This one-pot chicken and rice is the kind of meal you want on a bad day, a cold day, or a Tuesday. Chicken legs and fluffy, schmaltzy rice cook together in a Dutch oven—and the result feels like a warm hug.
No need to preheat the oven; this simple one-pot meal comes together entirely on the stovetop. We use chicken legs here, but any bone-in cut (like chicken thighs) will work. Just avoid boneless cuts like skinless, boneless chicken breasts, which won’t produce enough schmaltz to coat the rice.
First you’ll sear the chicken until golden brown, then sauté the aromatics and toast the rice in the pan drippings. Add the vinegar and chicken broth, then return the seared chicken to the pot (skin side up) and let it simmer. The chicken legs will cook through gently as the rice steams, imbuing the grains with tons of flavor. Finish this one-pot meal with a few spoonfuls of bright, herbaceous green olive gremolata; keep the rest on the side for everyone to garnish their plates to their liking.
This one-pot chicken and rice recipe delivers simple, satisfying comfort food any night of the week. Stash any leftovers in the fridge and reheat for a quick weeknight dinner the whole family will love.
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What you’ll need
Dutch Oven
$133 $80 At Amazon
Tongs
$21 At Amazon
Microplane
$18 At Amazon
Fine Mesh Strainer With Arms
$17 At Amazon
Recipe information
Total Time
1 hour 10 minutes
Yield
4 servings
Ingredients
4
2¼
2
1
4
1
1
1½
6
1¾
1½
⅓
Preparation
Step 1
Season 4 chicken legs (thigh and drumstick; about 2½ lb. total), patted dry, generously all over with kosher salt. Heat 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil in a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot over medium-high. Cook 2 chicken legs, skin side down, until golden brown and crisp underneath, about 5 minutes. Turn over and cook until golden brown on the other side, 2–3 minutes. Transfer chicken to a large plate. Repeat with remaining 2 legs, adjusting heat as needed to keep chicken from scorching (pot will be much hotter at this point and second batch will brown faster).
Step 2
Remove pot from heat and pour off all but ¼ cup fat; discard. Add 1 large onion, finely chopped, and 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced, to pot and return to medium-high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 4 minutes. Sprinkle in 1 Tbsp. plus 1½ tsp. smoked paprika and 1 Tbsp. ground cumin and cook, stirring often, until spices are evenly distributed and fragrant, about 1 minute. Add 1½ cups basmati or other long-grain rice, rinsed until water runs almost clear, and 2¼ tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1½ tsp. Morton kosher salt; cook, stirring often, until rice is toasted, about 1 minute. Add 3 Tbsp. sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar; cook, stirring and scraping up browned bits stuck to bottom of pot often, until liquid is absorbed, about 30 seconds.
Step 3
Stir in 1¾ cups low-sodium chicken broth, increase heat to high, and bring to a boil. Nestle chicken legs, skin side up, into rice. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook until chicken is tender and rice is cooked through, 22–27 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit 10 minutes (resist peeking here). Uncover and fluff rice with a fork.
Step 4
Meanwhile, toss 1½ cups green olives, pitted, coarsely chopped, ⅓ cup finely chopped parsley, 1 garlic clove, finely grated, remaining ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, and remaining 3 Tbsp. sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar in a small bowl to combine; season olive gremolata with salt.
Step 5
Spoon some olive gremolata over chicken in pot, then serve chicken with remaining olive gremolata alongside.
How would you rate One-Pot Chicken and Rice With Olive Gremolata?
Leave a Review
Reviews (8)
Back to TopGreat flavor, especially with the zing from the olive gremolata. This dish really did feel like a hug. In my experience, it took much more time (and chicken broth) to fully cook the rice.
Anonymous
Madison, WI
1/10/2024
Very good recipe! Warm and nicely flavored one pot meal. I used boneless and skinless thighs. Steamed greens on top of rice and chicken. Rewarmed well with added broth.
LG
Seattle, WA
1/13/2024
This dish is delicious. We used bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. The rice did take a bit longer to cook, perhaps about 10 additional minutes.
ASW
Kansas City
1/13/2024
Superb!!!!! You have to try this. The flavors are soo well balanced and perfectly indulgent, fresh, and filling. This will be added to my recipe rotation. I will say the water to rice ratio didn’t work as well with brown rice. It needed a lot more water and took longer to cook through
Anjali
Brooklyn, NY
1/20/2024
Very nice dish with great flavors but agree with others that the rice-to-liquid ratio is off. Basmati (and really any white rice) is usually 1 part rice to 2 parts water. With the ratio in the recipe, the rice came out toothy and not quite cooked. Should have stuck with a typical rice cooking ratio.
RS
Baltimore, MD
1/25/2024
Flavors were good, but rice definitely came out crunchy as cooked in the recipe. We didn’t peek! You all might consider adjusting this recipe on the website.
John wilson
Richmond, va
1/25/2024
Very tasty. Used brown rice and it did come out al dente but certainly edible. Good flavors. Can even make with pre-roasted chicken parts and have juicy favorable chicken. Great with the olive gremolata.
metalman
Chicago, IL
1/26/2024