21 Quick and Easy Chicken and Rice Recipes

Cheddar Chicken and Rice Casserole — The Spruce/Diana Chistruga

What could be more comforting for dinner or lunch in a pinch than a classic chicken and rice combo? And who deserves that simple pleasure more than you? When you've had a long day and need some down-home-feels in the form of food, we've got you covered with our quick and easy, chicken and rice recipes. From nostalgic dinner casseroles to quick-cooking soups, easy stir-fries, Instant Pot dishes, and copycat food truck meals, our recipes are designed for quick assembly with little to think about (because we already gave most of our brain power to the work day).

Many of these come together in a single cooking vessel using convenient pantry staples, so clean-up is a breeze. Whether you need ideas for quick weeknight suppers, freeze-ahead meals, or dishes you can assemble in the crockpot for hands-free cooking, you'll find it all here.

01 of 21

No-Peek Chicken

The Spruce / Nita West

Sunday dinner doesn't get much easier than no-peek chicken. This budget-conscious recipe uses easy ingredients, including a store-bought wild rice mix, canned condensed soups, and browned chicken pieces, to create a one-dish meal you will be proud to serve. The name comes from the fact that you don't have to check on the chicken even once, while it cooks to perfection in the oven.
02 of 21

Instant Pot Chicken Thighs and Rice

The Spruce Eats / Kristina Vanni & Eric Kleinberg

Budget-friendly chicken thighs shine in this hearty and delicious weeknight recipe. Our quick and easy chicken and rice meal is a cinch to cook up in the Instant Pot, and ready to eat in well under an hour. It's ideal for those busy nights when you are rushing to get a nutritious family supper on the table.
03 of 21

Arroz con Pollo

The Spruce Eats / Julia Estrada

Arroz con pollo (literally, rice with chicken in Spanish) is a classic Latin American dish. Our Mexican-style recipe cooks up in under an hour in a single skillet, with well-seasoned chunks of chicken, fresh green chilies, onion, garlic, tomatoes, and long-grain white rice, for a filling dish with lots of fantastic smoky and spicy flavor. All you need to do is stir and forget it until you have a beautiful aromatic spread.
04 of 21

Instant Pot Chicken Adobo and Rice

The Spruce Eats / Christine Ma

Filipino-style chicken adobo should be part of every chicken lover's dinner rotation. Our Instant Pot recipe for chicken cooked in a full-flavored adobo sauce is sweet, sour, and salty all at once, and a snap to pull together on busy weeknights. Serve it over hot, cooked white rice to soak up all that amazing sauce, garnished with optional sliced green onions.

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Chicken Fried Rice

The Spruce Eats / Zorica Lakonic

Once you experience how easy it is to make chicken fried rice at home, you will never want to order takeout again. You need just 20 minutes to cook it on the stove for a dinner that will make kids cheer. The recipe includes suggestions for veggies to include, but feel free to use any hanging out in your crisper or freezer.
06 of 21

Easy Chicken and Rice Casserole With Italian Dressing

The Spruce Eats / Kristina Vanni

Dinner doesn't get much easier, or more nostalgic, than this one-dish chicken and rice casserole with Italian dressing. Convenient store-bought ingredients, including Italian dressing mix and cream of chicken condensed soup, are clever shortcuts to great texture and flavor. Start it when you get home from work, and let it cook away in the oven. Before you know it, you'll be sitting down to a satisfying supper.
07 of 21

Instant Pot Chicken and Rice Soup

The Spruce Eats / Diana Rattray

The Instant Pot may be the best thing to happen to chicken soup in years. You'll save tons of time by using its pressure cooker to create an intensely flavorful, homemade chicken broth, which you can fill with chewy rice, cooked chicken breast meat, and healthy vegetables. Use dried thyme and rosemary, or any other pantry seasonings you like, to make it your own.
08 of 21

Thai Pineapple Chicken Fried Rice

The Spruce Eats / Ali Redmond

Sweet and savory Thai pineapple chicken fried rice is a wonderful special occasion or potluck meal that takes little time from start to finish. It brings together tender chicken, sweet pineapple chunks, crunchy nuts, and soft raisins, all flavored with a salty Thai-style sauce you can make with readily available, store-bought ingredients. You can even prep the rice and veggies in the morning and cook everything in no time at night.

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Cheddar Chicken and Rice Casserole

The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

Use store-bought rotisserie chicken and microwave rice packets to make this weeknight essential casserole even simpler to prepare. Kids will love digging their forks into the cheesy chicken bake, and busy parents will appreciate that it cooks up easily in one dish, making clean-up a breeze, too.
10 of 21

Chaufa Rice

The Spruce Eats / Nyssa Tanner

Chaufa is a tasty Chinese-Peruvian fried rice dish that may become your new favorite fried rice. You need fewer than 10 ingredients and just 20 minutes to cook it up on busy weeknights. Chop everything ahead of time, and stir-fry quickly in a pan for a filling, one-dish meal.
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Copycat Halal Cart Chicken and Rice

The Spruce Eats / Anita Schecter

Halal cart chicken and rice is a popular New York City street food that inspires long line-ups. Our clever copycat recipe lets you skip the wait, and recreate this favorite and filling food on your stove-top at home. Once the chicken meat is marinated, you need only about 30 minutes to put together an appetizing plate of crispy, seasoned chicken meat, fluffy turmeric rice, and the iconic, yogurt-based white sauce.
12 of 21

Instant Pot Orange Chicken Over Rice

The Spruce Eats / Diana Rattray

When you're short on time to get dinner on the table, but don't want to resort to take-out, our Instant Pot orange chicken is a great solution. We use the electric pressure cooker for a faithful recreation of the popular Chinese restaurant order, for an easy supper you can make in less than 30 minutes with boneless chicken breasts. Serve over hot steamed rice.

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Bukharan Chicken and Rice Plov

The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

Plov is a beloved dish of the Bukharan Jews of Central Asia. It is a delicious and fragrant rice pilaf loaded with succulent chicken morsels, tender rice grains, and plenty of aromatic flavors. You will find it served at weddings (and even funerals) in its native region, but it also makes a wonderful, humble stove-top dinner that will please even picky eaters in your household.
14 of 21

Instant Pot Chicken and Rice

The Spruce / Diana Rattray

The Instant Pot makes it easy to prepare a wholesome, family-friendly chicken and rice supper in less time than you would need to order and wait for a pizza. This quick-cooking recipe uses a blend of dried Italian herbs to add flavor to boneless, skinless chicken breasts and includes crunchy, colorful vegetables for extra flavor and nutrition.
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Chicken Risotto With Long-Grain Rice

The Spruce Eats / Victoria Heydt

You don't need to go out and buy special arborio rice for this sneaky chicken risotto that swaps in long-grain rice. Just stir the rice frequently as it cooks, which will break up the starches in the grains, producing the creamy texture you crave in a risotto. Serve it for an elegant main course at dinner, perhaps with a glass of dry white wine.
16 of 21

Chicken and Rice Stuffed Peppers

The Spruce Eats / Karen Hibbard

A creamy, curried chicken and rice mixture take every day stuffed peppers to new heights. They bake to perfection in only 30 minutes for a yummy, lower-calorie alternative to the classic beef and rice stuffed peppers. The recipe includes chopped jarred pimentos, but feel free to substitute slivered almonds if you like.

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Onigiri (Chicken Rice Balls)

The Spruce Eats / Molly Watson

Rolling up delicious onigiri is a fun cooking activity to do with kids. These cute little chicken and rice balls make a wholesome after-school snack, a yummy lunch, or a supremely easy dinner when you serve them with a side salad. Fix them in a snap, by boiling chicken leg meat in an easy, Asian-style marinade, before mixing it with cooked, short-grain rice, and pressing it into balls.
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Chicken Divan With Broccoli and Rice

The Spruce Eats

Most kids love the flavors of chicken, cheese, and broccoli together. They combine in this divinely delicious (and sneakily healthy) family casserole. It makes great use of leftover chicken and cooked rice and bakes in just 30 minutes, making it a no-brainer for busy weeknights.
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Slow Cooker Chicken and Rice Casserole

The Spruce Eats

You need only a few minutes to assemble this delicious chicken and rice casserole that finishes cooking in your crock pot. Just load up the appliance with ingredients in the morning, and come home to a complete family dinner in one dish. Condensed soups help to make it an easy, convenient, inexpensive, fuss-free meal.
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Keto Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole

The Spruce Eats

This puts a spin on classic chicken and rice, where the cauliflower takes the place of our usual starch here. To make it keto, we use cauliflower rice to satisfy without increasing your macro count. Speed things up with leftover chicken breast or rotisserie chicken. You can buy frozen cauliflower rice instead of cooking it yourself to make it even easier.

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Chicken Almondine: Skillet Chicken With Almonds

The Spruce Eats

If you're looking for a simple yet special recipe for chicken, this easy dish is an excellent choice. The boneless chicken breasts are cooked in a butter and wine sauce with a little rosemary and other seasonings and served with sautéed almonds. You can increase the liquid and cook the rice right in the pan with the chicken, then dinner is ready in 30 minutes or less.

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