pilaf last night, and it turned out amazing! Everything cooked perfectly in one pot, which made cleanup a breeze. The rice was fluffy, and the chicken was so flavorful.
Sandra
This was an amazing dinner! My family loved it! Definitely my new go to meal on busy weeknights!