The one skillet chicken and rice dish should really be called the one skillet, seared chicken, mixed vegetables, and seasoned rice dish, but the name is too long so I shortened it. I make this dish when I am too tired to cook and wash dishes (a.k.a. when I’m lazy). Instead of using multiple pots to prepare the chicken, vegetables, and rice separately, I like to cook all the ingredients in one skillet. The dish itself uses just one skillet to make, serves a bunch of people, and can pretty much be cooked in one vessel and served in the same vessel. For dinner on Saturday, I made this dish for Kevin and I because I did not feel like making something too complicated and then having to wash the dishes after. I used some vegetables I had lying around in the fridge and then dinner was served in under an hour. Kevin was skeptical at first, but he really enjoyed the dinner and had three servings of it.
One Skillet Chicken and Rice
· 1 tablespoon butter
· 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
· Chicken pieces (wings, thighs, drumsticks)
· 2 stalks celery, sliced
· 2 carrots, thinly sliced
· ½ onion, cut into four wedges
· 1½ cups jasmine rice
· 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon powder
· 1 teaspoon kosher salt
· ½ teaspoon black pepper
· ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
· 1½ cups water or chicken broth
· ¼ package frozen broccoli
Directions:
1) Heat a skillet on medium heat. Once hot, add the butter and vegetable oil. Place the chicken pieces in one layer on the skillet. Let the chicken sear for at least five minutes before flipping. Continue searing the other side for another five minutes, until golden brown. Remove the chicken to a plate. Drain out some of the fat.
2) Add the celery, carrots, and onions. Let cook for 5 minutes. Add the jasmine rice. Let toast for one minute. Add the bouillon powder, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, and water (or chicken broth). Stir the ingredients until mixed. Add the chicken pieces back to the skillet. Turn the heat down to medium low. Cover the skillet and let the contents within the skillet cook for about 25 minutes.
3) Add the broccoli and let the contents of the skillet cook for another 3 to 5 minutes until the rice is cooked through.
4) Serve in bowls or directly from the skillet.
Takeaways: One of my favorite parts about this dish is the versatility. I pretty much just used the vegetables I had in my fridge, added chicken and rice, cooked everything and let the whole dish come together. I typically like to serve the dish with green peas for an extra sweet snap, but I didn’t have any green peas left in the freezer. Feel free to swap in any other vegetables you like. This dish, like fried rice, is a good way to use up any leftover vegetables in the fridge.