ONE-POT CHICKEN & RICE RECIPE
This perfect One-pot Chicken and Rice recipe is great! It is easy, money and time-saving, and the finished dish is delicious, with beautiful buttery flavours, and hints of sweet paprika, garlic and mint. It is an easy and hearty dish that will feed a few people.
Please note that you can only prepare this dish from start to finish in one dish if you already have the chicken stock ready. You will need a multifunction cooker or pressure cooker to make the chicken stock, or you can use a stockpot and your hob, but that will take longer.
HISTORY OF THE BALKAN CHICKEN & RICE DISH.
Although the original Bulgarian recipe for chicken and rice, made without vegetables, resembles slightly an Asian dish, it’s a truly Bulgarian recipe. The dish is prepared with one of the most traditional Balkan spice, the sweet paprika. This recipe has been cooked in my family as long as I can remember.
My version of this Bulgarian dish is made with vegetables.
HOW TO PREPARE THE PERFECT ONE-POT CHICKEN AND RICE?
📋 INGREDIENTS IN THIS RECIPE
Rice: I recommend using rice with larger grains. Everyday rice is perfect in this dish. Jasmine and albino rice are not suitable, they can get too mushy. Brown rice is not suitable for this recipe either. Although it is healthier, it will not as fluffy cooked as the white rice.
Chicken: For best results, use a free range chicken. You can make the dish with drumsticks or a whole chicken. I normally make this recipe with a whole chicken. Cut it into portions and use the back and the carcass to make the chicken stock. If there is any stock left, I make chicken soup with it but it’s only too of us so I do not have to use the whole chicken in this dish. Chicken meat can dry if exposed to direct heat. It’s important that you cover the raw pieces of chicken with rice and stock when you are cooking the dish, or you can par-cook the chicken in the stock.
Vegetables: You can make this One-pot Chicken & Rice dish without the vegetables. In this case, you will only need onion that you must sauté in the oven dish first. I am not big on eating vegetables, but I appreciate how good they are for us. In this recipe, I use carrots, peppers and fresh or frozen garden peas.
Spices: The classic Bulgarian recipe for the dish is made with sweet paprika, pepper and mint. As usual, I add a pinch of savoury spice too.
📖 STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS
If you already have the stock ready and you don’t want to par-cook the chicken, you only need one oven dish to make the Chicken & Rice dish. That is great option because there is not much to wash! However, if you are making your own chicken stock, you will need to use either a multifunction/pressure cooker or a large stockpot and a hob for that.
STEP 1: make stock OR USE READY MADE STOCK
Cut the chicken into portions and put aside the carcass and the back. These are the parts from the chicken that you will need for the stock, but if you do not eat the wings, you can add them to the stock too. You will only need a few root vegetables. Carrots, onion and celery are great in stock. They release wonderful earthy flavours. Even though many recipes for chicken stock call for adding spices, in this recipe you will only need bay leaf and peppercorns, nothing more.
If you have a multifunction cooker, use the soup setting to cook the stock. This will save you a lot of time! It takes me only 20 minutes to make stock in my multifunction cooker.
To cook the stock on the hob, place all ingredients for the stock in a large stockpot. Add a teaspoon of salt. Bring the water to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for at least 1 hours. Dispose the scum that collects on the surface of the stock.
If you worry that your chicken may become too dry in the dish, you can par-cook it in your stock for 15- 20 minutes.
Strain the homemade chicken stock before using it in my Chicken & Rice recipe.
Alternatively, use a ready made low sodium chicken stock.
Step 2: PREHEAT THE OVEN
Preheat your oven to 180°C /356°F degrees for a standard oven, or reduce the temperature slightly for a fan-assisted oven.
Step 3: Saute the onion and garlic in the oven dish
Peel and chop the onion and garlic. Heat the oil in the oven dish in the oven. Saute the diced onion unit it’s translucent, then add the garlic and sauté it for a couple of minutes to release flavours.
As already mentioned, the classic recipe is made without the vegetables. As vegetables are good to eat and it’s a good idea to use them. You can add one small diced carrot and half a yellow bell pepper. Sauté the chopped vegetables for a couple of minutes next in the oven dish. You can also add garden peas to the dish, but do that later when you are assembling the dish. Otherwise, the peas will get mushy.
Step 4: Saute the rice and the sweet paprika
Don’t forget to soak the rice in clean water and wash it well before adding it to the oven dish. Pat dry the clean rice with paper towel.
Spread the rice evenly in the oven dish and sauté it for a few minutes until it becomes translucent. Next, add the paprika and sauté it for 30-40 seconds.
Step 5: Assemble the dish
If you want to add peas, do it now. Sprinkle the peas in the dish and stir them with the rice.
Arrange the chicken pieces in the oven dish and push them in to sink a little in the rice . Pour the stock over the rice and the chicken pieces.
Place small pieces of butter on top. For best results, distributed the butter evenly in the oven dish.
6. Cook the CHICKEN & RICE in the oven
Cook the dish in the oven until the stock is absorbed and the rice is soft. This will take roughly about 40 minutes.
When the rice is cooked, take the oven dish out of the oven. Cover it with a clean tea towel and let it rest for 10-15 minutes, then serve.
🍲 SERVE MY MOUTH-WATERING CHICKEN & RICE
Traditionally, this Balkan-style chicken and rice dish is garnished with chopped fresh mint. It’s served hot with a fresh salad on the side.
Enjoy! 👨🍳👨🍳👨🍳
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One-pot Balkan Chicken & Rice
Equipment
- 1 large stockpot or multifunction cooker if you are making the stock
- 1 Medium size oven dish
Ingredients
For the Chicken stock
- 1.5 kg chicken carcass and wings whole
- 2.5 litres water
- 1 onion halved
- 1 carrot whole
- 1 celery stick whole
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 2 bay leaves
- 10 peppercorns whole
For the Chicken and Rice
- 6 portions chicken
- 1 onion chopped finely
- 3 garlic cloves chopped finely
- 1 small carrot cut into small cubes
- 1/2 sweet yellow pepper chopped into small cubes
- 1 handfull fresh green peas
- 2 cups rice washed
- 6 cups chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/3 cup mint chopped
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 40 g butter cut into medium size cubes
- salt and pepper for seasoning
Instructions
- To prepare the stock at home, cut the chicken into individual portions and separate the carcass with the backbone of the chicken. Place the carcass into a large stockpot.Add all ingredients for the stock. Bring the water to the boil. When the water starts boiling, reduce the heat and simmer for 1 hour. Remove the scan forming on the surface. Alternatively, make the stock in your multifunction cooker on the soup setting. That takes only 20 minutes.You can drop the chicken in your stockpot to partook it or do that in your multifunction cooker when the stock is ready. That will ensure the chicken is moist in the final dish.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C /356°F degrees.
- Add 2 tablespoons of oil to an oven dish and heat the oil in the oven. Add the chopped onion to the dish and let it sauté for a few of minutes in the oven until it’s translucent. Add the chopped garlic and sauté for a couple of minutes. Add the diced carrot and pepper to the oven dish and sauté for a couple of minutes in the oven.
- Rince the rice, pat it dry and add it to the oven dish. Sauté for 4-5 minutes until translucent. Sprinkle sweet paprika over the rice, stir it and and sauté the rice with the paprika for 30-40 seconds.
- Sprinkle a handful of fresh garden peas, and stir them with the rice. Arrange the raw or par-cooked chicken pieces in the oven dish and push them to sink in the rice. Pour the chicken stock over the rice.
- Cut the butter into cubes and arrange it over the rice. Distribute the pieces of the butter evenly in the oven dish. Cook in the middle of the hot oven for 40 minutes.
- When ready, take the oven dish out of the oven, cover it with a tea towel and let it rest for 10-15 minutes. Plate and sprinkle cracked black pepper and fresh mint over the individual portions. Serve with fresh salad on the side.
