One Pan Oven Baked Chicken and Rice

5 from 1 vote

One Pan Oven Baked Chicken and Rice

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.

Course Main Course

Cuisine British, Fusion, Spanish

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 50

Total Time 1

Servings people

Calories 713kcal

Author Eb Gargano

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)

Metric - US Customary

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.

Nutrition