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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This was really good! Even my 4 and 8 year old didn’t fight eating it too much and they won’t eat anything! I also only put a little over 4 cups chicken stock in and 1 cup water, I didn’t realize the carton of stock wasn’t enough. Still turned out great! Curious to see what 8 cups stock would be like, almost seems like it could be too much? Like you mentioned maybe adding celery, I think that would make it really good too.
I was having a dinner crisis today and this meal more than satisfied. My whole family loved it and it will certainly be put in the regular rotation. I used frozen carrots because I had them on hand and it came out perfectly. Thanks for such a great recipe! I’m looking forward to trying some other ones. :)
Makes me so happy to hear that, Tracy! So hard to please everyone at dinner time – I’m glad this recipe did that for ya!
When first trying a recipe I always follow it completely. I wouldn’t change anything. Really delicious!
Fabulous! Thanks for the great feedback, Diane!
Always a hit in my house. My kids like cooked carrots so I generally use 1 1/2 cups.
I don’t comment much, but I follow your site and go to your recipes often. Several are now our favorites and go-tos. ?
Thrilled to hear it, Molly – thanks for letting me know!!
We loved the chicken and rice! This one is going into my rotation. I have not been disappointed with any of your recipes!!
We make the soup version every couple of weeks in the fall and winter. One of my 4 year olds favorites!
I am not much of a cooker, but this recipe is the BOMB! Oh so easy to make and tasty as all get out. I used the thighs which made it even more flavorfull. I will be making this on a regular basis.
I was reviewing recipes to see if I could add a little something different to my homemade chicken and rice but I came across this recipe and I’m wondering, when does any rice take four cups of liquid to one cup of rice? I was always taught it’s two cups of liquid to two and a half to every cup of rice. Is this recipe off or misprint? I’d like to try it tonight for dinner please let me know. Thank you have a blessed day
Hi Danielle! There is not a misprint. The recipe is 2 scant cups of rice and 8 cups broth, as written
I’m just making this tonight. It looks perfect for a chilly night! Question. Was I supposed to be cooking the rice and chicken without the lid on? And then put the lid on at the end to sit for 5 minutes? I’m just a little confused. :)
You got it, Kathy! You cook the recipe without the lid, then for the last 5 minutes you place the lid on top. :)
I absolutely love this recipe! It’s super easy and tastes delicious. I am making it a second time tonight but adding mushrooms. Thank you!!!
Sooo good! I’ve been looking for this recipe forever. Amazing comfort food on a cold night… or any night.
This recipe was so easy and delicious! It fed my family of seven and all my kids gobbled it up without a complaint. This recipe is a keeper, for sure!
I made this today and 8 cups of broth is pretty excessive I would say, used only 5.5 cups for 2 full cups of rice and it turned out great. If not the 2 full cups are required I’d also suggest changing the measurements rather than using a word to say that. I forgot about it and looked it up after the fact
This was pretty bland and it’s kinda mushy. I used the same rice, but I used real garlic and onion.
Sounds like you overcooked your rice. Take the pot off when the rice is tender vs mushy.
Delicious. I halved it for my small family, used leftover rotisserie chicken, brown rice and extra stock from the rotisserie chicken bones and skin. The carrots were a nice touch! I added 1/2 cup of sliced celery, too.
Yummy! I added celery and onion during the carrots! My family loved it!
delicious rice
The flavor of this is really good. I use left over rotisserie chicken for this dish. We make a few modifications: reduce the amount of rice by 1/3 and double the chicken.
This had good flavors, but way too much rice. I used the exact brand recommended, but it was gloppy. If I tried it again, I would use half the amount of rice, and more chicken. I used fresh parsley, fresh onion and fresh garlic. I also added extra seasoning, because it was bland.
Not quite certain why you would automatically block printing this recipe from your website. Very disappointing! The whole reason one visits your website is to prepare the recipes. Why would you automatically block printing of the “one pot chicken and rice” recipe?
Not sure what this comment means, Karen? Did you click on the “print recipe” button?