We affectionately call One Pot Chicken and Rice “gruel” at my house.
“KIDS!” I’ll yell at dinnertime, “Come get yer gruel!” and they come running. What can I say, it makes me laugh and it’s the little things.
This easy, gluten free recipe was born from Lincoln’s love of Easy Chicken and Rice Soup and Cam’s deep desire to wear his dinner every night. Part risotto (without all the stirring) and part soup, this creamy chicken and rice recipe is simple and comforting, made in one pot, and easy enough for a 2 year old to eat. Lucky for you and me, it tastes nothing like gruel!
One Pot Chicken and Rice
Sliced carrots are sauteed in butter and homemade seasoned salt then simmered with dried minced onions and garlic, white rice, diced chicken, and rich chicken stock until thick and irresistible. THEN it’s finished with a couple pats of butter. Did I mention it’s irresistable? This recipe makes enough to feed a crowd and anything we don’t finish reheats wonderfully, too. It is not an understatement to say that my entire family LOVES this dish!
Recipe Tips
- I’ve been making this recipe regularly for the past year or so but have never measured the ingredients until now so I could share it with you. That said, make any adaptations you like – it’s hard to screw up! Use fresh onions and garlic instead of the dried versions. Add more or less butter to your liking. Throw in some celery or leeks if you please!
- Use good quality rice or you actually WILL end up with mushy gruel. Please no par-boiled or minute rice. I use Lundberg White Jasmine Rice.
- I have not made this recipe with brown rice though if you do, you will need more chicken stock and will also need to increase the cooking time considerably.
- Since this dish has just a few simple ingredients, I like using gluten free chicken STOCK vs broth for maximum flavor.
- This easy chicken and rice (and the soup it’s adapted from) really benefits from being seasoned with my homemade seasoned salt. It’s just 4 ingredients that I can almost guarantee you have in your cupboards right now, and really adds a ton of flavor to each bite.
Oh my gosh, yum. Ok, let’s get this grue-, I mean One Pot Chicken and Rice on the table!
How to Make This Recipe
Start by adding sliced carrots to melted butter in a soup pot over medium heat. Season with homemade seasoned salt and pepper then place a lid on top and saute until the carrots are tender, 5-6 minutes.
Next add good quality long grain white rice, dried minced onion, and dried minced garlic then stir to coat the rice in the butter and saute for one minute.
Again, if you don’t use the right rice you’ll end up with mush, so I recommend using good quality rice like Lundberg.
Add dried parsley and chicken stock to the pot then bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium-low then simmer for 10 minutes. Next, season chicken breasts that have been chopped into bite-sized pieces with seasoned salt and pepper then add to the soup pot and continue to simmer until the rice is al dente and the chicken is cooked through, 10-15 additional minutes.
Last step is to remove the pot from the heat, place a lid on top, and let sit for 5 minutes. Finally, stir in more butter (follow your heart!) and season with additional seasoned salt and pepper if necessary.
One Pot Chicken and Rice will thicken a bit as it cools – and tastes best warm vs piping hot – so give it a little rest then scoop into bowls and call in your crew. I hope you love this easy and comforting dish as much as we do – enjoy!
Similar Recipes
- Easy Chicken and Rice Soup
- Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
- Cheesy Ham and Broccoli Skillet
- Pan Roasted Chicken Thighs and Rice
- Easy Chicken Fried Rice
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One Pot Chicken and Rice
Description
One-Pot Chicken and Rice is part soup, part risotto, and wholly comforting. Your family will ask for this easy yet irresistable gluten free dinner recipe again and again.
Ingredients
- 4 - 6 Tablespoons butter, divided
- 1 heaping cup chopped carrots (from 1 cup baby carrots or 2 large carrots)
- homemade seasoned salt and pepper (see notes)
- 2 scant cups long grain white rice (I like Lundberg White Jasmine Rice)
- 1 Tablespoon dried minced onion
- 1 teaspoon dried minced garlic
- 2 Tablespoons dried parsley flakes
- 8 cups gluten free chicken stock
- 2 small chicken breasts (14oz), cut into bite-sized pieces
Directions
- Melt 2 Tablespoons butter in a soup pot over medium heat. Add carrots, season with seasoned salt and pepper, then place a lid on top and cook until carrots are tender, 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add rice, dried onions and dried garlic then stir to coat in butter and saute for 1 minute. Add dried parsley and chicken stock then turn heat up to high to bring to a boil, stirring occasionally to ensure rice doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot as it comes to a boil.
- Turn heat down to medium-low then simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season chicken with seasoned salt and pepper then add to the pot, turn heat up slightly to bring back up to a bubble, then turn back down to medium-low and continue to simmer until chicken is cooked through and rice is al dente, 12-15 more minutes, stirring occasionally and more frequently near the end.
- Place a lid on top of the pot then remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir in remaining 2 - 4 Tablespoons butter (however much you like!) then season with additional seasoned salt and pepper if necessary. Scoop into bowls then serve. Note: dish will thicken as it cools.
Notes
- To avoid ending up with mush, use good quality rice - no Minute Rice, please! I use Lundberg California White Jasmine Rice.
- Click here for my 4-ingredient homemade seasoned salt recipe >
This recipe is courtesy of Iowa Girl Eats, http://iowagirleats.com.
Video
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You warned me and I didn’t pay attention. I made mush! Lol I should have used different rice LIKE YOU SAID!
So we all agreed that the taste was great-definitely the ultimate comfort food. We will make this again, with the right rice.
Lesson learned. Read through the instructions.
Five stars because the taste was on point.
We love this recipe! I use jasmine rice and add a little bit of cayenne pepper for a kick! We eat it at least once a week!
As I didn’t have carrots, I did substitute frozen peas and it turned out soooo good! I also used a rotisserie chicken left-over and put it in at the last minute just to basically heat it up and it was sooooo good. Btw, it really did get a bit thicker as it sat in the Dutch oven. Can’t wait to make it with carrots!
Love that you were able to make it work with what you had on hand!!
Did you not cover the rice?
It was delicious!! And we have tons of left overs lol. I made it for my bf and I. Great recipe! I didn’t have chicken stock so I used chicken broth. Worked perfectly!
Yummy!! My men folk inhaled this dish, and there is very little leftover! And I made your Seasoned Salt, it is very nice!! Thank you for your recipes and keep them coming!!
Wohoo! So glad it was a hit, Cecile – thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
We made this for dinner today and none of us liked it. It tasted so bland. I can not recommend it.
Excellent recipe. Easy to come together and very good flavor. Great comfort food. I ended up only using 1.5C rice and ~6 cups of broth and upped the chicken and carrots some – just to get a bit more protein/veggies per serving. I also used precooked chicken that I already had grilled.
So yummy and easy! I used a leek instead of a carrot (it’s what I had on hand) and some fresh garlic and onion in that first step. This is a crazy good recipe!
8 cups of chicken stock was way too much. Ended up making soup.
I added peas to it idk I have to have some type of green for color lol …… LOVED IT 😊
Woo!! Totally understand – so glad you enjoyed it!
This was absolutely incredible, I can’t express that enough. I wouldn’t change anything about this recipe. Thank you so so much!
So happy to hear this, Amber! I so appreciate your review and recipe rating! :)
Can I add red potatoes? If so when would you add?
Hi Elizabeth! Sure! It depends on how small you cut them, but maybe 10-20 minute simmer time.