This easy baked chicken and rice recipe makes for the best dinner! Quick and simple baked dish loaded with crispy and juicy chicken and fluffy rice.
If you love rice, check out my Chicken Fried Rice recipe!
BAKED CHICKEN AND RICE RECIPE
There’s nothing quite like the comfort of baked chicken and rice—it’s simple, hearty, and full of flavor all in one dish. Juicy, seasoned chicken bakes to perfection right on top of fluffy, tender rice, soaking up all those savory juices as it cooks. It’s a classic family favorite that’s easy to prepare, filling, and perfect for busy weeknights or cozy weekends at home.
WHAT YOU NEED-
- Chicken– For this chicken and rice dinner, you can use either bone-in chicken drumsticks or chicken thighs, or a mix of both. Boneless skinless chicken thighs will also work for this dish.
- Chicken Marinade– To marinate the chicken, this recipe calls for oil, salt, pepper, garlic, Italian, and paprika. But you can also use your go-to seasonings for marinating chicken.
- Rice– The best rice for oven baked chicken rice is long-grain white rice, like Basmati, jasmine rice, plain, or short grain. You can also use brown rice, it will just need more water, and it cooks longer. I like using Uncle Bens rice.
- Onions– The added chopped onions in this oven baked dish gives so many rich flavors! You can either sauté the onions before or just bake with the rice. You can also leave out the onions in this baking dish.
- Garlic– You can never go with garlic; you can use freshly minced garlic or jarred minced garlic for this dish.
- Chicken Broth– Use either beef, chicken or vegetable broth for this oven baked chicken rice dinner! You can also swap chicken broth for water and some chicken bouillon.
- Flavors– To season the rice, I just use a mix of my favorites: salt, pepper, garlic, Italian and paprika.
- Herbs– Adding freshly chopped herbs add so many flavors! You can use either freshly chopped cilantro, parsley, green onions or a little mix of all of them. Fresh herbs are totally optional in this oven baked dish.
HOW TO MAKE OVEN BAKED CHICKEN AND RICE
With just a few minutes of prep work, have this easy dinner idea baking!
- Preheat the oven.
- In a bowl, toss the chicken in the marinade until all the chicken is combined.
- Add all the ingredients for the rice to a casserole dish and mix to combine. Top with the marinated chicken, adding into the water, placing throughout the casserole dish.
- Cover the dish with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Uncover the dish and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes, until the rice is fluffy and chicken is cooked through.
- Top with freshly chopped herbs and mix the rice. (Remove the chicken for easier mixing, then add it back.)
- Serve immediately with desired sides.
SERVING IDEAS
Pair this delicious and easy chicken and rice recipe with the right sides for the ultimate dinner!
CHICKEN & RICE DISH VARIATIONS
Elevate this dish and make it heartier! Here are some other ingredients you can add to this oven baked rice recipe:
- Broccoli Florets
- Sauteed Peppers
- Corn
- Shredded Cheese
- Sauteed Mushrooms
- Carrots
- Zucchini
QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT HAVE:
Although it is not necessary to rinse the rice, it removes excess starch and washes away any dust or dirt.
I do not recommend using risotto, since the baking time and water measurements are way different!
The internal temperature of cooked chicken will read 165F.
Yes, just swap the chicken but keep an eye out on the chicken, it might be done way sooner than the rice!
Yes, you can totally take out the chicken and have a light and fluffy baked rice. This is the perfect side dish.
You can marinate the chicken up to 2-3 days ahead of time and store it in the fridge until ready to bake the rice.
Once the chicken and rice are fully cooled, cover or transfer to a container and store in the fridge for 3-4 days. Tip- Remove the meat from the bone and mix with the rice.
Reheat the chicken and rice in the microwave, oven or on the stove top.
OTHER DELICIOUS DINNER IDEAS-
Easy Baked Chicken and Rice Recipe
Ingredients
Chicken-
- 2 lb bone- in chicken drumsticks or thighs about 5-6 drumsticks
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- ½ tsp ground paprika
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp Italian seasoning
Rice-
- ½ cup onion finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 1/2 cups basmati rice
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp Italian season
- ½ tsp Paprika
- Cilantro
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Add drumsticks, olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, and Italian seasonings to a large bowl and mix to coat the chicken in seasonings.
- In a 9×13 casserole dish, add the finely chopped onions, minced garlic, rice, chicken broth, salt, pepper, garlic, Italian seasonings and paprika and mix to combine.
- Add the marinated chicken into the casserole dish, in the water on top of the rice.
- Cover the dish with foil and bake at 350°F for 35 minutes.
- After 35 minutes, remove the foil and finish baking for 15-20 additional minutes, until the rice and fluffy chicken is cooked through.
- Add finely chopped greens to the rice and toss to combine. (You can remove the chicken to mix to make it easier.)
- Serve immediately with desired sides.
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