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.
We affectionately call this One-Pot Chicken and Rice dish “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, it’s creamy and made in one pot like porridge or “gruel”, but is absolutely delicious and super comforting. Plus it’s easy to eat – even for 2 year olds. ;)
Sliced carrots are sauteed in butter and homemade seasoned salt then joined by dried minced onions, garlic, parsley, rice, diced chicken, and rich 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!
Now, a couple notes:
- 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 very 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! Point being, this isn’t fancy or fussy cooking – use what you’ve got and follow your heart.
- 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 might need more chicken stock and of course will need to increase the cooking time.
- Since this dish has just a few simple ingredients, I like using gluten free chicken STOCK vs broth for maximum flavor.
- One-Pot 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 One-Pot Chicken and Rice:
Start by adding 1 heaping cup sliced carrots (from 1 cup baby carrots or 2 large carrots) to 2 Tablespoons butter that’s been melted 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 2 scant cups good quality long grain white rice, 1 Tablespoon dried minced onion, and 1 teaspoon 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.
Side note: I use their wild rice for my Crock Pot Chicken and Wild Rice Soup, their short grain brown rice for my Pesto Rice, and their arborio rice for all of my risottos.
Add 2 Tablespoons dried parsley and 8 cups chicken stock to the pot then bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium-low then simmer for 10 minutes. Next, season 2 small 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 2-4 additional Tablespoons 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 – enjoy!
50+ Freezer Friendly Recipes
Cute Spring Fashion FindsOne-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 or vegan 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
More Gluten Free One Pot Recipes:
Cheesy Chicken Burrito Skillet >
Crispy Chicken, Bacon, Pesto Gnocchi Skillet >
Made this for dinner tonight. It was absolutely delicious. I substituted fresh onion and garlic and it turned out great! Thanks for the recipe!
Made this and it is very good!!
I had some leftover chicken and searched for a new recipe for tonight. My kitches smells delicious! I can’t wait for dinner! The hardest part is keeping my 5 year old from eating my cooked, chopped chicken waiting to go into the mix.
I make this frequently for my niece, who is a college student in the city where we live, and who has several food intolerances. She (and we!) love it!! It’s hard to imagine these few ingredients can have so much flavor, but they sure do!!
I made the chicken and rice for dinner and it was delicious!! Super easy to put together and ready in no time. Definitely will make again.
This is so good! It does make a lot. Have you tried to freeze it? I was thinking about freezing some of the leftovers to eat in a couple of weeks.
This is the ultimate gruel (or slop as we call it in my house)!!!! I added 4 leeks and some dry white wine and it was so, totally delicious. I think I might do less rice next time to cut the carbs down, maybe 1.5 cups
I’m so glad to hear you love it, Audrey! We love adding leeks too – ugh so good. I’m going to add a splash of dry white next time too. Thanks for your feedback!
Made and absolutely loved it. I realized after the fact I didn’t add enough Better than Bouillon, but it still was tasty! I added celery and mushrooms to it. Definitely a stick your bones, winter kind of meal!
That was amazing, I have to thank you. it’s only me and I Cut in in half it was so delicious and so easy.
Could you use cauliflower rice instead of regular rice?
Hi Dav! Personally I wouldn’t swap more than 1/3 or 1/4 of the rice for cauliflower rice if you still want it to come out thick and creamy. If you replace all the rice with cauliflower it would come out more like soup even if you decrease the liquid since you’d lose the thickening properties of the rice starch.
Fantastic! So easy and just good comfort food, especially on a cold day. It was a hit with the adults AND all 3 kiddos (ages 1-8), which is a rare but very happy occurrence. Thank you! Your recipes always taste good and always turn out. We’ve been making some for YEARS.
I made this and it was absolutely delicious! I am curious about how I could make this with wild rice???
This is amazing, but made way too much for little ol’ me. Have you ever tried freezing this?
Was I supposed to use all the seasoned salt in the recipe?
I have UC and many food restrictions. I LOVE this recipe, it is great for me and my family!!! Thank you so much.
Is there any way to make this in an instant pot
Made this tonight and it was delicious! I was worried it wouldn’t make enough so we doubled it — now we have enough chicken and rice for the next week, haha! So good, though.
Very good, quick and easy and I had everything on hand. A wonderful meal for a cold snowy evening.
Could you put diced rotisserie chicken in this instead of boiling chicken breast? It would that take away from the flavor and juices? Thanks!
Sure, that would be fine! I’d just stir it in at the very end to give it a minute to warm up.
Made this with Mahatma white rice and chicken legs instead of breast. It was more time consuming b/c I had to peel skin off and cook and then shred off chicken from bones to put into pot. I also made my own chicken broth (since I had no more containers in cabinet) with from boiled water and chicken consumme powder. It was all worth the extra work as it came out delicious. Thanks for sharing recipe. I look forward to making more!
How long does this take start to finish? & how much of a cooking time difference for long grain brown rice?..
I love this recipe. I recently found out I have a sensitivity to chicken so I tried this solely as a vegetarian meal and I’m obsessed. All spices, butter, rice and vegetable broth I made 1.5 x this recipe. I added about 5-6 large carrots, 4 medium to large zucchini and about 4 cups of chopped white potatoes. I added the carrots as the recipe calls for (until soft) and then add zucchini for 2 minutes then follow the recipe for broth and add potatoes. I follow the rest of the recipe (minus adding the chicken) and it’s phenomenal!
Oh my gosh!!! The “Gruel” (chicken, carrots, rice) was AMAZZZZING!!! My husband and 16-year old son loved it! It’s so hard to find something that everyone likes. Now I can add this to the top of the list. Thank you so much for sharing, Kristin! The Davis Family in New Jersey
This turned out better than I expected! It’s definitely going in our rotation.
I’ve made this several times now because not only is it delicious, but EVERYONE in my house likes it!!
The holy grail of recipes – one that everyone will actually eat! So happy to hear it, Heather!
Great recipe!
Easy to make and freezes well in single serving containers… I added a little water when reheating.
This is so delicious! A new favorite.
Delicious! Tastes so much fancier than it is!
I’ve made this recipe twice already, both times extremely delicious, but one time turned to mush. My family gobbled it up anyway. But y’all should really listen to this woman when she says to use HIGH QUALITY rice. It makes all the difference!
Comfort food at its simplest and best! The adults and three of my four young kids LOVE this–and even my pickiest eater, who does not like any kind of dish where his food might mix, will eat it (sometimes :). I’ll often use 4 boneless chicken thighs instead of 2 breasts, and that seems to be just right.
This is absolutely delicious. The perfect comfort food. Only thing I added 1 stalk celery diced and 1 bay leaf. Otherwise I followed the recipe as stated. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Hi, Just a quick question. Are you putting raw chicken or cooked chicken into your rice mixture? Thanks.
Such a great recipe!!!! We always add celery and some fresh garlic but other than that it’s perfection! It makes so much food and lasts us a super long time. Thanks for this simple and comforting meal :)
This is so delicious and has become one of my go-to dinners! We can’t get enough of it. So easy, so delicious and comes together pretty quickly. My whole family loves it, including my 2 & 3 year olds!
I have made this twice and it is amazing and such a comfort food. I substituted with two cups of cauliflower rice and 1 cup of rice and it worked out really wll.
I was fortunate enough to have rice, chicken, and broth in-house before the COVID panic made these ingredients next to impossible to find at the grocery store. This recipe was super quick and easy to follow, and it made delicious, hearty, filling gruel for daysssssss. It’s an easy comforting lunch to fuel me up for countless days of working from home. Thank you :)
This was so good! For something with such simple ingredients, it sure packed a flavor punch! And it definitely hit the spot for comfort which is so needed right now!
Super easy and delicious! Great for a big family on a week night. I added 1 small onion and 2 gloves of garlic and 1 can of peas. I used chicken broth, 1 chicken bouillon, bay leaf and paprika on top of the other called for seasoning. I probably added too much butter and served this with a side of garlic bread. Delicious! Can’t wait to try more recipes from this site.
This dish is called “Aguado de Pollo” in Ecuador! (A-wa-do) I use frozen mixed veggies and cubed potatoes to make more soup, that way we can eat it for two days!
Made tonight was awesome! I added celery and grated cheese. Kids loved it!!
Have you tried this with brown rice? Do you have any suggested adjustments if I make it with brown rice?
First, your pictures are fabulous!! Also your collection of recipes. I like your style and preferences they are similar to mine. I plan to try a few of your recipes to add some variety to out rotation. Thanks for sharing.
I’ve made this recipe twice now and it’s been great both times! I only cook for two and haven’t quite worked out how to make a smaller quantity – but would definitely recommend this recipe. It’s a really rich and warming dish and not like much else that we eat in this house!
Delicious and easy. Next time i will throw some diced celery in while cooking the carrots. Thank you for the recipe.
I made this recipe for dinner tonight. It was a hit!! Everyone got seconds. So easy and so delicious. Thank you!
Hi thanks for sharing. Any advice on if you can freeze it and if so, best way to reheat?
Hi Beth! I actually don’t recommend freezing this recipe as cooked >> frozen >> rice tends to turn to mush!
What is your preferred brand of chicken stock? I find many taste watery and aren’t as flavorful as broth, but it may just be me! 😂
I love Costco’s Kirkland brand organic Chicken Stock!
Made this tonight, everyone loved it! I added a few fresh vegetables, corn off the cob and cauliflower chopped. So it would hide in the rice, I also used fresh onion and garlic instead of dried. It was delicious!
My mom has dementia and has trouble eating much of anything anymore. This recipe was perfect for her. She was happy to eat a good serving. Thanks. My whole family also enjoyed it!