One Pot Puerto Rican Chicken and Rice – An incredible chicken meal that would excite your taste buds. Flavored with sofrito sauce, spices, peas and olives. So easy to make and comes together quickly.
Not to long ago I shared with you a recipe for one pot Jerk Chicken and rice. Since then, it has become my go-to rice recipe and to put it mildly – the family is obsessed with it. And I am too!
As usually I decided to switch things up and create something similar but with different flavors and ingredients but same old concept that works all the time. Ratio of rice to liquid and searing the chicken with spices first. Then letting the oven do it’s magic.
This is probably not an authentic Puerto Rican dish but it is made using classic Puerto Rican ingredients. And most the ingredients are pantry staple and some are probably rotting away in your fridge.
What makes it s o tasty is the thigh meat releasing juice to the rice. And rice benefits of the juices from the chicken thigh trickling into it while it slowly cooks. Making it an INCREDIBLY flavor meal.
As always, I use my trusted 12-inch cast iron skillet for this, works all the time. An oven safe Dutch oven would work as well.
Enjoy!!
Watch How To Make It
One Pot Puerto Rican Chicken and Rice : An incredible chicken meal that would excite your taste buds. Flavored with sofrito sauce, spices, peas and olives. So easy to make and comes together quickly.
- 2 -2 1/2 pound chicken thighs about 5
- 1½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon chicken Goya Sazon or bouillon powder optional
- 2 Tablespoons Adobo seasoning or your favorite chicken seasoning
- ¼ cup canola oil
- 2- teaspoons minced garlic
- ½ medium onion diced
- 2 small bay leaves
- 1 large bell pepper sliced
- 1/2 cup tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon cumin spice
- 2-3 Tablespoons Fresh cilantro
- 2 cups uncooked long grain rice
- 15.5 oz. can Pigeon Peas/ rinsed and drained
- 1 teaspoon white ground white pepper
- 1 cup pitted olives
- 4 cups chicken broth or water
- 1 packet Goya Sazon
- 1 teaspoons paprika optional
- Salt to taste
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Wash chicken thighs, for faster cooking make a ½ " slit into chicken thigh meat on either side of the chicken wipe with a paper towel. Season with salt( about 1½ teaspoons)
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Rub both sides with generous amount of the adobo spice blend. Or your favorite spice mix
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Place chicken skin side up in a skillet / Dutch oven or oven safe pot/pan for about 3 minutes each, be very careful with the chicken, it shouldn’t burn. Remove from the pan and set aside
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Preheat Oven to 350 degrees F
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Meanwhile place 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.
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Wipe pan with paper towel or napkin to remove any burns from pan.
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Add about 2 Tablespoons oil or more followed by onions, bell pepper , garlic , bay leaf, cilantro and cumin. Sauté until soft but not golden, about 2-3 minutes. Then add tomato Sauce and rice. Stir for another minute
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Next add all the remaining ingredients, Chicken stock, pigeon peas, paprika, white pepper ,olives, salt and Sazon/ or bouillon .Add chicken, bring to a boil.
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Place in the oven in pre heated oven uncovered . Cook for about 30- 35 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked.
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Remove let it cool and serve.
Already have homemade Sofrito, how can I proceed with this recipe?
I would still use the same ingredients, less the cilantro. Add about a tablespoon to the mixture of onions and garlic .
it doesn’t say how much rice to use with this recipe. is it one cup???
Hi. It’s in the list and it says 2 cups uncooked long grain rice.
Loved this delicious recipe. This was full of flavor and easy to cook. I used whole grain Brown Rice. Therefore for 2 cups uncooked Brown Rice I used 5 cups chicken broth and cooked longer for 40 to 45 minutes. This is now one of my favorite recipe sites. Thank you for the delicious recipes.
This looks real good but I think we should call it, puertorican style yellow rice. When we use pigeon peas we always use pork and when we make yellow chicken rice we dont use any beans. The herbs used are considered the sofrito for us and the tomato sauce get cook with the herbs and spices for a little before adding the water and the rice.
I am going to give this a try because in my 61 years I have never seeing the rice done in the oven and with the chicken partially cook………I need to try this way.
Made this for dinner was was delicious.
We made this again tonight! We pre-made a sofrito mix ahead of time and skipped out on pre-frying the chicken, instead opting to cook it for a while longer (about 45 minutes at 350 degrees, and the last 10 minutes at 450 to get it fully cooked the way we like it). This helped us cut down on prep time after a long day. Also substituted the tomato sauce for tomato paste because it was all we had, which was fine with my family as they love the taste of tomato paste with rice. We added mushrooms for flavor, which was amazing. I’d recommend stirring the rice a few times so the top doesn’t burn, and flipping the chicken once. Absolutely brilliant recipe!!!!
Normally in Puerto Rico we make the yellow pigeon rice with pork chunks. That will be the most traditional way to cook it. That is a Christmas staple in all homes. We do cook rice chicken on the stove but with no beans in it. Just add toward the end some red pimientos and some red beans on the side or pink.
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My family and I adore this recipe, although we simplify it a bit for convenience. The flavor is amazing!
Can I use basmati rice ? Thank you ! Can’t wait to try it !
Yes you can. That’s my rice of choice.
One pot meal that pleases all!
I have used a whole chicken cut up. Chopping the wings hearty & the breasts in 1/2. This is just a wonderful dish.
Hi,
I’d like to try this tonight. Looks good. I see comments about sofrito, but i do not see sofrito in your ingredients. I see adobo and sazon but not sofrito. So do you use it in this dish? Is it the green or red sofrito you buy from the store?
You also have sazon packet under the chicken thighs and also under ingredients, are you using one packet for thighs and then adding another packet to the rice? Thanks Vicky
Hi Vicky,
In this recipe there is no sofrito. However, you can go ahead and include it , if desired , the green one works fine here. For the sazon, you can use one packet or more . I use a packet for the rice and 1/2 packet from another sazon to season chicken. This is just optional salt works just fine for the chicken thighs.
Hello i made this before it was delicious i wanted to know if u knew can i cook this in my eletric skillet?
I haven’t tried it with an electric skillet ….However, I think it would work, be sure to cover the skillet and you might have to adjust cooking time . If you do give it a try let me know how it works out
This is very very close to my family’s Cuban Arroz con pollo. We sub out some of the water for beer, and omit the Pigeon peas, that’s it! So so good. I usually make this on the stove top, but it works well in the oven, too. Next I’m going to try it in the instant pot. I feel like it would work! Yummy yummy.
It sounds good how do u make it