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This Chicken and Rice dish is so satisfying – a must try! It has all of the heartiness of plov and creamy deliciousness of a risotto. The chicken turns out tender and so flavorful. It’s one of those meals that you’ll make and your family members will be convinced you’re the best cook there is.
My husband and son sent all kinds of compliments my way. My son ended his meal by saying “Mama your food is the best.” Yes, it’s that good! I even called Mom and shared it with her just as soon as I finished my bowl of creamy goodness.
(P.S. Don’t be afraid of the white wine; it is still family friendly! You boil out the alcohol and keep all of the amazing flavor).
Watch How to Make this Chicken and Rice:
It’s also a one-pot wonder. Less dishes is huge for me because most of my cooking sprees tend to make the kitchen look like it’s been hit by twin tornados (as evidenced here). This creamy rice casserole also also reheats really well.
Ingredients for Creamy Chicken and Rice:
1/4 cup olive oil
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided
1 med onion, finely diced
2 large carrots, grated or cut into matchsticks
1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed and cut into 1″ pieces
2 tsp salt (we used sea salt), divided
1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
2 bay leaves, optional
1 cup dry white wine such as Chardonnay
5 cups hot low sodium chicken broth
2 cups medium grain rice such as Jasmine rice (un-rinsed)**
1 head garlic
1/3 cup fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
** A note on using brown rice instead of Jasmine rice. 2 of my readers both tried brown rice and both said they had great results but it took 45 minutes too cook rather than 15 minutes. Another reader said she tried instant brown rice and it took the same amount of time to cook as Jasmine rice.
How to Make the Best Creamy Chicken and Rice Casserole:
1. Using a dutch oven or heavy bottom pot with tight fitting lid, over medium/high heat, add 1/4 cup olive oil and 2 Tbsp unsalted butter. Once butter is melted and hot, stir in diced onion, grated carrots and 1 tsp salt. Sautee until soft and golden (8-10 min).
2. Add trimmed, chopped chicken thighs, 2 bay leaves, another 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper. Saute, stirring occasionally until chicken is golden on all sides (5 mins).
3. Increase the heat to high and add 1 cup white wine. Boil down the wine, scraping the bottom until most of the wine has evaporated.
4. Add the hot chicken broth, then stir in the rice.
5. Without separating the cloves (leaving the root end intact), slice the end off a whole head of garlic to expose the garlic cloves. Set the whole head into the center of your rice, sliced side down. Bring to a rolling boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until rice is fully cooked (15 mins).
6. Turn off the heat, remove garlic head (you can either push the cloves of garlic out into the rice and eat it or discard it) and quickly stir in remaining 2 Tbsp butter until fully incorporated. Finally, stir in chopped parsley and 1/2 cup parmesan cheese. It should be creamy. Serve right away or leave the lid on to keep it warm until serving.
Garnish with fresh parsley to serve.
Credits: This chicken and rice recipe was inspired by my Beef Plov recipe and Lidia Matticchio’s Traditional Rice & Chicken
Creamy Chicken and Rice Recipe (a one-pot meal)
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided
- 1 med onion, finely diced
- 2 large carrots, grated or cut into matchsticks
- 1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed and cut into 1" pieces
- 2 tsp salt, we used sea salt, divided
- 1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
- 2 bay leaves, optional
- 1 cup dry white wine , such as Chardonnay
- 5 cups low sodium chicken broth, hot
- 2 cups medium grain rice, or Jasmine rice, un-rinsed**
- 1 head garlic
- 1/3 cup Italian parsley, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded, plus more for serving
Instructions
- Using a dutch oven or heavy bottom pot with tight fitting lid, over medium/high heat, add 1/4 cup olive oil and 2 Tbsp unsalted butter. Once butter is melted and hot, stir in diced onion, grated carrots and 1 tsp salt. Sautee until soft and golden (8-10 min).
- Add trimmed, chopped chicken thighs, 2 bay leaves, another 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper. Saute, stirring occasionally until chicken is golden on all sides (5 mins).
- Increase the heat to high and add 1 cup white wine. Boil down the wine, scraping the bottom until most of the wine has evaporated.
- Add the hot chicken broth, then stir in the rice.
- Without separating the cloves (leaving the root end intact), slice the end off a whole head of garlic to expose the garlic cloves. Set the whole head into the center of your rice, sliced side down. Bring to a rolling boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until rice is fully cooked (15 mins).
- Turn off the heat, remove garlic head (you can either push the cloves of garlic out into the rice and eat it or discard it) and quickly stir in remaining 2 Tbsp butter until fully incorporated. Finally, stir in chopped parsley and 1/2 cup parmesan cheese. It should be creamy. Serve right away or leave the lid on to keep it warm until serving. Garnish with more fresh parsley to serve.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
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It’s absolutely delicious. Thanks Natasha. You’re awesome. 💜
Yesss!! I’m so happy you liked it 🙂
So good…and I forgot to add the butter, parsley and cheese at the end! Thanks so much for sharing.
Michelle, thank you for the wonderfull review and you are welcome 😁.
Hi, you have mentioned that you don’t wash the rice. Is there a specific reason you do that?
Hi Irina, the starch from the rice helps to make the overall dish a little creamier, similar to a risotto.
I made this recipe this evening with some minor tweaks (only had jalapeño havarti and chicken breast on hand and, sadly, no white wine), and it was delicious! It did not lack for the wine!
Thank you for sharing such a simple yet yummy and nourishing recipe.
Rachel, I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review!
Made it today, it was very nice, This is the second recipe I’ve used from you, and I must say I’ve been very impressed. I used chicken breast instead. I might reduced the salt amount though ;D.
I’m so glad you liked it!! 🙂 Thanks for the nice review. Oh by the way, did you use a low sodium chicken broth? If you use a regular one, I would recommend adding about 1/2 tsp less salt to the recipe. I hope that’s helpful! 🙂
Yesterday, I tried this recipe for the first time. It didn’t start off great, I’m not a good cook and I should have tried an easier recipe. I was going to surprise my boyfriend for our one month… ended up having him come over and help, but together we made it. It turned out fantastic and now that I know how to make it, I definitely plan on making it again. This recipe is delicious. I also recommend adding the garlic at the end, we used a small amount and it was good, more would’ve been great.
I’m so so happy you loved it! Yes, the garlic is definitely nice and although it seems like alot, it isn’t overpowering at all 🙂
I have never used the “better than bouillon”. how do i use it? you mention on the recipe that 5 cups of chicken broth is needed, so do i need 5 tablespoons of the better than bouillon mixed with 5 cups of water?
Hi Tina, I just use the better than bouillon to make my own broth and per the package instructions, 1 tsp for every 1 cup of hot water = 1 cup of chicken broth. So, use 5 tsp for 5 cups of water. You can absolutely use any kind of chicken broth, this is jut what I use because I always keep it on hand.
Great, thank you! I will definitely try it.
Hi Natasha!
I finally made this recipe last night after Pinning it over a year ago and LOVED IT!
I added some chopped mushrooms with the carrots and onions in hopes of recreating canned soup chicken and rice casserole. It is WAYYY better than that! Ill be making it again and trying a few other recipes of yours I already have Pinned.
Thank you!
E
Hi Elizabeth, thank you so much for pinning! I’m so glad you tried it and loved it 🙂
I made this tonight and it was great! Thanks so much for a delicious recipe. 🙂
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing that with us 🙂
Hi Natasha! I just wanted you to know that I make this recipe at least ONCE every other week! It’s delicious! I love your website and come here often for recipe ideas! Next, I’m going to try your chicken meatballs in cream sauce. They sound so good!! <3
Thank you for sharing that awesome review! It sounds like you discovered a favorite. That’s so cool! 🙂
Hi, we’ve made several of your recipes and have loved everything we’ve tried :). This looks delicious! We don’t use wine in cooking, would I just use additional chicken broth in place of it? Same amount/measurement as the wine? Also do you think boneless/skinless chicken breasts would work?
Thanks!
Janet, you can replace wine with the chicken broth, although it would not have the same depth of flavor and boneless/skinless chicken breasts would work fine as well. Let me know how it turns out 😀.
I use boneless chicken tenders and usually omit the wine as well. It still comes out great!!
Excellent dish! I’m generally only cooking for 2, but life is busy so I love dishes where the leftovers are just as good the next day. I made a couple of changes based on what I had on hand, and so I used chicken breasts instead of thighs and added about a tablespoon of minced garlic at the beginning of the dish instead of a head at the end, and used dried parsley instead of fresh. The end results and leftovers were fabulous, and this is one of my favorite go-to quick dinners!
Jen, thank you so much for he wonderful review!! 🙂
i do not understand these instructions,” remove garlic head (you can either push the cloves of garlic out into the rice and eat it or discard it)”.
The cloves inside of the garlic head are edible and if you like them, you can push the cooked cloves out of the garlic head and enjoy them with the rice.
A really lovely chicken recipe and so simple to make, with just the one pan, which I love!
Have made this once and now making again tonight. As a previous reviewer said, even a two year old has eaten this! One of the reasons I’m making it again!
Thank you!
Dianne, thank you for such a great review 😀. Reading your comment is making me hungry, I might just make this recipe myself!
Would this work with arborio rice?
Hi Liz, I think you could make that work, but arborio absorbs more water so you may need to add more water.
Do you think you could make this in the crock pot?
Hi Libby, it cooks pretty quickly on the stove and for that reason I would say that it’s probably not going to work very well in a crock pot. I think the rice would get mushy and overcooked and the texture wouldn’t be quite the same. But I haven’t actually tested that out and I haven’t seen any reviews come through from anyone who has tried it either.
I’ve made it as instructed on the stove and it’s delicious! So I will stick to that way to be safe! Thanks for the reply!
Could you use cooked rice? I have a bunch leftover…would I just use less broth then or is it better to just use uncooked
I don’t think this would work well or taste nearly as good with cooked rice. Using raw rice allows the rice to absorb all of the wonderful flavor and the results are really good! 🙂
I made this Saturday night and now tonight again!!! Soo good. I used shredded chicken I made in the crock pot and added broccoli tonight. I love this dish!!!
Thank you for the awesome review and for sharing your tips! I’m so happy you love the recipe 🙂
This recepie is way too salty for my taste. I would def. cut salt in half unless you are using no sodium added chicken broth. It’s ok side dish.
Please note that the recipe calls for reduced sodium broth so if you use regular, you always want to adjust salt amount to taste. You’re the first to say it is too salty, are you certain you didn’t mis-measure your salt? We usually don’t like overly salty food either.
I am a new cooker. I now have a family and I am trying to find things to cook that don’t take up to much time and aren’t hard! While at the same time trying to be somewhat healthy! This recipe was everything! It is very hard to get my 2-year old daughter to eat but this she ate with no problem! My husband got seconds and asked me to make it again tonight! As a new cooker I am always afraid to try new things because I often mess it up. Bt this was simple enough and it taste amazing. Thank you so much! This was a winner with me family!
I’m so happy to hear that you and your family loved the recipe, especially a picky 2-year old! That’s so sweet! 🙂 Thank you for sharing your wonderful review.