Jollof Rice and Chicken
This JOLLOF RICE and CHICKEN is an easy yet tasty one-pan meal enjoyed in West African countries. It’s bursting with flavors from the tomato sauce, paprika, scotch bonnet, and the juices coming off from the well-seasoned chicken thighs. Serve it over regular nights or as a main course during the holidays!
This recipe was inspired by my mini chef’s desire for chicken thighs and rice. It’s a one-pan meal spin-off of the ever-popular Jollof Rice (recipe HERE).
And since we always love Jollof Rice with chicken, why not make them both in one pot? It saves so much time, and also lesser clean up. Not to mention that it’s family-approved!
In just a single pan, you’ll get an entire meal – chicken, rice, and veggies. What more would you ask for?
Jollof Rice and Chicken Ingredients
I have made this recipe a couple of times before it had its approval. The chicken must come out tender, and the rice light and fluffy. And because everything cooks together in just one pan, the rice is incredibly flavorful. The juices of the chicken enhance the rice dish, making it really quite tasty.
Now to make this remarkable chicken and rice recipe, you’ll need:
- onion and garlic
- dried thyme
- uncooked rice (I use basmati for this recipe)
- canned puree tomato sauce
- chicken stock or water
- white pepper
- scotch bonnet or hot pepper
- vegetables (carrots, peas, and green beans)
And we don’t just go with salt and pepper for our chicken. I make sure that it’s well-seasoned so its juice flavor is enhanced. We’ll be needing the following to create a spice blend for our chicken.
- salt and white pepper
- onion powder and garlic powder
- dried thyme or oregano
- smoked paprika
- cayenne pepper
- chicken bouillon (or you may replace with salt)
It’s a bit of a long ingredient list, but nothing unusual or hard to find. The chicken thighs are seasoned and then browned. Then the rice is made with the browned bits of the chicken. Brought to a boil and finished off in the oven.
The best part of this is that it doesn’t overcook nor stick to the bottom of the pan!
Recipe Variations
This one-pan recipe always works great all the time. Now, if you want to go a little adventurous with this recipe, you can check out these suggested variations below.
- You may swap chicken with beef stew meat, HOWEVER, you’ll have to use the tender ones like beef sirloin. And cook the meat first before adding to the rice.
- Don’t have chicken thighs on hand? You may use drumsticks, but just make sure they’re of the same quantity as stated in the recipe.
- You can also use fresh chopped tomatoes and just blend them until it is pureed.
- Aside from those veggies mentioned above, you may also add some corn kernels, bell pepper, and even shredded cabbage.
- If you don’t have basmati rice on hand, you may replace it with white long-grain rice with the same ratio of rice and water.
- This recipe isn’t that spicy. But if you have low-heat tolerance, you may omit the scotch bonnet or adjust the cayenne pepper in the chicken.
Storing and Making Ahead Instructions
For any leftovers, simply store cooled Jollof Rice and Chicken in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about 2-3 days. And when read to serve it again, just transfer them to a microwave-safe plate and heat up in the microwave until they’re piping hot.
More One-Pot Chicken and Rice Recipes
Love more easy family recipes like this? Check these other one-pan chicken and rice recipes below.
- Cilantro Lime Chicken and Rice
- Puerto Rican Chicken and Rice
- Chicken Rice Broccoli
- Caribbean Jerk Chicken and Rice
How To Make Jollof Rice and Chicken
Wash chicken thighs, wipe with a paper towel. Combine spices and mix well. Sprinkle both sides with a generous amount of the spice blend. Or you may use salt and pepper or your favorite spice mix. Add about 2 tablespoons of oil to the skillet or Dutch oven or oven-safe pot/pan. Brown chicken on both sides for about 3 minutes each. Be very careful with the chicken, it shouldn’t burn.
Pre-heat oven 350 degrees F (176C). Put the rice into a large bowl, cover with cold water, and use your hands to wash the grains. Tip the water out then repeat twice until the water runs clear. Remove from the pan and set aside. Remove excess oil from the pan and leave approximately about 2-3 tablespoons oil. Add onions, thyme, garlic, and sauté until soft but not golden, about 2-3 minutes. Then add rice and stir for another 2minutes.
Gently pour tomato sauce, and add all the remaining ingredients: chicken stock, paprika, white pepper, salt, and bouillon EXCEPT the vegetables. Add the chicken back and bring it to a boil. Place in a pre-heated oven and cook for about 20 minutes then throw in the vegetables and cook for another 10-15 minutes. Remove let it cool and serve.
Watch How To Make It
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This blog post was first published in March 2015 and has been updated with an additional write-up and a video.
Jollof Rice and Chicken
Ingredients
Jollof Rice
- 2 tablespoons (28ml) oil
- 1 medium onion
- ½ teaspoons (0.46g) dried thyme
- 2 teaspoon (10g) minced garlic
- 2 cups (370g) uncooked rice (I used basmati rice)
- 8 ounce (224g) canned puree tomato sauce
- 3 cups (720ml) chicken stock or water
- 1 teaspoon (5g) salt
- 1 teaspoon (2g) paprika
- 1 teaspoon (2g) white pepper
- ½ -1 teaspoon (1g-2g) chicken bouillon
- ½ pound (226.8g) or more vegetables (carrots, peas, green beans)
- scotch bonnet pepper or hot pepper (optional)
Chicken Thighs
- 2 ½- 3 pound (1133.98g-1360.77g) chicken thighs , about 5-6
- 2 teaspoon (10g) salt
- 2 teaspoon (4g) onion powder
- ½ teaspoon (0.46g) dried thyme or oregano
- 1 teaspoon (3g) garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon (2g) smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon (1g) white pepper
- ½ teaspoon (1g) cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon (1g) chicken bouillon powder (you may replace with salt
Instructions
Chicken Thighs
- Wash chicken thighs, wipe with a paper towel. Combine spices and mix well.
- Sprinkle both sides with a generous amount of the spice blend. Or you may use salt and pepper or your favorite spice mix.
- Add about 2 tablespoons of oil to the skillet or Dutch oven or oven-safe pot/pan.
- Brown chicken on both sides for about 3 minutes each. Be very careful with the chicken, it shouldn’t burn.
Jollof Rice
- Pre-heat oven 350 degrees F (176C).
- Put the rice into a large bowl, cover with cold water, and use your hands to wash the grains. Tip the water out then repeat twice until the water runs clear.
- Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Remove excess oil from the pan and leave approximately about 2-3 tablespoons oil.
- Add onions, thyme, garlic, and sauté until soft but not golden, about 2-3 minutes. Then add rice and stir for another 2minutes.
- Gently pour tomato sauce, and add all the remaining ingredients: chicken stock, paprika, white pepper, salt, and bouillon EXCEPT the vegetables. Add the chicken back and bring to a boil.
- Place in a pre-heated oven and cook for about 20 minutes then throw in the vegetables and cook for another 10-15 minutes.
- Remove let it cool and serve.
No curry??
Hi Terrell, Great question! Nope—no curry powder in this one. Traditional Chicken Jollof Rice builds its flavor from tomato paste, onions, garlic, thyme, bay leaf, and a touch of heat from Scotch bonnet or hot pepper. So curry isn’t needed at all—but if you’re a curry lover, you can add 1/2 a teaspoon or more .
Super easy and so delicious
Thank you so much!!!
So flavorful! I did burn some of the rice, due to problems with doubling the recipe, but the unburnt part was great! The chicken was wonderful!
Great to hear that and feel bad for the furned one. Stay tuned and try some other recipes. This time be more accurate while doubling the recipe to avoid burning 🙂
Hi! I love your chicken n rice one pot meals. I prepare the dish differently according to set it and forget it method! I sear my meat chicken or pork chops then remove meat, then sauté veggie seasonings in meat fat and juices then deglaze pan with chicken broth then add all ingredients to Dutch oven, cover and bake at 375 degrees x 90 min. Do not peek! The rice needs the accumulated steam to cook properly! I always cook long grain rice with ratio of 3 cups liquid and 2 cups rice because I do not like mushy rice! I just wanted to make this suggestion because it is much easier method!
Thanks for your feedback and tips, stay tuned for more amazing recipes 🙂
Hi I have a question. Could you make jollof rice n chicken recipe after chicken seared and veggie seasonings are sautéed, deglaze the pan with required chicken broth then put everything in a covered Dutch oven with chicken on top and bake at 375 degrees for 90 minutes? I have made Arroz con pollo using this method and it came out great!It would be much easier to use Dutch oven and bake it! It is just a suggestion that would make the prep much easier! The only difference I see in this recipe and the Cuban rice recipe is the seasonings are different! I am from Louisiana so it really reminds of jambalaya! Have a great day!
That sounds awesome. Thank you so much for your suggestion coz I’m all for easy cooking.❤️
Thanks You are welcome!
Great to hear. Thanks
I’d like to use brown rice instead of white rice but I’m not sure how to adjust. I don’t want to overcook the chicken or undercook the rice
You have a good point. You could parboil the brown rice before starting the recipe.
Boil the brown rice for 15-20 minutes, then drain and set aside until ready to add it to the recipe. If it’s going to be more than an hour before you use it, put it in the fridge until it’s time.
Hope that helps.
I was going to try this coming Sat. We don’t have any dutch oven or pan we can put in the oven. Can we do this without the last step (i.e. using the oven) and just continue to cook everything over the stove?
BTW – I love all your recipes! They are easy and fun to follow, and the outcome is guaranteed to be great every time. So grateful for you to share you work with us. You are amazing.
Thanks for sharing I love the recipe
Glad you loved it, Bertha! Give my Fiesta Chicken Casserole next time and let me know how it goes. Enjoy! 🙂
Before we got married, my husband grew to REALLY like West African dishes especially Jollof rice. He liked it SO much, he tried making it with chicken the traditional way– very challenging and not as expected.
I tried your recipe ONCE and he was hooked! Thanks for sharing!
Woohoo! Thank you for sharing, Mel! 🙂
I made this for my husband who is originally from West Africa. It turned out so well, tasted delicious and took half the time he usually takes to prepare jollof! He approved, thanks so much for this recipe!
Yay! Thank you, A.M.! Regards to you and your husband 🙂
Would this work with a chicken breast? Maybe if I just didn’t brown it first?
Hello. Can I use jasmine rice instead of basmati or parboiled?
Parboiled rice would work best here.
The flavors were amazing, but I cooked it with brown rice and the rice didn’t cook all the way so I kept adding water and the texture was off & the flavors were dulled 🙁 It’s my fault tho for changing up the rice I think. But if I were to use the same rice you used how long are you supposed to let the rice boil on the stove before putting it in the oven? is the rice supposed to fully cook on the stove first before going into the oven?
Hi Shauna! Sorry to hear about that. You bring the recipe to a boil, the place it in the oven. Hope this helps
I was wondering if the vegetables used in this were fresh or frozen?
Absolutely love it! I made this for dinner and fell in love with the wonderful flavors. Another knock out! Thank you for sharing your recipes with the world.
Awesome ! Glad to hear it worked out well.