This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
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
.
Best easy recipe ever! So flavorful and easy to follow! Prep your veges ahead, have measurements ready including heating your broth. 10 min tops to prep! I followed exact steps(I used kocher salt so I just over filled measure spoon as heaping because sea salt = 3/4 tsp to 1 tsp Koscher) jasmine long grain I cooked extra 2 min it turned out perfect! New rotation dinner! Thank you so much! DELICIOUS! EASY!
Happy to hear that you loved this recipe a lot! Thank you so much for sharing.
I love this recipe! I was asked to make it for a birthday party main course…and I wondered if there is a crockpot version? Or would that make the rice mushy? Just trying to find a quick way to keep the food warm.
Hi Jessica! I’m not sure this would work in a slow cooker; I haven’t tested it that way so I’m not sure if the consistency would be right in a slow cooker.
I have fed my growing and hungry family with this recipe many, many times. I make it from memory at this point!
We have a pressure cooker with different settings, so we make this recipe using the “brown” function to saute the veggies, chicken, and reduce the wine. After we add the rice, broth, and garlic, we seal it up and run the “rice” cycle. When that’s done, we release the pressure, remove the bay leaves, add the butter, parsley, and cheese and give it a gentle stir. Our cooker also has a “keep warm” function.
So, it’s possible to make it in a pressure cooker and then keep it warm. Or, I’d recommend making the recipe on the stovetop like usual and then transferring it to a slow cooker on the lowest setting just to keep it warm until you’re ready to serve it.
That sounds tried and true! Thank you so much for sharing that with us, Cara!
Very good! I will most likely be making this again. My husband is just getting over throat cancer and I have been scouring the internet for recipes of things he can eat. Everything has to be soft and/or saucy. I think he enjoyed for the most part although he has no taste as of yet. I enjoyed it though! Thanks for all your wonderful recipes!
You’re very welcome, Teresa! I’m so glad this recipe worked out for you.
Wow! Delicious! Another winner! Just one note that I used calrose rice (it’s a medium grain) and it took 30 minutes (not 15) for the liquid to absorb in the rice.
This was delicious, what was the actual serving size? Nutritional values provided, but no actual serving size haha
Hi Danielle. It’s computer generated so I don’t have the exact measurement. The number of servings is in the recipe card. The recipe serves 10 and the nutrition facts are per serving size (one serving). I hope that helps.
Is it alright to use white cooking wine?! Is white grain rice ok?
Hi Annie! There are many kinds of white grain rice (jasmine rice is one of them). A medium-grain white rice or long-grain white rice will work. You can read through the comments to see what type of rice my viewers have tested in this recipe.
Regarding the cooking wine. I try to avoid cooking wine because it has salt and other added ingredients/preservatives that alter the flavor.
I made this with shredded chicken last night and it was a big hit! Will definitely make again!
Glad to know it was enjoyed! Thank you for sharing, Debi!
Love all of Natasha’s recipes, this is no exception. It’s made it into the rotation for meals in our home because it is so easy, to prepare ahead. To make it even easier, we sometimes substitute a diced rotisserie chicken from our grocery store. I also use peas and carrots (just throw in a bag of frozen peas and carrots). So delicious and an easy week night meal for our busy family.
Hello Maria, thank you for sharing. Good to know that you are able to use those substitutions and that they work well!
Hi
I have made this on the stove top and my Ninja Foodi.. I personally, and again this is just my personal preference, prefer it on the stove top. The ingredients differ slightly, mainly the omission of wine in the pressure cooker method. I also think the carmelisation in a cast iron pot helps give it a richer, deeper flavour, especially when cooking the chicken. For those that have commented the recipe lacks flavour, you must be doing something wrong, as this may be a simple dish, it is delicious. The only changes I made are I add additional veg at the end like peas. I pop them in after the rice is cooked and let them “steam” for about 5 minutes. ( I just de-thawed frozen peas) and I removed the cooked carrots and onions before cooking the chicken, so as above, it would brown and carmelise a bit better.. Just, again, my own personal preference.. it is very versatile, so play about with it. It is very forgiving!
Thank you for sharing that with us, Whitney!
Another fabulous recipe from Natasha’s Kitchen. I did substitute the chicken thighs with chicken breast. Can I freeze your Creamy Chicken and Rice Recipe?
Glad to hear that you loved it, Paula. I haven’t tested it but one of my readers reported that this did NOT freeze well.
Another wonderful recipe. I cannot believe how creamy and how tasty this is. I am going to be making this weekly. We love your recipes. You are like the only one I seem to make. Thank you very much.
You’re so welcome! I’m happy that you enjoyed it so much!
Natasha! I truly adore you and your recipes you are my go to for everything. I just got done making this. The only thing it is lacking is more salt and more garlic. I grated the carrots fine because God forbid my son sees a vegetable in his food. It is a comforting dish, great for a cold winter day. Just season extra. 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Renee!
My kids are always asking for chicken and rice so decided to try this to avoid doing the normal plain stuff. This was delicious. I’ll admit it looked soupy at the end until I gave the rice a stir and then it was perfect. Adding this to our rotation.
Hello Kelly, I’m glad that you chose our recipe to try. Thank you so much for sharing!
Made this tonight great recipe. Added 1/2 tsp thyme when sautéing the chicken and added some garlic powder at the end. Used chicken tenders diced up and added thawed frozen peas at the end. This is a very top notch recipe. Thank you for sharing it.
I’m so glad you loved it!
I Loved this dish!! I used Orborio rice and it was fantastic!!!
I followed the recipe, used the exact ingredients listed and mine came out too mushy. It was still so delicious but any idea what I could of done wrong?. Also how much liquid would I omit to be less creamy or more formed/dry. I want to try to make it again.
Hi Lisa, that definitely doesn’t sound right but I will try to troubleshoot. I suspect different rice may have been used than what is called for. Make sure you don’t use instant rice or parboiled rice which would turn mushy and gummy using the same cook times. Also, make sure to use raw/uncooked rice for this recipe.