If you know anything about me, you know that I am a sucker for quick and easy weeknight meals. As a full-time working woman, these type of meals are a life-saver. But luckily, quick and easy does not have to mean bland and boring. One pot Spanish chicken and rice is packed with flavour, real ingredients and is full of vibrant colours that will make your heart sing.
Spanish chicken and rice is quick because it only takes about 30 minutes to cook. It's easy because everything cooks in one single pot or skillet. That's right... this is a no fuss, no clean up dinner. From cutting board to pot to plate.
Ingredients in Spanish Chicken and Rice
To make the perfect weeknight meal, you will need to gather the following ingredients:
- olive oil
- chicken thighs - boneless and skinless, cut into 1-2 inch pieces
- rice - long grain white rice
- vegetables - onion, garlic, red bell pepper
- tomato sauce
- chicken stock
- seasoning - paprika, saffron, salt and pepper
- green olives - stuffed with pimento
- cilantro
- lemon wedges - optional for serving
How to Make One Pot Spanish Chicken and Rice
Essentially, you cook your ingredients, one by one, in a skillet. Then, once all your ingredients have been added and tossed together in the skillet, you simply cover and let it cook on its own for 25 minutes. You don't have to monitor a thing. You don't even have to use this time to prepare side dishes because this dish, my friend, is an all-round wholesome and balanced meal. It's got your protein, it's got your grains, its got your veggies.
Let me break down the easy steps for you.
- Start cooking the chicken. Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet. Add chicken and season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 5-6 minutes until chicken begins to slightly brown.
- Add vegetables. Add onion, red pepper and garlic and cook for a few minutes until start to soften.
- Add rice. Stir in rice and cook for a couple minutes.
- Add seasoning. Mix in the paprika and cook for one minute. Add chicken stock and tomato sauce and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat, add the saffron, cover and cook for 25 minutes until rice is fully cooked.
- Serve. Add salt and pepper to taste. Toss in olives and cilantro, and serve with a lemon wedge.
So basically while you wait for your chicken and rice to cook, the only thing that will be happening in your home is you sitting down, kicking your feet up while your mouth starts salivating from the amazing aromas that will be filling up your kitchen. Trust me on this one. So good.
Spanish Rice with Chorizo
You can also change things up and add some chorizo sausage to this dish. To do so, add 4 ounces of skinned and sliced chorizo to the pan once the chicken has been cooking for 2-3 minutes. Then cook the two together for another 2-3 minutes and follow the rest of the steps as set out in the recipe.
More Rice Recipes
- One Pot Rice Pilaf with Carrots
- 10-Minute Vegetarian Fried Rice
- Easy Coconut Rice
- 10-Minute Seafood Fried Rice
- Teriyaki Grilled Salmon Rice Bowl
Did you make this recipe? I would greatly appreciate a comment and rating below, letting me know what you thought of the recipe. You can also snap a picture and tag me on Instagram @aheadofthyme or share it on the Pinterest pin so that I can follow along.
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One Pot Spanish Chicken and Rice
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 servings
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Packed with flavour, real ingredients and vibrant colours, one pot Spanish chicken and rice is the perfect no fuss, no clean up weeknight meal.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 5 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (or 1 lb.), cut into 1-2 inch pieces
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ medium onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
- 1 cup long grain white rice, rinsed
- ½ tablespoon paprika
- 1 + ½ cups chicken stock
- 1 cup tomato sauce (canned or homemade)
- pinch of saffron
- salt and pepper to taste
- ½ cup small stuffed green olives with pimento
- ½ cup fresh chopped cilantro
- lemon wedges, to serve (optional)
Instructions
- Heat oil over medium heat in a large non-stick skillet or pot. Add chicken and season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 5-6 minutes until chicken begins to slightly brown.
- Add onion, red pepper and garlic and cook for a few minutes until they slightly soften.
- Add the rice and stir to combine. Cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Mix in the paprika and continue to cook for another minute.
- Add chicken stock and tomato sauce and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to low and add the saffron. Cover the skillet and cook for 25 minutes until the rice is fully cooked.
- Add salt and pepper to taste, olives and cilantro. Toss and serve with a lemon wedge.
Notes
How to add chorizo. You can also change things up and add some chorizo sausage to this dish. To do so, add 4 ounces of skinned and sliced chorizo to the pan once the chicken has been cooking for 2-3 minutes. Then cook the two together for another 2-3 minutes and follow the rest of the steps as set out in the recipe.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Spanish
Mary Schleckser says
Can I use a combination of chicken and boneless pork? Can I use a Dutch oven?
Helen K says
Thanks for this excellent recipe, Sam. It sure was easy and it is just a one pot recipe. And it was delicious. I used a cast iron skillet. I had to smile reading some of the comments. Likely it's mostly foodies who try new online recipes and make comments. And more than likely, it's foodies who simply can't resist tweaking recipes a bit!
And me, too! 🙂 I always do it, even with my mother's old recipes – except with her baking recipes. Those old-time Slovak pastry and cake recipes are sacrosanct!
I pretty much followed your recipe, and I only made a couple of small changes. Though the next time I think I'll replace 1/2 of the passata with dry white wine.
For my retired husband and me, I used 2 boneless thighs (left whole), and then, I roughly halved everything else. For those half amounts, I used 1/3 cup cooking onion, 1/2 medium sized Bell pepper, 1 tsp pressed garlic, 1/2 cup basmati white rice, 3/4 cup homemade chicken broth + 1/2 cup Italian Favuzzi passata (this amount of liquid was perfect for my 1/2 cup rice), 1 tsp Hungarian paprika, and 8 stuffed green olives. I used the saffron, and the other items, too. And I used 3 TBSP chopped Italian parsley instead of cilantro. When I added the parsley, I stirred in a pat of cold butter. I forgot the lemon wedges - next time. And there will be a next time.
BTW - I think the chorizo is a neat idea. For the 2 of us, I think I’d then use just one thigh and a chunk of not-too-hot a chorizo sausage.
I'm usually careful not to overcook chicken, but my meat was a bit dry. My fault. It was nice chicken - Mennonite-raised and bought at a farmers' market. The next time, I'll try this with bone-in chicken thighs - probably cooking them a bit in the liquids before adding the rice.
Breanna says
I cheated! I used 1 tbsp of achiotina by Goya to brown WHOLE (not cut up) boneless skinless chicken thighs and then removed them to the side. Then I added rice and put a few scoops of sofrito instead of doing the garlic, peppers and onions separately (I CANNOT STAND RAW ONIONS). I cooked it for a minute and then added the paprika and mixed it really good for a half a minute. Then i poured in only 1 cup of chicken broth and 1 cup of tomato sauce because the extra chicken broth was making the rice soggy (rule is 2 cups of liquid to 1 cup of rice and tomato sauce to me is a liquid). I put the pieces of chicken back in, covered and simmered for 15-20 minutes (this is based upon how you like your rice to be). You don't need saffron when made like this. I added all the garnishes and it was delightful. I leave the salt and pepper up to the individual.