This Spanish Chicken and Rice family dinner is such and easy and flavorful dinner to make. It’s a one pot dinner, cooks fast and it’s fairly economical!! This recipe is easily customizable for several ingredients and cooking method too!!
If you’re a busy mom juggling work, kids activities and a household like me, then easy dinners are a must!
This one pot chicken and rice dish has lots of veggies which clicks the health column, has protein, it’s filling and above all I get some leftovers out of it which simplifies a meal in the next day or two.
Here in Miami, Florida we have a conglomerate of many Latin American cuisines and they all have some dishes with Spanish inspiration. Often these dishes are called Spanish Rice, Spanish Rice and Beans, Spanish Shrimp and Rice and so on. Are they really Spanish in nature or just a gastronomical evolution of many years of colonization?
If you’re looking for something more authentic, I think this Saffron Rice will be closer to what you’re looking for.
What chicken cut is the best fit for this dish?
I love using chicken thighs for this dish. If you like using drumsticks check out this Old Fashioned Chicken and Rice baked dish so you can adapt it to this recipe.
Whichever type of chicken cut you decide to use, I highly recommend that you use a cut that has bone in. Since the chicken cooks with the rice, a cut with bone in will make for a more flavorful meal.
Ingredients
Let’s go over the ingredients I used to make this meal and some potential substitutions.
- Chicken Thighs – you can use drumsticks too
- Basmati Rice – That’s my preferred rice for this dish but any long grain rice would work.
- Olive Oil – you can use butter for a more indulging meal.
- Green Olives – I try to buy them already pitted and slice them myself.
- Yellow Onion – feel free to replace with a different onion type but not onion powder.
- Red Bell Pepper – dice it or you can buy diced bell pepper mix.
- Green Bell Pepper – dice it or you can buy diced bell pepper mix.
- Diced tomatoes – 1 can of about 14 ozs or blend 4-5 soft tomatoes
- Parsley – Wash, airdry and roughly chop fresh parsley.
- Garlic – 3 garlic cloves (add more if you like more flavor)
- Spices – salt, black pepper, oregano, cumin, turmeric, smoked paprika, crushed red peppers.
Sonila’s Tips and Notes
Make sure your Dutch Oven can fit the amount of food you’re preparing. Sometimes I would season 8 chicken thighs and brown them all on all sides, but only cook 4 of them with rice and bake the other 4 separately to serve on another dinner with salad or something else.
You can make this meal without chicken and add canned beans towards the end when rice is almost done cooking. Red beans or black beans both taste amazing with this rice!!
You can change this dish’s flavor profile by using variations of the spices. Adding cajun spices or cayenne pepper or different herbs like thyme, za’atar etc you can switch up the way the dish tastes but still pretty much following same recipe steps. Make use of your pantry staples and adjust this dish to your liking:).
Spanish Chicken and Rice in the Dutch Oven
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 chicken thighs
- 3 tbsps olive oil
- 2 cups basmati rice
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1 yellow onion
- 3 garlic cloves
- 0.5 cup sliced green olives
- 1 cup freshly chopped parsley
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 0.5 tsp crushed red pepper
- 1.5 tsp oregano
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 0.5 tsp cumin
- 0.5 tsp turmeric
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 14 ozs fire roasted tomatoes, diced
Instructions
- Mix the oregano, cumin, paprika, turmeric, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper into a spice mix. Season chicken thighs on all sides thoroughly.
- Add olive oil to Dutch Oven. Heat on medium heat. Add seasoned chicken thighs and brown them for 3-4 minutes on each side.
- Dice onion and bell peppers, mince the garlic. Remove chicken thighs from pot when completely browned. If oil is completely gone add an extra tablespoon at this point, no need to add more if oil is still in the surface of the Dutch Oven. Add the diced vegetables and saute using a wooden spoon.
- Add rice once veggies have been sauteed for few minutes and are soft. Give it a good mix to coat all the grains and mix them with the veggies.
- Pour in chicken stock and fire roasted tomatoes. Add sliced olives. Check for salt and pepper, adjust as needed.
- Add chicken thighs back in and nestle them carefully. Make sure you have enough room for rice to grow. As soon as everything starts to boil, lower temperature to low. As soon as there's no more liquid visible, lower to simmer and cover the pot for ten minutes. Turn heat off and let the dish rest, while you set up the table or make a salad. Before serving fluff up the rice a little:). Enjoy dinner!
Notes
- I used a 3 qt enameled Dutch Oven, it cooks lots of rice and about 4-5 chicken thighs at the same time. If you want to cook 8 chicken thighs simultaneously, then you might need the 5 qt size Dutch Oven.
- I did brown 8 chicken thighs anyway, but only let 4 of them cook with the rice and the other 4 chicken thighs I baked to store for a different meal the next day. You’ll have plenty of rice leftover.
- I love serving this dish with a fresh salad.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. Warm them up in a pan with a little bit of butter or olive oil or in the microwave. I usually drizzle 1 tbsp of water over the rice when I microwave it so it softens up.
Nutrition Label
Nutrition
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Additional Dinner Recipes
Here are some additional recipes for dinner from my blog that you might find interesting.
- Country Style Ribs
- Baked Lamb and Rice
- Unstuffed Peppers
- Baked Snapper
- Shrimp and Polenta
- Beef Milanesa
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