27 Simple, Comforting Chicken and Rice Recipes (2024)

Chicken and rice is a classic, fail-safe combination that can be enjoyed in so many different ways. From Hainan chicken with rice to creamy soups to specialties from Cambodia, Indonesia, and Thailand, here are great chicken and rice recipes for simple weeknight dinners.

01of 27

One-Pot Lemongrass Chicken with Rice

27 Simple, Comforting Chicken and Rice Recipes (1)

Cooking a whole chicken and rice in one pot with with garlic, lemongrass, chiles, and coconut gives you a stunning dinner any night of the week. Start this Dutch oven recipe a day ahead to allow for a 12-hour chill time.

Get the Recipe

02of 27

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

27 Simple, Comforting Chicken and Rice Recipes (2)

Amanda Johnson uses leftover chicken or turkey and wild rice harvested nearby to make this lovely, creamy soup that's ready in just over an hour.

Get the Recipe

03of 27

One-Pot Coconut-Braised Chicken and Rice with Collard Greens

27 Simple, Comforting Chicken and Rice Recipes (3)

This cast-iron skillet recipe features chicken on a bed of tender rice and greens seasoned with ginger, garlic, and chiles and topped with chiles and coconut flakes.

Get the Recipe

04of 27

Skillet Chicken and Chorizo Paella

27 Simple, Comforting Chicken and Rice Recipes (4)

This paella recipe with chicken and chorizo is a satisfying array of colors, textures, and flavors, making it a one-pan, one-hour meal you're sure to return to again and again.

Get the Recipe

05of 27

Filipino Chicken Adobo with Bacon and Bay Leaves

27 Simple, Comforting Chicken and Rice Recipes (5)

Chicken Adobo is a traditional Filipino stew consisting of chicken that has been marinated and cooked in a mixture of garlic, soy sauce, and vinegar. This bright and deeply savory preparation is considered the unofficial national dish of the Philippines and has roots in indigenous traditions.

Get the Recipe

06of 27

Khao Mun Gai (Thai Chicken and Rice)

27 Simple, Comforting Chicken and Rice Recipes (6)

This Thai street food features rice cooked with flavorful chicken fat, ginger, and garlic, then served with chicken, cucumber, and a refreshing broth.

Get the Recipe

07of 27

Avgolemono Chicken Soup with Rice

27 Simple, Comforting Chicken and Rice Recipes (7)

Avgolemono, which means lemon-egg in Greek, is a sauce served alongside dolma, vegetables, and roasted meats in Turkish, Balkan, Arab, Greek, and some Jewish cuisines. It's often used as the base of soups and stews, as it is here in our avgolemono soup with chicken.

Get the Recipe

08of 27

Grilled Chicken with Coconut Rice and Chile-Lime Sauce

27 Simple, Comforting Chicken and Rice Recipes (8)

At Cantinho do Aziz, a family-owned Mozambican restaurant in Lisbon, Portugal, chef Jeny Sulemange prepares a grilled coconut chicken that's crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, which she serves with a truly irresistible coconut rice.The recipe is all about the marinade.

Get the Recipe

09of 27

Madhur Jaffrey's Chicken Biryani

27 Simple, Comforting Chicken and Rice Recipes (9)

This classic chicken biryani features partially cooked rice layered with spicy chunks of chicken, with saffron-infused milk poured over the top. The pot is then sealed and the dish bakes slowly in the oven.

Get the Recipe

10of 27

Spicy Fried Rice-Stuffed Chicken Wings

27 Simple, Comforting Chicken and Rice Recipes (10)

2019 F&W Best New Chef Junghyun Park dredges chicken wings in a crackling fried chicken breading then stuffs spicy, savory doubanjiang fried rice inside. The final touch is a tongue-tingling spice blend of Szechuan peppercorn, salt, sugar, and powdered vinegar.

Get the Recipe

11of 27

Chicken Mole

27 Simple, Comforting Chicken and Rice Recipes (11)

Rich, warm, and well-balanced, this chicken mole recipe employs five types of chiles to add deep layers of heat, fruitiness, sweetness, and smokiness. Serve it with cooked long-grain white rice.

Get the Recipe

12of 27

Soupy Rice with Chicken and Vegetables

27 Simple, Comforting Chicken and Rice Recipes (12)

Asopao de pollo, a Puerto Rican chicken-and-rice stew, is one of New York chef JJ Johnson's childhood favorites, what he calls soupy rice with chicken and vegetables. Just like his grandmother did, Johnson stirs briny, pimiento-stuffed olives into the finished dish.

Get the Recipe

13of 27

Spicy Lemongrass Chicken

27 Simple, Comforting Chicken and Rice Recipes (13)

Charles Phan stir-fries chicken until it's deeply golden, then cooks the aromatics and sauces separately before combining everything in the wok to meld the flavors. This dish is ready in half an hour.

Get the Recipe

14of 27

Chicken Sofrito

27 Simple, Comforting Chicken and Rice Recipes (14)

Marcia Kiesel coats chicken legs in chili powder and cooks rice withsofrito, the Spanish mixture of chopped onion, garlic and bell pepper. She bakes everything together in a skillet so that the delectable chicken juices flavor the rice, then broils the dish at the last minute to turn the chicken skin enticingly brown.

Get the Recipe

15of 27

Braised Chicken Thighs with Apples and Wild Rice

27 Simple, Comforting Chicken and Rice Recipes (15)

Erick Harcey, one of Minneapolis’ most celebrated chefs, serves this braised chicken with his supreme riff on Rice-A-Roni. Tart Granny Smith apples and cider vinegar not only tenderize the chicken thighs but also act as the base for the incredible sauce.

Get the Recipe

16of 27

Indonesian Coconut Rice with Chicken and Zucchini

27 Simple, Comforting Chicken and Rice Recipes (16)

Luscious is the word for this Indonesian version of chicken and rice. Coconut milk spiced with cumin and coriander cooks into the rice and sauces the whole dish.

Get the Recipe

17of 27

Chicken and Okra Gumbo

27 Simple, Comforting Chicken and Rice Recipes (17)

Rembs Layman's easy chicken version of gumbo is made with store-bought rotisserie chicken, andouille sausage, canned chicken broth, and jerk seasoning. Choose your own steam rice to serve with the dish.

Get the Recipe

18of 27

Chicken and Rice with Fresh Chorizo

27 Simple, Comforting Chicken and Rice Recipes (18)

"In the Amazon, cooks make a Portuguese-style chorizo that's very good," says Pedro Miguel Schiaffino. He uses it with other local ingredients in this spin on a Latin classic.

Get the Recipe

19of 27

Caramelized Ginger Chicken with Sticky Rice

27 Simple, Comforting Chicken and Rice Recipes (19)

Valerie Luu’s cousin swears by the ginger chicken sold by his favoritexoi gastreet hawker in the Vietnamese city of Can Tho. After tasting it themselves on a scouting trip, Luu and Katie Kwan developed their own version.

Get the Recipe

20of 27

Arroz con Pollo

27 Simple, Comforting Chicken and Rice Recipes (20)

Using a family recipe, chef Jose Enrique makes this chicken-and-rice recipe with what seems like too much stock, wine and pilsner, but the result is especially moist. Use short-grain rice like Bomba, which absorbs liquid well.

Get the Recipe

21of 27

Spicy Chicken and Rice

27 Simple, Comforting Chicken and Rice Recipes (21)

Medium-grain Spanish rice, such as Valencia, is naturally creamy, so it nicely absorbs the flavors of this classic Spanish dish.

Get the Recipe

22of 27

Chicken Rice Pilaf

27 Simple, Comforting Chicken and Rice Recipes (22)

Chef Asha Gomez calls her one-hour chicken pilaf a "one-dish wonder."

Get the Recipe

23of 27

Cambodian Chicken-and-Rice Soup with Shrimp

27 Simple, Comforting Chicken and Rice Recipes (23)

Using prepared stock and pre-roasted chicken significantly cut back on prep time for this spicy, soothing, and restorative chicken-and-rice soup from Ratha Chau, the co-founder of Num Pang Sandwich Shop.

Get the Recipe

24of 27

Turmeric Chicken and Rice

27 Simple, Comforting Chicken and Rice Recipes (24)

"This is a simple one-pot chicken-and-rice dish, but the turmeric adds color, spice and flavor," Edward Lee says. "That makes it a winner in my house." He recommends using a whole organic chicken, so you know exactly where the bird came from, and serving the dish family-style.

Get the Recipe

25of 27

Rice Cooker Ginger Chicken and Rice

27 Simple, Comforting Chicken and Rice Recipes (25)

Throw all of your ingredients into the rice cooker and you'll be enjoying a flavorful, one-pot meal in an hour.

Get the Recipe

26of 27

Chicken, Sweet Potato, and Rice Casserole

27 Simple, Comforting Chicken and Rice Recipes (26)

The rice in this casserole filling is cooked until it starts to fall apart, thickening the liquid.This comforting dish is ready in under an hour.

Get the Recipe

27of 27

Hainan Chicken with Rice and Two Sauces

27 Simple, Comforting Chicken and Rice Recipes (27)

This delicately scented dish, one of Peter Ting's childhood favorites, gets its name from the Chinese island of Hainan; it's popular in Malaysia and Singapore too. Ting is dedicated to perfecting the bold scallion and chile dipping sauces that accompany it.

Get the Recipe