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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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I made this tonight, and it is delightful. I would really like to make a double batch next time and freeze one. Have you had success freezing this recipe?
I haven’t tried freezing it, but I imagine it would work well.
If you are making this without using the wine…. how would you do that? Just skip that step? I looks amazing!!!
Thanks!
You can still follow the recipe just use 1 cup of chicken broth instead and reduce it down the same way.
Made this last night (found it on pinterest). It was delicious, even the kids loved it! Sharing it with all my friends!!
I’m so happy you enjoyed it! Thank you so much for the great review 🙂
Do I have to use wine or would it be okay without it in this dish? Because I’m prego and the smell when cooking with wine makes me verrrryy dizzy and sick. But I really want to try this recipe! 🙂
I always use white wine because it enhances the flavor, but some of my readers have reported great results with just adding a little more chicken broth. You might need to season it slightly more to taste 🙂
Making this now, smells amazing! Only thing I did different was omit bay leaves (allergy) and add a pinch of curry. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Oh wow I haven’t heard of basil allergies. What kind of symptoms do you get and how did you discover it was bay? Curry sounds wonderful! Thanks for sharing your tip! 😉
I made this last night exactly as written, and it was great! I was looking for a chicken and rice recipe that didn’t use cream soups, and am really glad I settled on this one. Thanks!
Thanks for the great review Melissa and you are very welcome :).
Can I use cooking white wine?
It will still taste very good, but a better quality wine will taste better. Let me know what you think of the recipe. Oh, p.s. make sure it’s not a wine vinegar, but an actual cooking white wine :).
Thank you for introducing me to the culinary side of my Ukrainian heritage! This is one of our favorite things to make for dinner.
I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks so much for the great review 🙂
Just made this, it was delicious!!! I didn’t have time to take a picture! Thanks for a great recipe!!
It’s always a good sign when it gets eaten before you can even take a picture! 🙂 I’m so happy you enjoyed it 🙂
Hi,
Hope that you are doing great.
Nice Recipe. I will have to cook it now!
I think there should be an option to email the recipe next to Print Recipe.
Regards,
No problem! 🙂 If you go to the bottom of the post and see where the social media sharing buttons are, click on the green one on the left and it opens a window for loads of other sharing options, one of which is “Email this”. I hope that helps. Thanks Muhammad 🙂
I am definitely going to try this!! So glad to find a “creamy” chicken recipe that does not call for some sort of “cream soup”.
I hope you absolutely love it! It’s definitely a reader and family favorite 🙂
I made this last week and it was delicious! I think I will add frozen peas with the Parmesan at the end next time. Not that it needs it, but I think it would be yummy too! Thanks for sharing!
That’s a great idea! I love adding more veggies to dishes 🙂
This came out great! I made it without the parmesan and ended us using less broth. I used Goya brand Jasmine rice and that requires 4 cups of water to 2 cups of rice.
My husband loved it!
Will def make again.
I’m so happy you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks Katie 🙂
I don’t have any white wine, could I use red instead, or will that taste funny?
I don’t think red wine would work, but my readers have reported good results with just using more broth. 🙂
I made this dish for dinner tonight and boy was it delicious. My husband was raving about it and he has never raved about my cooking like this before.
I didn’t have carrots, so I substituted grated butternut square and only used a 1/2 cup of chardonnay instead of a cup.
Thank you for this wonderful recipe.
I’m so happy you loved it! Thank you for the awesome review 🙂
Thank you so much for a fabulous recipe!!!!! My house smelled wonderful while it was cooking, and my family loved it! This is my first recipe from your site, and I have to tell you, I can’t wait to try more!!!!
I’m so happy to hear that!! Thank you for the great review 🙂
Loved this! I’m a terrible recipe follower, but only changes I made was to throw some sliced mushrooms in, and I put in triple the cheese. I also did the chicken thighs in the oven separately with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. I used arborio rice so it did look more like a risotto, so delicious, I’ll make again very soon.
I’m so happy you loved it and thank you for sharing your substitutions! 🙂
Made this tonight for dinner and really enjoyed the end product. However, it felt like the 1/4 cup of olive oil at the beginning was a little much and I’ll probably cut down next time. Also the white wine didn’t boil down quite as well as I had anticipated so I simply cut back on the chicken stock by about a cup and the rice still cooked beautifully. One thing I do whenever I’m using ingredients I plan to remove (bay leaves and the like) is placed them in these soaking bags I got years ago at an Amish market- males removing those items easier in the end. All in all a wonderful dish with a really nice, complex flavor- perfect for a cold, rainy day like today! Thanks for sharing your recipes!
I love the idea of placing the bay leaves into soaking bags. I’ll have to see if we have an Amish market nearby! 🙂 I bet they have something available online too. Thank you for the tip! I’m so glad you enjoyed the rice 🙂
Hi natasha, I made this meal but it turned out really salty, I used the chicken base too but I don’t know if mine is less sodium, did you do 5tsp on 5 cups of water, I don’t think you mentioned the proportions on that. Thank you!
The reduced sodium better than bouillon that I use specifies 1 tsp for every cup of water and that is the way I make the broth. It will definitely make a difference if you don’t use the reduced sodium version; in that case you probably want to reduce or omit the extra salt and add it to taste in the end. I hope that helps!
This was perfect comfort food for a cold winter like night. I made 2 changes-added fresh broccoli at the same time as rice because we have to have greens with dinner. I also subbed chicken breast but thought it would be better shredded than in chunks so I slow cooked it beforehand. It turned out great-got the thumbs up to keep it in the dinner rotation.
I lov the idea of adding broccoli! We love to incorporate as much veggies in our diet as possible also. 🙂 Thanks for the great review!