7 Ingredient Chicken and Rice Bake

Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 53 minutes
Servings 8 servings

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This easy Chicken and Rice Bake has just 7 ingredients and is so easy to customize! Get a healthy dinner on the table with minimal effort and maximum flavor.

I know sometimes, from Halloween on, it might be hard to dig ourselves out of our holiday brains to think about getting dinner on the table. When really all I want is to bake cookies and sip hot chocolate, I turn to easy, healthy dinner recipes like this Chicken and Rice Bake to keep us fed.

It has just 7 ingredients, and one of them is salt so that doesn’t even really count, right?

It has tons of flavor thanks to pre-mixed spice blends, which also makes this chicken rice bake ridiculously easy to customize. Simply add whatever blends your family loves and stick it in the oven!

chicken and rice bake overhead in white baking dish on grey marble background

The brains behind this beauty of a chicken rice casserole is my friend Julia of the web site Imagelicious — I first met her at a conference a couple years back and am so glad I did! Her recipes are practical and delicious, and her photography is beautiful.

Her cookbook, The Ultimate One-Pan Oven Cookbook, came out a couple months ago and I just got my copy in the mail! I had a hard time deciding on something to share with you, as we are all about easy, one pan meals here at TRR.

Ultimately, I let you decide! It was a toss up between the Ricotta Cheesecake Pancakes (oven baked so no flipping!) and this One-Pan Chicken and Rice with Peas, and you decided on dinner.

I’m not mad about it, because this is one easy Chicken and Rice bake that I want to keep in my back pocket!

chicken and rice bake in casserole dish close up of crispy chicken thigh skin and rice with peas

Tips for making this Chicken and Rice Bake:

  • There are times to improvise, and times to follow the recipe. Basmati rice and bone-in chicken thighs are called for in this recipe because the cook times line up well and keep the recipe as simple as possible.
  • Because we’re going to broil the chicken at the end of the bake time, we get to skip any searing before we bake. I’m all for this as it saves me having another pan to wash!
  • Be sure to spread the rice and peas out evenly in the pan for consistent cooking.
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Tools you’ll need for this recipe:

  • Use a deep, 9×13″ baking dish for this recipe, as it will be easier to maneuver if it’s not overfull.
  • Aside from a good quality baking dish, you really don’t need any other tools, which means Julia is brilliant and making our lives easier one one-pan recipe at a time 😉
chicken and rice bake plated on white plate on grey marble background

Variations of this easy Chicken and Rice Bake:

  • In the cookbook, Julia mentions she has made this with drumsticks, skinless thighs and chicken breasts as well, but prefers bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. So other forms of chicken may work, but the results may not be quite as good (especially since the rice requires a long bake time).
  • Julia also mentions that you can sub out the peas for other frozen vegetables. If you prefer, you can also leave out the vegetables and serve with a salad or additional vegetables on the side.
  • Feel free to get crazy with the seasoning — try Cajun, Italian, or other varieties and blends! Because the recipe is simple and straightforward, you can mix up the seasoning without worrying about conflicting flavors.
  • If you’re not a fan of mayo, try mixing the last 2 teaspoons of seasoning with some melted butter and brushing onto the chicken thighs before baking.

More chicken and rice dishes you’ll love:

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Chicken and Rice Bake

5 from 9 votes
This easy Chicken and Rice Bake has just 7 ingredients and is so easy to customize! Get a healthy dinner on the table with minimal effort and maximum flavor.
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 48 minutes
Total Time 53 minutes
Cuisine American
Course Main Course
Servings 8 servings
Calories 465cal

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups basmati rice 315 grams
  • 1 1/2 cups frozen peas 250 grams
  • 4 teaspoons seasoning mix 8 grams (I used Mrs. Dash no-salt)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 8 chicken thighs 2lbs, bone-in, skin on
  • 3 tablespoons mayonnaise 45 grams
  • 2 ½ cups chicken stock 590 ml, boiling

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Add the uncooked rice and frozen peas to a 9×13″ baking dish or roasting pan (3 quart capacity) with 2 teaspoons of the seasoning and the salt. Stir to combine.
  • Arrange chicken thighs over the rice, skin side up (trying to leave as much of the skin out of the liquid as possible).
  • In a small bowl, combine the remaining 2 teaspoons of seasoning with mayo and brush the mixture over the chicken thighs. Pour the boiling chicken stock into the pan around the chicken.
  • Optional: cover the dish to keep in the moisture if desired, but it is not necessary. If you do cover the dish, remove the covering for the last 10-15 minutes to allow the chicken to brown.
  • Bake for 45 minutes at 400 degrees F, or until rice is tender and chicken reaches 165 degrees F or more in the deepest part. 
  • Broil for 2-3 minutes to crisp up the chicken skin, but watch carefully so that it doesn’t burn. Serve. 

Notes

The Ultimate One-Pan Oven Cookbook, by Julia Konovalova © Page Street Publishing, 2018
*I’ve found this recipe makes 4 large servings, or 8 small servings, so it will likely feed between 4 and 8 people.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 465cal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 115mg | Sodium: 376mg | Potassium: 447mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 340IU | Vitamin C: 11.1mg | Calcium: 67mg | Iron: 2.5mg
Keywords chicken rice bake, chicken rice casserole

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Meet Ashley

My name is Ashley Fehr and I love creating easy meals my family loves. I also like to do things my way, which means improvising and breaking the rules when necessary. Here you will find creative twists on old favorites and some of my favorite family recipes, passed down from generations!

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Comments

  1. Rachel says

    Sooo, I have boneless skin-ON breasts and would like to use brown rice. Any recommendations on shifting cook times?
    I made the recipe as is a couple weeks ago and loved it. Just trying to use what I have in the house. Thanks!

  2. Vonnie says

    Some days you should just check your spelling. I meant bone-in skin-on chicken BREASTS. Also, what would the cooking time be for using the breasts? Thanks.

    • Ashley Fehr says

      Hi Vonnie! I haven’t personally tried but yes it’s possible! I would start with the original cook time, then check the temperature of the chicken and add time if needed. Let me know if you try it and how it goes!

    • Kathi says

      Hi – I made this recipe using Chicken breasts that were skin-on and were also bone-on with rib meat. I did nix on the peas – can not stand them! – and substituted frozen green beans instead . I love that this recipe uses Mrs. Dash – that is my go to seasoning because I can control the amount of salt I actually use in the recipe. There were only two real changes that I made:
      1. I used 2 1/2 cups Better than Bouillon Chicken Base which I heated up in my microwave to make sure that the chicken base was well incorporated with the water. I use this because there is no added MSG in it and I am highly allergic to added MSG – it can put me in the hospital.
      2. I added 1 Tablespoon of minced garlic.
      I baked it for 50 minutes and that is when my instant thermometer read the required 165 degrees F.
      Great recipe. Will definitely make it again.

  3. Julia says

    Thank you so much for your amazing words and review and such beautiful photos (better than the ones I have in the book, haha). I am glad you liked the recipe 🙂 Thank you!

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