Chicken and rice is such a nice comfort food that isn’t packed with unhealthy ingredients like so many other comfort foods. I love this recipe because not only does it only take one pot to cook it (Yay for less dishes!) but it’s so adaptable that you can interchange ingredients based on what is in season and what you have on hand. I’ve used all sorts of vegetables to make this dish, from lemon squash to bell peppers, baby bella mushrooms to zucchini and the results are always the same; a satisfying meal that you can feel good about eating. Like so many other comfort foods, the taste only gets better as it sits, so I like to make this in a large batch so it lasts a couple of days.
Since this recipe is so adaptable, please use this recipe as a base for your creativity. Try different rice varieties, various kinds of herbs and vegetables. The only constants I use for this recipe is making sure it has chicken, rice, garlic, and chicken stock. I have the serving size as 8 oz each but depending on your vegetable to rice ratio, your modifications may increase or decrease this amount. We hope you enjoy this recipe and please post your thoughts in the comments, we can’t wait to hear from you!
Ingredients
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 8 oz chicken breast diced small
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper
- 3 oz yellow onion diced small
- 1 oz shallots minced
- 7 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp pepper freshly ground
- ½ tsp salt
- 4 oz mushrooms diced small
- 4 oz zucchini diced small
- 4 oz bell pepper diced small
- 4 oz yellow squash diced small
- 1 tbsp fresh rosemary finely chopped
- 2 tsp fresh thyme stems removed
- 1 cup chicken stock
- ¾ cup rice uncooked
- 4 tbsp Parmesan cheese grated
Instructions
- Dice chicken and all vegetables that are marked as "diced small" into ⅓" cubes.
- In a medium pot, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add chicken and crushed red pepper and saute until outside of chicken has just turned white. Add shallots, garlic, and onion and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add salt, pepper, and remaining vegetables and cook for another 3-4 minutes, until they are about ½ cooked through.
- Add rosemary and thyme, along with 1 cup of chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add rice and cover, simmering for 15 minutes. You will know it's done when all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is cooked through. Remove from heat and stir. Garnish with 1 tbsp Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!
