Chicken thigh Rice Bake

perfect use of older vegetables! get creative and make a delicious family meal

Tips

Types of Rice

You can use a variety of rice in this recipe, however, I would recommend long grain white rice or quick cooking brown rice. Brown rice does take longer to cook, you’d need to increase liquid by 1/2 cup and cook time between 10 and 20 minutes

Cookware

No dutch oven? No problem! I use a dutch oven to make this dish because it can hold a lot. If you don’t have a dutch oven you can use a skillet and a brownie/ casserole dish. Sear the chicken in a skillet, and pour rice mixture into a casserole dish, cover with foil and cook.  

get creative!

The beauty of this recipe is you can use any vegetables you’d like, just be sure to cut large vegetables into smaller uniform pieces. Some of the things I like to add: sun dried tomatoes, brussel sprouts, peas, broccoli, and asparagus. Don’t forget the cheese! Remove chicken from rice, and add parmesan, or preferred cheese to rice. Mix in before serving.

Chicken and Rice Bake

Prep time: 15 minutes | Cook time: 50mins | Serving Size: 4+ people

Gather

• 4 bone-in skin on chicken thighs (feel free to add more chicken thighs, beware of additional cooktime)
•  Paprika, to taste; I recommended 1 tablespoon
• Garlic, powder to taste; I recommended 1 tablespoon
• ½ teaspoon of neutral oil 
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 6 cloves of garlic, minced
•  1 medium onion, chopped
•  1 cup Mushrooms, chopped to similar sizes 
• 2  cup frozen Peas
•  1.5 cups uncooked brown rice  ( i used a quick cooking brown rice, different rice will have different cook times, see tips)
• 1 tablespoon  Italian seasoning
• 1 tablespoon thyme 
• 2 cups Chicken broth or water
• Salt and pepper

Steps

1. Preheat Oven to 375 deg. Heat dutch oven (see tips if you do not have a dutch oven) on medium-med-high with  ½ tsp of neutral oil. Pat chicken dry, season generously with salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder. Place skin-side down into the pan. Cook until golden brown, about 5 mins on each side.  Work in batches if necessary. Set Aside when done. Turn down to medium. add mushrooms, peas  and onions saute until fragrant. 3 minutes
2. Add garlic, uncooked rice and butter; cook for another 2mins. Add broth, thyme, italian seasoning, salt and pepper to rice and stir.  Place chicken on top, if using dutch oven with lid, cover. Otherwise cover with foil. Place in oven Cook for 30 mins . Uncover, turn the oven up to 400deg and cook for an additional 20 mins. 
3. When ready to  serve, scoop up chicken and rice in one hearty mound