This One Pot Spanish Chicken and Rice is packed with great flavors and vibrant colors! Easy to make and all in one pot, from the stove top to the oven, dinner is ready with no fuss!
Let’s talk chicken and rice. While this dish may take a little longer to cook it’s really easy and quick to put together, most of the time spent making the dish is just waiting for it to finish in the oven! This Spanish version is really my take on it, and by no means is this an authentic Spanish rice dish.
I used some common Spanish spices and allowed the wonderful culinary world that is that side of the Atlantic inspire this rice bake. Studded with olives, sweetened with smoked paprika, and fragrant thanks to lots of fresh garlic, this is a sumptuous weeknight dinner that’s all made in one pot, does it get any better?
Ingredients
Keep scrolling down to the recipe card for a list of FULL ingredient amounts and instructions or click the “Jump to Recipe” button at the top of the page!
- Chicken – I used bone in skin on thighs, but feel free to use breast if you’d like.
- Olive oil – We want a nice rich oil to brown and saute our ingredients in.
- Veggies – Bell pepper and onion, be sure to choose an onion that cooks down well like white or yellow.
- Spices – Smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, and bay leaf. Be sure to remove the bay leaf before eating the dish.
- Garlic – Use as much or little as you like.
- Tomato paste – This ingredient is super important for achieving our color and depth of flavor.
- Rice – I used long grain rice uncooked which is what I recommend for this dish to achieve the proper consistency and texture.
- Tomatoes – 1 large can of crushed tomatoes to give our rice some liquid to cook in.
- Broth – Chicken broth low or no sodium so as to control the sodium content of our dish.
- Olives – Green olives pitted. Olives offer some great brightness and acidity to this dish, feel free to leave them out if you’re not a fan.
- Parsley – No Jo Cooks recipe would be complete without this ingredient chopped up fresh and sprinkled liberally on top.
How To Make One Pot Spanish Chicken And Rice
- Preheat the oven: To 400 F degrees.
- Brown the chicken: In a large Dutch oven or oven proof cast iron skillet/pan heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the chicken thighs, skin side down and cook until crispy and golden brown and season generously with salt and pepper. Turn the thighs over and sear until golden. Transfer the thighs onto a plate and set aside.
- Saute the sauteables: To the same skillet add the onion, garlic and bell peppers. Cook for about 3 to 5 minutes until the onion and peppers are soft. Add the red pepper flakes, smoked paprika, bay leaf, tomato paste and stir.
- Cook the dish: Season with salt and pepper as needed. Stir in the rice, crushed tomatoes and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Transfer the chicken back to the skillet on top of the rice then place the skillet in the oven and bake for about 45 minutes or until the rice is cooked through.
- Optional: You could cover the skillet for the first 30 minutes and then remove the lid for the last 15 minutes.
- Finish the dish: Garnish with green olives and parsley and serve warm.
How to Serve
This dish is more than delicious and satisfying on its own but if you’d like to turn it into a full spread, I recommend pairing a nice salad like the ones below:
- Creamy Cucumber Salad
- Mediterranean Couscous Salad
- Kale And Quinoa Salad With Lemon Vinaigrette
- Tabbouleh Salad
- Kale Salad With Blueberry Vinaigrette
Some Tips
- If you have wings, drumsticks, breasts, whatever feel free to use them in this dish! Any part of the chicken works because this rice bake is super versatile.
- If red pepper flakes are too hot for you feel free to substitute in some cayenne pepper.
- For even more depth of flavor you can toast your rice in some olive oil before incorporating.
- You can use brown rice instead, just cook for an additional 15 – 20 minutes if you do.
Leftovers
Be sure to store this dish as soon as it’s cooled as rice is a breeding ground for bacteria. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 – 4 days. If freezing store this dish in a freezer bag with the air pressed out. Thaw overnight in the fridge and fluff the rice before reheating. This dish will last up to 3 months in the freezer.
More Delicious Chicken and Rice Recipes To Try:
- Lemon and Chicken Rice Bake
- No Peek Chicken Rice Casserole
- One Pot Cheesy Chicken Rice Casserole
- Chicken Rice Pilaf
- 3 Ingredients Mexican Rice
- Chicken Enchilada Rice Casserole
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One Pot Spanish Chicken and Rice
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 6 chicken thighs with bone and skin
- 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/4 tsp pepper or to taste
- 1 large onion chopped
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 2 red bell peppers chopped
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 1/2 cups long grain rice uncooked
- 28 oz crushed tomatoes
- 2 cups chicken broth low sodium
- 1/2 cup green olives pitted and sliced
- 1 tbsp parsley chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 F degrees.
- In a large Dutch oven or oven proof cast iron skillet/pan heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the chicken thighs, skin side down and cook until crispy and golden brown. Season generously with salt and pepper. Turn the thighs over and sear until golden. Transfer the thighs onto a plate and set aside.
- To the same skillet add the onion, garlic and bell peppers. Cook for about 3 to 5 minutes until the onion and peppers are soft.
- Add the red pepper flakes, smoked paprika, bay leaf, tomato paste and stir. Season with salt and pepper as needed. Stir in the rice, crushed tomatoes and chicken broth. Bring to a boil.
- Transfer the chicken back to the skillet on top of the rice. Place the skillet in the oven and bake for about 45 minutes or until the rice is cooked through. You could cover the skillet for the first 30 minutes and then remove the lid for the last 15 minutes.
- Garnish with green olives and parsley and serve warm.
Video
Recipe Notes
- If you use brown rice, cook for an additional 15-20 minutes, or until the rice is tender.
- You can use any type of chicken you prefer. If you’re using chicken breasts, cook for an additional 10 minutes in the oven.
- Be sure to store this dish as soon as it’s cooled as rice is a breeding ground for bacteria. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 – 4 days. If freezing store this dish in a freezer bag with the air pressed out. Thaw overnight in the fridge and fluff the rice before reheating. This dish will last up to 3 months in the freezer.
This is one of the best meals I have cooked. The rice was delicious! Browning the chicken made it so much better than having not browned it.
Awesome to hear!
What a great find! So good and so easy. My fave combo! Thanks!
I made this last night and it is the best spanish rice I ever had!! I added 2 jalapenos and green pepper…. divine!*
Loved this dish. The green olives really set it off.
I REALLY want to try this recipe…can it be prepared in a slow cooker (arthritis in my hands keeps me from moving heavy pots in and out of the oven?) If so…on Lo or on Hi? For how long?
Yes you can! I would still follow steps 2 and 3 in a skillet. Then add all the ingredients to your slow cooker and cook on high for 2.5-3.5 hours. Check on it after 2 hours to see how the rice is absorbing the liquid.
If I was to use boneless skinless chicken breast would I need to decrease cook time? If so how long would I need to cook for? Also would you still crisp the chicken breast in skillet? Thanks
Yes definitely, 45 minutes is plenty for chicken breast! I would still sear on nice and high heat. That will help your chicken come out crispy after it cooks with all that liquid.
First time using my Dutch oven with this recipe. It turned out beautifully! Of course I made some adjustments since I didn’t have all the ingredients- I used a can of Rotel and a can of diced tomatoessince I didn’t have any crushed tomatoes and I think it turned out well. I added some mozzarella cheese to the plated dish since I like cheese. The instructions were easy to follow and I modified the cook time slightly due to the fact I was using long grain wild rice. This is a keeper recipe!
Has anyone tried substituting brown rice in this recipe? Do I need to adjust the cooking time?
You can and yes brown rice cooks slower so you’ll need to adjust the cooking time.
Hi, can drumsticks be used?
Yes, of course!
Thanks Jo for a straight-forward, one pot recipe. Made this tonight and it was great.
Can this be made without thd tomatoe paste? Have everything on hand except that!
I suppose you don’t need it, as long as you have the crushed tomatoes. It just gives it a richer flavor.
I made this last night. It was a huge hit! Subbing in existing pantry/freezer ingredients : (boneless skinless thighs, Kalamata olives, and smoked Basmati rice, it was still excellent. This will be on the “definitely do again” list.
Thanks Jo!
So glad you tried the recipe and enjoyed it.
This looks so delicious! I’ve been wanting to do a Spanish chicken dish with olives forever, but everyone in my house hates olives (except for me). =(
Hi Jo. What do you think would be the cooking time if I substituted in breasts in stead of thighs?
I would cook it an extra 15 minutes or so but should work fine with substituting breasts.
Hi Jo,
I have some boneless chicken in my freezer. Can I switch it out for the bone in? This looks so good. I hope that will work.
Sure you can do that.