This oven baked Chicken and Rice recipe has captured the hearts of people all around the world! Buttery garlic rice AND juicy seasoned baked chicken thighs, baked together in the same pan with less than 10 minutes of prep.
The rice absorbs the chicken juices as it cooks, adding loads of flavour. It’s like cooking the rice with a homemade stock!
Chicken and rice recipe
This chicken and rice recipe has been a reader favourite for so long, I thought it was about time I updated it with a much improved video and photos!
Readers tell me they love it because:
it’s a one pan dinner – the raw rice and chicken are cooked together at the same time;
completely hands off – unlike cooking rice on the stove which requires more attention, you just put the pan in the oven, set the timer and walk away;
quick to prepare – active prep time is under 10 minutes; and
it’s very, very delicious!
The chicken is ultra tasty….but the star of this recipe is the garlic butter rice!
So here’s what you get in this chicken and rice recipe – juicy seasoned chicken….
…. AND fluffy rice. GARLIC BUTTER rice, at that!
(And PS, to all the fellow rice snobs out there – this rice is fluffy and perfectly cooked, not soggy and mushy like you’d expect. The trick is to pour HOT liquids over the uncooked rice – gives it a big head start in the oven!)
What you need for this baked Chicken and Rice
Here’s what you need:
Skin on, bone in chicken thighs is best for this recipe because they take the same length of time to cook in the oven as the rice – 50 minutes in total. However, we remove the skin because otherwise the fat drips down into the rice as it cooks which makes it overly greasy. It’s easy – it’s effortless and takes 5 seconds flat per chicken.
Uncooked white rice – any “normal” white rice will work just fine here (plain, long grain, short grain, Jasmin, basmati). Steer clear of speciality rices like paella or risotto rice – they cook differently in the oven. Brown rice just needs more liquid and to be cooked a bit longer – directions are in the recipe;
Chicken seasoning – feel free to use any seasoning you’ve got on hand, pre mixed, or switch up the spices I’ve used;
Butter, garlic & onion flavour base – this forms the flavour base for the rice and because this recipe is all about convenience, we “oven saute” them – fancy word for just throw it all in a pan and bake instead of sautéing on the stove! See photos below and the quick recipe video.
How to make chicken and rice in the oven
And here’s how to make it. The first 2 steps shown below is the “oven sautéing” of the onion and garlic referred to above. This is what gives the rice the amazing buttery garlic flavour!
The rice is outrageously good. It’s buttery and garlicky, it’s tender but not mushy (I’m of Japanese background, all Asians are snobs when it comes to rice). It’s got all the flavour from the juices of the chicken and you get crispy bits on the edges that I just want to pick off and have all to myself!
What to serve with chicken and rice
Add a big leafy salad on the side with a salad dressing of choice (Balsamic Dressing and Honey Mustard Dressing are on heavy rotation in my life these days). Or add some steamed vegetables and toss with a salad dressing while hot – they’ll suck up the dressing and make otherwise rather dull steamed vegetables infinitely more interesting!
Oh – and in the video, you’ll see this 4 Minute Gravy as a suggested extra. You don’t need a sauce for this because the rice is so well flavoured and the chicken is juicy. But if you have the time, gravy will take it over the top!
Dinner just got real easy. Enjoy! – Nagi xx
Watch how to make it
Oven Baked Chicken and Rice recipe video!
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Oven Baked Chicken and Rice
Ingredients
- 5 bone in chicken thigh fillets, peel skin OFF , (Note 1)
- 1 onion , chopped (brown, white or yellow)
- 2 cloves garlic (large) , minced
- 2 tbsp (30g) butter (or olive oil)
- 1 1/2 cups (270g) uncooked white rice (Note 3)
- 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) chicken broth/stock , hot (I microwave)
- 1 1/4 cups (315 ml) water , hot (tap is fine)
Chicken Rub (Note 2):
- 1 tsp paprika powder
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- Black pepper
Optional garnish:
- Oil spray
- Fresh thyme leaves or finely chopped parsley
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F.
- Scatter onion and garlic in a baking dish (about 10 x 15″ / 25 x 35 cm), then place butter in the centre. Bake for 15 minutes (check at 12 minutes, mix if some bits are browning too much).
- Meanwhile, mix together Chicken Rub. Sprinkle on both sides of the chicken.
- Remove baking dish from the oven. Add rice then mix.
- Place chicken on rice. Then pour chicken broth and water around the chicken.
- Cover with foil, then bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil, spray chicken with oil (optional, gives chicken nicer finish), then bake for a further 20 minutes until liquid is absorbed.
- Stand for 5 minutes, then remove chicken and fluff up rice. Garnish with parsley or thyme if desired, serve and enjoy!
Optional gravy
- Dish is flavoured enough to serve without sauce, but if you want to take it over the top, make this quick Gravy in 4 minutes flat (pictured in video).
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Oven Baked Chicken and Rice originally published March 2019, updated April 2020 with improved photos, videos and step photos added. No change to recipe – I wouldn’t dare, readers love it as is!
More popular Chicken and Rice recipes
Life of Dozer
He was squinting, so I lent him my sunglasses 😂
And flashback to the original publication date of this recipe, back when Dozer was recovering from a knee operation:
Caved and splurged on a ramp – got tired of heaving a 40kg/80lb dog in and out of the car multiple times a day…..
I was very skeptical at first about this recipe, as I am Asian and there’s a traditional way to make rice HOWEVER this just blew me out of the water with how simple and delicious this was!!! This baked chicken is going to be a staple at my house now. I did add red chillies in a bit of soy sauce to serve as I like it spicy. But whoa this recipe was a winner! Thank you so much!
Made this today!
It was delicious however the rice definitely needs some salt!
Thanks Nagi for another delicious recipe.
Awesome recipe! The only thing missing was the vegetable component so I made a hybrid of this and your rice and kale recipe and it turned out perfect.
The recipe was tasty to me, however I had a few errors and I was wondering if you could comment on it for me to see if I did something wrong. I used pre-chopped onions and minced garlic, no biggie. I kept the skin on because I really love my skin but I’ll try to behave next time and take it off. I didn’t have any broth so I used a chicken bouillon pack with the water and just poured water in until I saw the rice was covered. I followed every other instruction and found that my meat wasn’t cooked all the way through and was dripping onto my rice, and my rice winded up being more mushy than I was expected (so not fluffy). I had to cook the food for nearly another hour just to make sure the chicken cooked inside, and turn the temp up. Still hesitate about the drippings on the rice now. Tastes good, but I can’t give it a full 5* until I know what went wrong.
This was delicious! I used 6 skinless, bone-in chicken thighs. I then followed the recipe exactly. Thank you so much for posting this.
Will you make Pho? We want the authentic real Pho please.
I made this chicken and rice with jasmine rice and it was the best part. It was so delicious! Will make again for sure. Thank you!!
AWESOME recipe! SO flavorful! Was the first recipe I tried from your site! And SO easy!
I’ve made this probably 10 times since I first tried it!
I made this recipe before for Christmas and it was great! However the last 2 times I made it the rice was uncooked and I cannot figure out why. Can you shed some light?
If I was wanting to use boneless thighs AND brown rice, would I cook the rice for an hour covered, 15 minutes uncovered, then add the boneless thighs for 20 – 25 minutes, uncovered?
Making it hard for myself I know lol.
Cooked this for my family tonight, it was so yummy! I used lovey legs (drumsticks with out skin) turned out beautifully. Will recommend to all my mates 😄
Perfect Laura!! N x
I’ve cooked this twice now, and the second time used skin-on thighs but cooked separately, I can’t give up the crispy skin! Halved the recipe and still had enough to feed another 2 people. I used a very flavourful broth to make up for the lack of chicken cooking juices. Great recipe and the 4 minute gravy is great on the side (although I just reduced beef and chicken stock right down until it was a sticky sauce – probably about 40 minutes boiling but no hard work as it does itself. A winner. The leftover cold rice is also great stir fried, with a fried egg on top.
What can I say, other than YUM! I used a spice rub I had in the cupboard that had most of the rub ingredients, probably a little too heavy handed on the spice (and salt) but still great. I also grated up some carrot and zucchini and mixed in with the rice as I didn’t have anything for a side.
Sounds perfect Jenelle!! N x
Seriously good. I found the rice needed some salt (I’mma salt freak) but that’s an easy fix. Just delish, thanks Nagi x
I LOVE the flavors of this recipe and the idea that it all cooks in one. Second time I’ve made it and I find the rice under the chicken is crunchy and uncooked and the rice around is fine. What am I doing wrong?
I tried this dish tonight with dubious hope, I’m a seriously fussy eater but this ticked all the boxes for me, plus the bonus of being baked in the oven meaning chill time whilst it cooks. The rice was indeed wow, I’ve been eating it cold straight from the tub of leftovers in the fridge. I did add more garlic, that’s just my personal taste, I also added a few sad mushrooms pan fried and stirred into the rice before resting time, and a limp stick of celery really finely chopped. I also used all stock rather than stock/plain water. The chicken did not work for me, dry, tough and I disliked the rub, but again that’s my fussy taste! I’ll definitely make this again, but cook the chicken separately with skin on, then add to the rice for the final 20 minutes when the fatty skin has rendered a bit. Anyway, the rice is amazing, thank you 😊
Have you ever froze this dish after cooked?
This recipe was SO delish! And without the ubiquitous “Cream of Glop” soup! This is my go-to for chicken and rice casserole from now on!
I used commenter Charlene’s tips and used
2-1/4 cups chicken broth for all the liquid. I doubled the chicken rub–1 batch for the chicken, 1 for the rice. I also mixed the rice completely before placing the breasts on top. I had huge bone-in breasts so it took a little longer to cook–but it was worth the wait. Oh, and the gravy was a luscious complement–another great recipe! Thank you so much!!
We made this tonight and was really lovely.. didn’t have all the ingredients (onion powder) and used boneless thighs instead.. also added a small bit of rose harissa to the chicken..
came out really well and kids cleaned their plates! Will be making this again.. rice is absolutely delicious..
I made this for dinner tonight because my original idea wouldn’t work because I didn’t have all the ingredients, and my kids and husband loved it! It will now be in the rotation of what we make for dinners from now on. I used boneless thighs, and toasted my rice before adding it in. It was delicious!!
I doubled recipe how much longer to cooking time?
I doubled mine as well, I used the same cook time and mine came out perfect.