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!
Watch How to Make It!
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.
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!
More Easy Family Favorites:
- Gnocchi Chicken Pot Pie
- Easy Chicken and Rice Soup
- Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
- Cheesy Ham and Broccoli Skillet
- 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.
- Leave a comment and star rating if you loved the recipe! Thank you for considering!
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
I made this tonight using a mojo-flavored rotisserie chicken from the grocery store and it was fabulous! I’ve always been a big fan of chicken and rice, but your recipe takes it to the next level flavor-wise. Loved it! Can’t wait for leftovers tomorrow! Will definitely be part of my rotation going forward.
[…] made this chicken and rice dinner this week and the whole family loved it. I added in frozen green beans for a little […]
This was a big hit tonight! So comforting and tasty. My 8-yr old had seconds and asked to have the rest for breakfast tomorrow! And my husband had thirds :) Thanks!
The family loved it! She’s right about using Jasmine rice.
Almost a year ago I made your seeet corn kielbasa soup (I remeber your blog name because I’m an Iowa girl myself!) but I have to admit I completely ignored your site because my family doesn’t eat gluten free…what a mistake!! I went through and pinned a ridiculous amount of your recipes that I can’t wait to try. Just wanted to thank you for kicking me out of my same 10 dinners rut. I will be following your page closely from now on :)
This is an amazing recipe! Absolutely delicious.
I made this last night and the whole family loved it! We had to cut our one year old off, as I think she ate more than me! I love that it made a large amount so we can have it as leftovers throughout the week as well.
I made this last night, and it was a hit! I had a whole chicken that I needed to use, so I boiled and shredded it, and made stock, then followed the rest of the recipe as written. My 10yo loved it, my 7yo who doesn’t like anything liked it, and the 1yo ate more than I’ve ever seen him eat in one sitting. He kept saying ‘Mo! Mo!’
Just thought I would share that I made this over the weekend in my Instant Pot and it turned out great! For anyone interested, I just modified to use 4.5 cups of chicken stock and then cooked on high pressure for 4 minutes, followed by 10 minutes on “keep warm.” It turned out beautifully!
Awesome! Thanks for letting us know, Sara – I’m so glad you enjoyed the dish!!
Sara, thank you for posting your conversion to the instant pot! I am so excited to make this and am even happier to know I can make in it my instant pot now :)
Sara- Thank you so much for your conversion for the Instant Pot! I made this for dinner tonight, using your directions and it was awesome! I love my Instant Pot! One pot, better flavor, less mess! Why doesn’t everyone own one of these incredible machines?? It was my first time using Lundberg White jasmine Rice, delicious! A keeper recipe!
Hi! Please help! Instapot virgin here lol I see someone made it in an instapot. I’m new to the instapot world so I want to confirm how you did this. You only used 4.5 cups of liquid vs the 8 and did you add raw chicken chunks or cooked? Did you saute the carrots in the pot first before adding everything else? Were you able to add the rice raw or cooked? So you turn the instapot on, let it heat up on high for 4 minutes, then slow released for 10? Can’t wait to make this using my intapot!
I made this last night with brown rice (since I didn’t have enough white). It turned out great! I just doubled the cooking time and waited until the last 15-20 minutes the chicken.
Thanks for letting us know, Amy!! I need to try this soon!
Par baked rice? Did u mean par boiled…..which of course is what I used…waiting it out to see how it turns out!!!
Okay…my rice turned out great! Was delicious!! Thanks again for another repeater!!
Haha, yes! That’s what I meant! I’m so glad you loved it, Hayley!!
This literally just happened: I was looking for recipes online to save to my Recipes to Try notebook on Evernote and I Googled Chicken and Rice casserole, and saved one. Then I thought, let’s see what Kristin at IGE is cooking up. Your Chicken and Rice dish was the first thing I saw. I clipped it right away. Can’t wait to try it! Thanks Kristin. :)
Oh my gosh – TOO FUNNY!! It’s fate! ;) Hope you love it, Emily!
This looks so comforting and hearty! It is perfect for a chilly day like today. Though it is the first of May, today has been cooler than it’s been the past couple days, making it ideal for this type of meal!
Heck yeah! Hope this dish warms you right up, Melissa!
Did I miss the note about the dried garlic? It says to “see notes” but I am not seeing anything. This looks so good-Thanks!!
Whoops, sorry about that! I had included a note informing when to add fresh onions and garlic if using but deleted as I didn’t want to cause any confusion.
Made this for dinner tonight. It was a hit!! Used breast tenderloins (about 6) and used regular minced garlic(in the jar) instead because it’s what I had. I think I will add celery to this next time. And there will definitely be a next time on a regular basis. Even my picky eater loved this!!
It’s looking very delicious!
Thanks so much!
This will definitely be added to the regular IGE rotation! Question, what would happen if I used Arborio rice? Also if I am using fresh onion and garlic, do I add it with the carrots or still in the same order as the dried? THANKS!
Hi Joanna! I’ve made risotto using arborio by adding all the broth at once vs one ladleful at a time, but had to stir it the whole time, so if you’re willing to stand and stir it could work!! Also yep, if you want to use fresh onion add that in with the carrots. Once those are softened add the garlic then saute without the lid for 1 more minute before adding the rice. Let me know if you give the arborio a try!
I bet this smells amazing!
*Heavenly*!
2 questions- could you use pre cooked chicken and sauce dice onions with the carrots?
Yes and yes! I will occasionally use chopped shallots (fresh onions hurt my husband’s stomach) instead of fried onions and just saute them with the carrots like you mentioned. :)
Don’t cringe, but I just made this with canned chicken, canned carrots, and vegetable stock because it was all I had on hand. It is so good, I can’t wait to make it again with “real” ingredients as soon as I can get to the store!
Not cringy whatsoever!! Like I said, this is an unfussy, use-what-you-got kind of recipe – so glad you were able to use what you had on hand!
They have canned chicken ?
Costco has really good canned chicken. I usually make chicken salad out of it but I think it will work wonderfully here!
The mess a toddler can make while eating is astounding. I must have blocked this phase out with my almost 4 year old. My 19 month old wears everything he eats and I’m so over the mess. Ugh. This looks delicious by the way!
Seriously. ASTOUNDING. Best word to describe it! ?