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:
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it’s a one pan dinner – the raw rice and chicken are cooked together at the same time;
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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;
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quick to prepare – active prep time is under 10 minutes; and
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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:
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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.
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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;
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Chicken seasoning – feel free to use any seasoning you’ve got on hand, pre mixed, or switch up the spices I’ve used;
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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…..
This is a family favourite, such an easy weeknight meal, even the hubby can put it together. All 3 kids eat without complaint!
Delicious! I made a double batch – two pans – for our family of 6 and there was just one tiny bowl of rice left. It’s rare to find a dish all our kids will eat. I think I’ll add this meal into my rotation to bring to people who need a meal.
Made this tonight and it was sooo good. Will make this sh as I’m for sure – super easy!
The flavours in this recipe are amazing, but on first attempt at cooking my rice was crunchy on top! Any suggestions on what I did wrong? I even had to add a little extra water at the end of the cooking time to get all rice cooked. Would this happen if the tray I used too big for example?
This is the second recipe of yours that I’ve tried.(I adopted your carnitas recipe and EVERYONE LOVES IT!)
This is another knock out!!! I didn’t have white rice, so I had to use brown.
Fantabulous!!!! The chicken is good, yes…but THE RICE! So delicious!!!!
Thank you so much for another winner!!!
I made it. I had a feeling of not adding the extra water after adding the stock to Basmanti rice. thank goodness as it was on verge of sticky wet rice.
for us it was too much thyme.
it was quick and okish dish.
I made many Nagi’s recipes that were deliciois, but this one didn’t work out so well. perhaps Irish climate is too much for rice lol.
Perfect recipe for oven-baked chicken. It didn’t become dry! The flavor of herbs and spices mixed together turned out to be a good combination. Thanks Nagi! x
I followed this to the tee and the rice was undercooked. Flavours were nice but cooking longer with a splash of extra liquid just gave me fluffy rice.
Also, 1.5 cups of long grain rice equalled much more than the weighted measurement provided so I reduced the rice accordingly.
The rice weight may be an error.
I made this just as written and it turned out incredible! My whole family loved it and I will be making it again soon. Thank you!
An incredible dish – followed all the instructions and the chicken and rice were both cooked perfectly in the time allocated. We will definitely be cooking this again. Thank you Nagi!
Hello Nagi,
I am about to head to the kitchen and give your recipe a try. From the comments it is sure to be a big hit.
Thanks f0r the inspiration!
I made this for my brother today. He ate three chicken thighs and three helpings of rice. He is an excellent cook (much better than I). He really seemed to enjoyed the meal.
Very nice and tasty recipe. I haven’t removed the skin from the thighs, but I have browned them until crispy in the pan and then added them to the pan. Was absolutely delicious.
Hi Nagi,
Your recipe never turn us down.
One question, since I see you put 180c for baking onion and garlic , how about when bake rice and chicken? Should use higher temp.?
Or keep it same temperature?
Totally delicious Nagi. Used boneless thighs and beautifully tender. The rice is gorgeous, and made the gravy which did take it over the top. Many thanks.
This smells amaaaaaaazing while it’s cooking and it is so easy! I love “sautéing” the onions and garlic in the oven. Another great one pan meal to add to my rotation! I’m serving this with a big kale and chickpea salad.
A favourite with our grandkids, so we have cooked this several times and they also have cooked it at home. One change though – each time I have made it, I have needed to add extra water – about a cup for the standard quantity of rice – as the rice has been undercooked and the fluid has been absorbed towards the end of the cooking time. This is with both long grain and medium grain white rice. That said, a wonderful recipe – easy and delicious and greatly appreciated.
Oh my God! This was absolutely mouth watering and so easy to make. I had some home made veggie stock, from recipe TinEats, so it was divine. I also used that scale up/down feature and I thought it was so thoughtful from the team to consider that. As I cook for two I had to keep an eye on the rice so it wouldn’t dry too much, so 15 minutes before the final cooking I had to add just a bit of water. It turned out to be amazing. Certainly looking forward to cooking it again.
This has become a firm favourite and on regular rotation in our household. I’ve never liked chicken thighs but theres always turn out perfect! I MAY add more garlic than in the recipe, but you can never have too much garlic! I also add a small bag of spinach under the chicken for some green veg. I haven’t tried with the gravy yet but will next time!
If this is made with brown rice and boneless thighs, how is it adjusted? I can’t seem to get it right based on the comments below the recipe.
This is the recipe that originally brought me to this fantastic site. This is now a staple in our home and I continue to work through the awesome collection of recipes that Nagi continues to produce.