One Pot Caribbean Jerk Chicken & Rice – A flavor explosion in a pot! Comes together quickly- chicken thighs baked to crispy perfection on a bed of fragrant rice and beans. Guys meet the latest addition to my one-pot meal dinners, yep! It was just a matter of time before this happened. And when it did it, I quickly fell in love …I’m pretty obsessed with this one-pot meal. I’m thinking how long I could get away with this before the rest of the gang starts complaining.
This recipe is a combination of my Caribbean rice and beans and my Oven baked Jerk Chicken. Both of which have been readers’ favorite. And I thank you immensely for giving it a go and providing feedback. If you love both recipes then you are going to go crazy over this one. What’s not to love about less prep, less cleaning, and it’s on the table in about an hour.
Here would be a great addition to your list of one-pot meals. Most of the ingredients you have already and you can pick up a few at your neighborhood market. Use my Oh-So fabulous Jerk Spice Combination here or store- bought. Though am going to be honest and say store-bought doesn’t even come close to this homemade seasoning. Just something to think about.
Here I used a 12-inch skillet – one of my favorite utensils in the kitchen — because it can go from stove top to oven. You can also use a Dutch oven for this too! First you spice up the chicken, and then sear to render the fat, get the rice started in the skillet and finish it off in the oven. The chicken comes out tender, and the rice is light and fluffy. And because everything cooks together in just one pan, the rice is incredibly flavorful; the juice of the chicken enhances the rice dish, making it really quite tasty. Enjoy!!!
Watch How to Make It
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One Pot Caribbean Jerk Chicken and Rice
Ingredients
Jerk Chicken Thighs
- 2½-3 pounds chicken thighs (about 5-6)
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon chicken bouillon powder (optional)
- 1-2 tablespoons Jerk seasoning
One Pot Jerk Chicken and Rice
- 4 tablespoons canola oil
- ½ medium onion, diced
- 1 sprig fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 small bay leaves
- 2 cups uncooked long grain rice
- 1 13.5-ounce can coconut milk (1¾ cups)
- 1 15.5-ounce can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 teaspoon white ground white pepper
- 1½-2 teaspoons Creole spice (or jerk seasoning)
- Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
- 2-2¼ cups chicken broth (or water) If using 6 chicken thighs, I use 2 cups of water
- 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon (optional)
- 1 whole scotch bonnet pepper (optional)
- 1 teaspoon paprika (optional)
- 1 green onion, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
Jerk Chicken Thighs
- Preheat the oven to 350℉/177℃.
- Wash chicken thighs, for faster cooking, make a ½-inch slit into chicken thigh meat on either side of the chicken, and wipe with a paper towel. Season with salt (about 1½ teaspoons) bouillon powder,
- Rub both sides with a generous amount of the spice blend (Creole, jerk, or your favorite spice mix)
One-Pot Jerk Chicken and Rice
- Add about 2 tablespoons oil to a skillet, Dutch oven, or oven-safe pot. Then add chicken thighs skin side up, and brown for about 3 minutes on each side; be very careful with the chicken, it shouldn’t burn. Remove from the pan and set aside
- Wipe pan with paper towel or napkin to remove any burns from pan.
- Add another 2 tablespoons oil, followed by onions, thyme, garlic, and bay leaf, and sauté until soft but not golden, 2-3 minutes. Then add rice and beans.
- And all the remaining ingredients; chicken stock, coconut milk, paprika, white pepper, jerk seasoning, salt, and bouillon. Add chicken, and bring to a boil.
- Place in the oven and cook, uncovered, for 30- 35 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked.
- Garnish with chopped green onions if desired.
- Remove, let it cool, and serve.
Nutrition Information:
Patty says
What do you do with the scotch bonnet when it’s done cooking? Making for dinner tomorrow. We have a plant full of beautiful scotch bonnets.
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Patty!
How wonderful that you have a plant full of beautiful Scotch Bonnet peppers! They pack a lot of heat but also have a unique, fruity flavor that can really elevate a dish. ️
When you’re done cooking with a Scotch Bonnet, you have a few options depending on how you used it and your heat tolerance:
Remove and Discard: If you added the whole pepper to infuse heat without overwhelming the dish, you can simply remove it at the end of cooking and discard it.
Chop and Incorporate: If you’re a fan of heat and have cooked the pepper until it’s soft, you can chop it up and stir it back into the dish for an extra kick.
Serve as a Garnish: In some Caribbean and African dishes, the whole cooked Scotch Bonnet is served as a garnish for those who like their food extra spicy.
Make a Sauce: You can also blend the cooked Scotch Bonnet with some vinegar, salt, and other spices to make a hot sauce that can be used later.
Save for Another Dish: If it’s still fairly intact, you could also save it to use in another dish. Just store it in the fridge and use it within a couple of days.
Remember to handle Scotch Bonnets carefully—use gloves if possible, and wash your hands thoroughly after touching them. They are extremely spicy, and the oils can irritate your skin or eyes.
I hope your dinner turns out wonderfully spicy and flavorful! ️✨
Rotten rotts says
The first time I made this recipe I didn’t have coconut milk but I did have creme de coco. I mixed it with water and that ended up being the best thing. I now mix half creme de coco with half coconut milk and the little bit of sweet with the spices sets it off. I’ve made this for several family and friends and they love it.
Imma says
Awesome. Thanks for the feedback:)
Kris says
This was delicious. Marinaded chicken in wet jerk season for an hour added a few extra spices for the rice. Turned out amazing. Will be in my familiy rotation
Imma says
I’m glad that you love this as much as I do. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Scott says
This is the king of all one pan recipes. You can’t beat the flavour of the coconut milk!
We can’t find the dry seasoning where we are so we use the way marinade and omit the scotch bonnet because we have fun ruiners at the dinner table. Still A+++
Imma says
Amazing!!!!! That looks absolutely delicious!! Glad you loved it. Looking forward to you trying more of my recipes 🙂
Rosemary says
I’ve made this a couple times now. It’s incredibly delicious.
I’ve never found a scotch bonnet in my grocery store, but have used habanero it its place.
I’m excited to try some of your other recipes!
Imma says
Thank you so much, I am sure you would love all recipes once you try them. Keep loving:)
Lala says
I did leave it for 20 min in the oven with chicken breast cutlets. The quinoa wasn’t ready yet it needed more water so I took the chicken out, added more water, and finished the rest of the cooking for about 10 min on the stove top with a lid. The best quinoa and beans. My boyfriend said it tasted the same as if it was rice and beans and he took seconds of it. I ate the leftover quinoa for breakfast as a side for my omelette. The bottom of the pot had the tasty bits!
Imma says
Amazing!!!!! That looks absolutely delicious!! Glad you loved it. Looking forward to you trying more of my recipes.
Princess doe says
I and my family love this recipe so much that it is in my weekly rotation. I have made it at least a dozen times and it comes out great every single time!
Imma says
Wonderful! Thank you so much for the feedback 🙂 Stay tuned for more amazing recipes.
Lala says
I want to use whole chicken breast and quinoa instead and reduce the oven time, maybe 20 min instead. Do think that is enough time or too much time? My quinoa cooks in 15 min on the stove top.
Imma says
That sounds delicious. I would check it for doneness at 20 minutes, but the oven does take a little longer than the stovetop. Please let me know how it turns out.
Robin D says
Currently making this. Thanks for the recipe. The metric conversions are weird though 2 cloves of garlic become 2.4 cloves and 4 tablespoons become 70.98 g of oil.
Imma says
Thank you for pointing that out. The automatic converter has it’s limitations. I’ve turned it off. Thanks:)
Gianna says
Just made this today including the jerk seasoning. I used black beans and quinoa instead (didn’t have rice or kidney beans) and I didn’t use any peppers. Was sooo delicious thank you so much!
Imma says
Amazing!!!!! That looks absolutely delicious!! Glad you loved it. Looking forward to you trying more of my recipes.
Betty says
Delicious recipe! The family loved it and ate it all up. Thank you!
Imma says
You are more than welcome. And if there’s a recipe you’d love to see, please let me know. Thanks:)
Nikki says
This recipe was enjoyed by our family with varying degrees of tolerance for jerk spicy. Those of us with lower heat tolerance preferred it over those who usually go for ghost peppers. None the less, even the heavy heat lovers went back for seconds…and thirds. I used two heaping table spoons of store bought jerk marinade for 4 leg quarters separated. The rice was so fluffy and delicious enough to eat alone the following day. Glad I didn’t skip the coconut milk. This dish also looked just like the picture, beautiful.
Imma says
Thank you:) There’s more to come, so stay tuned
Trea says
This recipe is hittin! So delicious! I will continue to make this. Thank you.
Imma says
Thank you so much for your love and support. Stay tuned and enjoy more amazing recipe every day:)