Let’s make the whole dinner in ONE POT! This delicious chicken thighs, marinated with lime and garlic, pan seared, and then baked together with rice, are so aromatic and full of flavor! And only one pan to wash!
Healthy and delicious meals shouldn’t be complicated. I want to show you how you can make the whole dinner, using just a few ingredients and make everything in one pot. It will take you 15 minutes to prep, put everything in the oven, and your dinner will be ready shortly!
You also can check more One Pot Meal Recipes , like Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry for future dinner ideas.
Why this recipe works
When you think about chicken and rice, it may sound quite bland and boring. But not for this recipe!
First we marinate the chicken thighs with lime and garlic to absorb the most flavor. Searing the meat will help to have a crispy skin. And while it’s cooking together with rice and liquids, the meat will stay juicy and tender.
In the end, we will have an aromatic meal with a light and fresh lime tang! Plus, the whole dinner is cooked in one pan! How awesome is that?!
How to make One Pot Chicken and Rice
You can marinate the meat 30 minutes before cooking it, though I prefer to do it at least a couple of hours ahead. If you are working the whole day, you can even marinate it in the morning and keep it in the refrigerator until you get home.
To marinate, you just need to mix together lime juice, lime zest, minced garlic, salt, and pepper (Photos 1-4). Wash the chicken, pat dry it and put in the Ziploc bag (Photo 5).
Pour the mixture in and shake the bag a little bit to evenly distribute the marinade (Photo 6). Close the bag and refrigerate from 30 minutes to 12 hours. This prep literally takes no more than 10 minutes!
When you are ready to cook, take the thighs out of the Ziploc bag but reserve the marinade.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a heavy bottom skillet over medium/high heat. Place the chicken with the skin down and brown it for a few minutes on both sides. Don’t cook it all the way through, as we are going to finish it in the oven (Photos 7-8).
Then add rice, reserved marinade, chicken broth, and water to the skillet. Season with salt and pepper and stir (Photos 9-10).
Place the chicken on top of the rice, pushing it in a little (Photo 11). Cover the skillet with foil or a lid and bake for 35 minutes.
After baking for 35 minutes, you can remove the foil or the lid and continue baking for 10 minutes. That will help to evaporate the excess liquid (if any is left) and crisp up the top.
When done, garnish with chopped parsley and serve (Photo 12)!
I like to serve this dish with Beet Salad or Sweet Potato Quinoa Salad, dressed with Citrus Vinaigrette or Lemon Salad Dressing.
Tips for best results
- I like to use bone-in skin-on chicken thighs because they provide the most flavor. Sear it first, so it will have beautiful crispy skin.
- For this recipe, I like to use shallow enameled cast iron casserole. You also can use a cast iron skillet or any oven proof pan.
- White long grain rice will work the best for this recipe (like Jasmin and Basmati). I would not recommend to use brown rice as it takes longer to cook.
Options and Substitutions
- Bone-in skin-on chicken thighs works best for this recipe.
The second choice would be to use drumsticks. Just sear them on 4 sides, and the rest will be according to the instructions.
I would not recommend to use boneless skinless chicken thighs in this recipe because they are too thing and will be overcooked by the time the rice is done.
You also can use boneless skinless chicken breasts, but it won’t have as much flavor as bone-in skin-on thighs.
- If you don’t like lime, you can use lemon zest and juices instead. It will have a different flavor but still a refreshing and zesty tang.
How long does it last in the refrigerator?
If you have any leftovers left (which I doubt), you can put it in an air tight container and refrigerate. It will stay fresh for up to 5 days. I wouldn’t recommend to freeze it because the rice doesn’t freeze well.
If you like this recipe, you may also like my Cast Iron Chicken Thighs, Hawaiian Chicken, Cheesy Broccoli Chicken and Rice Casserole, Baked BBQ Chicken Thighs.
Did you make this recipe?!? I’d love to know how it turned out! leave a comment and a rating below👇 thank you!
One Pot Chicken and Rice
Ingredients
- 4 chicken thighs skin on, bone in
- 2 limes zest and juice
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup white rice
- 1 ¾ cup chicken stock I prefer to use Homemade Chicken Stock
- ½ cup water
- parsley to garnish
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix all the marinade ingredients (lime zest, lime juice from 2 limes, 2 cloves minced garlic, salt, and pepper).
- Wash and pat dry chicken thighs.
- Put the meat and marinade in a Ziploc bag and refrigerate for 30 min- 12 hours.
- When the ready to cook, preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Take the meat out of the Ziploc, but reserve the marinade.
- Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium/high heat. Brown the chicken from both sides, starting with the skin down. Then remove to a plate and set aside.
- Add rice, the reserved marinade, chicken broth, and water to the skillet. Season with salt and pepper and stir.
- Place the chicken on top of the rice and cover with foil or a lid.
- Bake it covered with foil or lid for 35 minutes, then take the lid off and cook uncovered for another 10 minutes (total of 45 minutes) until the rice is fully cooked and the liquid is absorbed.
- Take out of the oven, garnish with chopped parsley and serve.
Notes
- I like to use bone-in skin-on chicken thighs because they provide the most flavor. Sear it first, so it will have beautiful crispy skin.
- For this recipe, I like to use shallow enameled cast iron casserole. You also can use a cast iron skillet or any oven proof pan.
- White long grain rice will work the best for this recipe (like Jasmin and Basmati). I would not recommend to use brown rice as it takes longer to cook.
- Bone-in skin-on chicken thighs works best for this recipe. The second choice would be to use drumsticks. Just sear them on 4 sides, and the rest will be according to the instructions. I would not recommend to use boneless skinless chicken thighs in this recipe because they are too thing and will be overcooked by the time the rice is done. You also can use boneless skinless chicken breasts, but it won’t have as much flavor as bone-in skin-on chicken thighs.
- If you don’t like lime, you can use lemon zest and juices instead. It will have a different flavor but still a refreshing and zesty tang.
- If you have any leftovers left (which I doubt), you can put it in an air tight container and refrigerate. It will stay fresh for up to 5 days. I wouldn’t recommend to freeze it because the rice doesn’t freeze well.
Nutrition
Update Notes: This post was originally published in 2018, but was republished with new photos, step by step instructions, tips, and FAQs in Feb of 2020.
This recipe is amazing! I like to substitute to water and half the broth with coconut milk. It gives it such a creamy consistency my friends are obsessed with it. I also throw a packet 9f sazon in the marinade for a lil extra zing
Great recipe! I switched it up by sautéing some diced onion with the garlic after cooking the chicken. I then added some finely chopped sun dried tomatoes and cooked that with the onions and garlic for a bit before adding the rice. I also substituted some white wine instead of the water that the recipe calls for. Other than that I followed the recipe and it came out great!
I can’t wait to try! the recipe states lime juice and zest the the marinade pictures say lemon which one did you use?
Hi Sheri! Thank you for catching this mistake 😉 it should be LIME juice and zest! Let me know how you liked the recipe!
I make this all the time but, I’m lazy, so I brown the chicken under the broiler. If your using a cast iron pan, you can preheat the pan under the broiler and your chicken can sizzle on both sides. Delicious! This is a great recipe that you can change up the seasonings, change up the protein, add some veggies — yum! But this combination with the garlic and lime is a must try!
Thank you, Pam! I love your idea with broiling the chicken! need to try it as well 😉
Cooked it. Loved it. Added a bunch of cayenne and sriracha to the marinade, and those carried a lot of flavor to the rice.
I’m wondering if anyone has suggestions for how to substitute steak for chicken in this recipe. Would the bake time be drastically different?
Hi Scott! I’m so glad you liked this recipe! I never tried to use steak in it, but let me know if you try and how you like it 😉
Awesome! I’ve added a half-thumb-sized finely chopped ginger root to the marinade (and, of course, used it with the rest of this flavourful goodness in my rice). Turns out, it’s an incredible flavour combo! Absolutely delicious.
This is a great idea to use ginger for this marinade! Will try it next time!
Why can’t you use bone-in, skin on chicken breasts? I do not like dark meat. Also, it is recommended by the FDA to NOT wash chicken, only pat it dry. They have decided that by washing it, any germs are s poo read in the sink, counter, etc… The heat should take care of any bacteria.
I need this easy dinner recipe in my life. I have been looking for someone pan dinners to make this summer.
Perfect for dinner! I love this dish you made. I have been struggling with finding some easy one pan dinner meals too!
Love the simplicity of this one pot chicken recipe. It scores on every point – easy ingredients, easy fuss-free cooking and I’m sure the taste is awesome too. Will try it sometime soon for sure!
The marinade surely adds moistness and flavor to this awesome one-pot chicken and rice dish. And cooking it in the skillet makes it so crispy!
You had me at one pot, especially after all of the dishes I had to do this weekend! My kids would enjoy this and I’m definitely making it soon!
One pot recipes are the best. They make such a great option for weeknight meals!
I have seen this recipe all over pinterest and thought I’d stop by to tell you how delicious and easy this recipe is! We love chicken and rice as it’s our go-to recipe at least once a week!
Girl, I so feel you – I don’t even blog full time, so most of the time I’m making/photographing blog recipes on the weekend or rare free afternoon, and then I am definitely like, what, and NOW I need to make dinner, too!? Ha! Of course I try to make things we’re eating anyway but that’s not always possible. So anyway, I hear you, and 100% agree that recipes like this are THE answer on those kind of days! Plus we love chicken thighs. We’re in the midst of moving right now but pinning to try this as soon as we’re resettled in our new kitchen. 🙂
Lime with chicken thighs is my current flavor addiction this summer! There’s just something about the citrus flavor with the skin of the chicken that makes it so good!
One pot recipes make life so much easier! And this one is delicious too, great job!
Lime and garlic is a dream team when it comes to chicken dishes! I love the simplicity of this one and your rice looks perfectly cooked!
I love one-pot meals! Your chicken thighs, with that yummy crust, are gorgeous, and I love how quick the recipe is to prepare!
First, I love cooking in my cast iron pans. Second, any meal that can be made in 1 pan is a winner dinner for sure. Perfect for busy weeknights.