A delicious combination of perfectly cooked chicken thighs, fluffy rice and sweet roasted peppers, flavoured with saffron, paprika and oregano. And the best part? This easy peasy Spanish-inspired Oven Baked Chicken and Rice is all cooked in one pan!
A delicious holiday accident
This delicious One Pan Oven Baked Chicken and Rice recipe came into existence because we had a power cut on holiday!
We were staying near Seville and our Airbnb experienced a power cut. Due to the very weird nature of the wiring in our Airbnb, the power cut only affected half the lights and half the power sockets – meaning the oven worked but the hob did not!
I’d been inspired by a paella masterclass we’d been on earlier that week and I wanted to make paella at our Airbnb – but obviously with no hob, that was looking impossible.
But I figured I could make something similar in the oven and so this Easy Oven Baked Chicken and Rice recipe was born – it’s not paella, of course, but it does have many of the same flavours, is much easier to make, and is utterly delicious!
How to make Oven Baked Chicken and Rice
I love how easy peasy this One Pan Oven Baked Chicken and Rice is to make – a little bit of super simple prep and the oven does all the hard work – my kind of recipe!
All you need to do is throw onion wedges, chopped peppers, garlic cloves and chicken thighs into a roasting tin, together with olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika and oregano, then roast for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, mix together a chicken stock cube, a big pinch of saffron and boiling water.
After the 15 minutes is up, add the rice into the dish and pour in the chicken stock. Place the roasting tin back in the oven and cook for a further 35 minutes – easy peasy!
(Full recipe given in the recipe card below.)
What to serve with Oven Baked Chicken and Rice
This easy baked chicken and rice dish is a complete meal in its own right, but I like to serve it with a nice big side salad. You could also add some garlic bread or French bread if you wanted some extra carbs or you wanted to stretch this further.
What to drink with Oven Baked Chicken and Rice
Given the Spanish flavours in this recipe, it works really well with Spanish wines, such as White Rioja or Verdejo from Rueda – two of my favourite white wines from our Spanish holiday!
It also goes very well with Rioja Rosado (AKA Rosé Rioja!) and surprisingly well with Red Rioja too!
But this is an incredibly wine friendly dish, and so will also work really well with Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc or a White Côtes du Rhone.
Alternatively, if you like Sherry, this is an excellent partner to Dry Amontillado and Palo Cortado.
Can you reheat chicken and rice?
This easy chicken and rice dish really is at its best when it is freshly made… However, if you do end up with some left over, simply store it in a plastic lidded container in the fridge, where it will keep for 24 hours.
To reheat, place the chicken and rice in an ovenproof dish with add a big splash of water. Cover with foil and cook in an oven, pre-heated to 180C (160C fan / gas mark 4 / 350F), for 15 – 20 minutes or until piping hot all the way through. (Remove the foil for the last 5 minutes to re-crisp up the skins.)
When reheating rice, always make sure you adhere to food safety guidelines for rice.
Can you freeze chicken and rice?
Yes, you can freeze this chicken and rice dish. Again, it won’t be quite as good as freshly made, but it will still taste delicious. Make sure you cool the rice quickly and get it into the freezer, in a plastic lidded box, within 1 hour of when you finished cooking it. It will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Defrost overnight in the fridge and reheat as above.
Again, make sure you always adhere to food safety guidelines for rice.
If you like this recipe…
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One Pan Oven Baked Chicken and Rice
Ingredients
- 2 onions cut into wedges / 8ths
- 3 peppers mix of colours, cut into 2x2cm pieces (¾x¾inch)
- 8 garlic cloves peeled and halved
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 teaspoons sweet paprika (or smoked, if you prefer)
- 8 chicken thighs skin on and bone in
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 250 g long grain rice (see Note 1)
- 1 chicken stock cube (I use Kallo organic)
- Big pinch of saffron (optional but highly recommended!)
- 750 ml boiling water
- Chopped fresh parsley for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 220C / 200C fan / gas mark7 / 425F.
- Place the onion wedges, pepper pieced, garlic cloves, 1 tablespoon olive oil and 2 teaspoons paprika in a roasting dish. Use your hands (or a large spoon) to mix everything together.
- Place the chicken thighs on top of the vegetables, drizzle the remaining olive oil over the chicken skins and sprinkle them with salt, pepper, the remaining 1 teaspoon of paprika and the oregano. Use your hands to rub all this into the chicken skins.
- Place the roasting tin in your preheated oven for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, crumble your stock cube into a large jug, add a big pinch of saffron and pour in 750ml boiling water. Stir and set aside for later.
- After the 15 minutes is up, remove the roasting tin from the oven and place on a heatproof surface.
- Turn the chicken thighs in the juices and remove to a plate. Add the rice into the dish and pour in the chicken stock. Mix the veggies, rice and stock to ensure everything is well combined.
- Next, place the chicken thighs back on top of the rice and push down slightly, so they are partly submerged, but the skins should be above the stock. Tip any juices from the plate into the roasting tin.
- Place the roasting tin back in the oven and cook for a further 35 minutes.
- (Optional: after 15-20 minutes remove and turn the chicken in the juices – this will give the chicken extra flavour and make the skins extra delicious! You can also use this as an opportunity to push down any veggies that are getting too brown.)
- After the full 35 minutes is up, remove – check the rice is cooked to your liking (see Note 1) – and serve – either on its own or with a side salad.
Notes
- Cooking time will depend on the specific brand of long grain rice you use. Typically in British supermarkets you will find the standard long grain white rice is ‘easy cook’. I use Tesco Easy Cook Long Grain Rice, which yields perfectly cooked fluffy rice when cooked as above. Tesco advise cooking their long grain rice for 15 minutes. If your brand’s instructions advise you to cook the rice for longer than this, you may need to cook this dish for longer and/or use more stock to achieve perfectly fluffy rice.
- Suitable for freezing.
- Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
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Tricia Beazley says
This recipe ticks a lot of my boxes, EB. I’ve been holding back from using my red & green peppers, onions & garlic for my usual Med veg tray bake, so am really pleased to see this recipe today! I’m looking forward to cooking it this week.
Your wine recommendations for this recipe sound good…thank you. I’m definitely going to look for the White Rioja & Rioja Rosado & look forward to tasting them too! Cheers!
Eb Gargano says
Yay! That’s so great to hear 😀