Garlic chicken and rice bake - a one-pan meal

Succulent bone-in chicken pieces with a crispy, paprika-flavoured skin, served on a bed of buttery, garlic-flavoured rice, combine to form this garlic chicken and rice bake. This is the ideal no-fuss supper the whole family will love. It cooks in half an hour, and because it's made in only one dish, there's less washing up!!!!

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**This recipe has been updated for general housekeeping and to update some of the older photos. I've also added capsicum (bell pepper) and mushrooms to the onions for extra flavour.**

This dish was actually inspired by my oven-baked rice. Rice cooks perfectly in the oven and turns out fluffy and light, with every grain perfectly separated. I thought I'd try adding chicken and vegetables to turn it into a one-pan meal, and this is the result! I hope you enjoy it.

Why I think you'll love this garlic chicken ovenbake

• Complete one pan meal. This meal is all cooked in one pan, so there's very little clean-up afterwards. I like to add a green vegetable (cooked separately), but there's no reason why you couldn't add a few green beans to the pan and save even more time.
• Perfectly cooked rice. Get the ratios right (2 cups of stock to one cup of rice), make sure your dish is tightly covered, and your rice will bake to perfection.
• Crispy-skinned chicken. A few minutes under the grill or in a hot oven is all it takes to crisp up the skin on the cooked chicken.
• Mostly hands-off cooking. Once you've softened the vegetables and added the rice, stock and chicken pieces, the dish goes into the oven. Other than removing the lid at the end and letting the skin brown and crisp, there's nothing else to do!

What are the secrets to this amazing garlic chicken bake?

Of course, you could just mix all the ingredients in the roasting pan and put the garlic chicken casserole straight into the oven. It will still taste good, but there are two things I do that make all the difference to the taste and elevate it from just nice to simply amazing.

• The first secret to this dish is in the butter. Onions, bell peppers and mushrooms are fried in butter until they are golden. Then the rice is stirred in to coat it with the onion-flavoured butter before the rest of the ingredients are added. Believe me, this makes all the difference and gives the rice its lovely buttery taste.
• The second secret is the spice rub. The chicken pieces should be liberally coated with a mixture of spices. This not only flavours the chicken and gives it a lovely crispy flavoured skin, but it also soaks into the rice for extra taste. You end up with the tastiest chicken and garlic rice bake ever!

So without further ado, let's get on with the recipe for my garlic chicken oven-bake.

What you will need

Equipment

I normally use my cast-iron Dutch oven to make this garlic chicken oven-bake because it has a tight-fitting lid, and I can also use it for frying the onions on the stovetop. If you don't have a Dutch oven, you could use a metal baking dish and cover it with a sheet of tinfoil instead. Failing that, use a frying pan for softening the vegetables and transfer everything to a ceramic baking dish (that has a lid).

I got my cast-iron Dutch oven from Aldi, so I can't supply a link. However, depending on the size you need/want, I've included a link to Amazon so you can choose a Dutch oven in the size that fits your family.

Ingredients for garlic chicken and rice casserole

**This is just an overview to explain why I used a particular ingredient. You can find the exact ingredient measurements on the printable recipe card at the end of this post.**

This recipe will feed a family of 4, and you can easily adapt it to feed more by just increasing the amount of rice and chicken. You will probably need 2 large pieces of chicken per adult and 1 piece per child. Just add more or less meat (and veg) according to your needs.

• Bone-in chicken pieces, with excess skin and visible fat trimmed. I would be inclined to use thighs and drumsticks. Wings might be a bit small, and if you want to use breast, I'd recommend using skin-on fillets.
• Onions, capsicums and mushrooms. The onions should be peeled, the capsicums deseeded, and the mushrooms wiped with a damp cloth to remove any bits of dirt. Then all the veg should be chopped or sliced into approximately 1-inch pieces.
• Garlic. This should be peeled and either finely sliced or minced. It will be softened with the onions.
• Butter (not pictured). This is used for softening the vegetables. You could substitute with vegetable oil, but butter definitely gives a nicer flavour to the finished dish.
• Rice. This is white basmati rice, but you could use any long-grained rice. Just don't use the quick-cook rice because it will go stodgy due to the time this dish takes to cook. You want rice that will cook at the same time as the chicken takes to cook. One cup of dried rice is enough for 4 people. If you increase the quantity of rice you should also increase the stock accordingly. You need 2 cups of stock for every cup of rice. If you use salt in your diet, you can also add half a teaspoon of salt when adding the rice.
• Dried onion flakes, chilli flakes, salt, and paprika. These will be rubbed into the skin of the chicken before it is added to the casserole. Go easy on the salt, especially if you have added salt with the rice - you don't want the dish to be overly salty.
• Frozen peas will be stirred through the rice once it is cooked.

What to do

Tips for a perfect outcome

Here are my top tips to ensure your garlic chicken and rice bake always turns out perfectly:

• Be sure to get the ratio of rice and stock correct, or the rice will not cook properly in the oven. You need 2 cups of stock for every cup of rice. It doesn't matter what size cup you use, but use the same cup to measure both the rice and the stock. I use a 240ml US standard measuring cup.
• Be careful when adding salt. If you use a chicken stock cube to make the stock, you may find that you won't need any additional salt.
• The chicken should be placed SKIN SIDE UP onto the rice and onion mixture.
• Cover the dish tightly with either a lid or a sheet of tin foil to keep all the moisture in the dish. If the lid doesn't fit tightly, you run the risk of the liquid evaporating and the rice won't cook properly.
• If the rice hasn't absorbed all the liquid at the end of the 30-minute cooking time, replace the dish in the oven and cook for a few minutes longer.
• Keep your eye on the chicken while crisping the skin so that the skin doesn't burn.

Serve this garlic chicken oven-bake with steamed green vegetables, or a fresh green salad.

Variations

You can also vary the vegetables.

• Swap the onions for leeks. Chicken and leeks go so well together. If you enjoy leeks, you may enjoy this chicken and leek pie.
• Instead of peas, why not add broccoli florets to the stock or some chopped green beans? You can add any vegetable, as long as you are sure it will cook in 30 minutes, which is the time the dish will be in the oven.
• For a touch of sweetness, add some cubed butternut or sweet potato along with the rice and stock. Keep the cubes small - about half an inch - so they cook through when the dish is in the oven.

Can I freeze this chicken ovenbake?

Rice freezes really well. Pack any leftover rice into rigid freezer containers or Ziploc bags and freeze for up to four months.

Store any leftover chicken in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Save for later

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Related recipes

If you enjoyed this recipe, you may like to take a look at some of my other chicken recipes:

📋The recipe

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