Easy one pan Spanish chicken and rice is made with simple seasoning that come together with zesty, bold flavors in this one pot, 30 minute meal.
Try these other easy one pot recipes like One Pan Garlic Herb Chicken and Asparagus, One Pan Mediterranean Chicken with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce, and Cajun Shrimp and Rice Skillet.
I’m thinking a little bit outside of the box this week and so far I’m loving the out-of-the-box dishes that are happening. I love chicken and rice together and a couple of days ago I was just craving a good ol’ one pan/one pot chicken and rice, only I really wanted to step up the flavor profile.
I’ve been making my ultra-popular one pot lemon herb chicken and rice for a couple of years now and love how easy it is to make with just a few ingredients I almost always have on hand. This week, I took that same one pan chicken and rice idea and put a fun, delicious new twist on it with some big, bold, Spanish seasonings and you guys…. this might even be better than that lemon herb chicken dish. So if you’ve tried that and love it, you are going to go crazy for this Spanish chicken and rice version.
There is one ingredient you mayyyy not recognize and it’s coriander. If you haven’t cooked with coriander, it’s kind of similar to cumin. I use it occassionally and really love the depth it gives to the flavor of dishes. It’s easy to find in the spice section of any grocery store, but if you have everything but the coriander and don’t want to make a special trip to the store just for one ingredient, you can actually use an equal amount of cumin as a pretty great substitute! If you try this dish, I would love to hear what you think of the flavors so don’t be shy and make sure to leave a comment or send me an email or message!!
What people are saying about this One Pan Spanish Chicken and Rice
“OMG. This was heaven in a skillet. After an exhausting day, I printed out this recipe and gave it to my husband and ordered him to make it. I think he spiced it up with some hot chili powder. But the rice! Strongly recommend the thighs for more flavor.” – Lisa
“Made this for dinner and husband and daughter begged to have it on a regular basis!! We all loved it, and I especially loved how simple it was to make and it’s only one pot! Thank you Tiffany for the awesome recipe!!” – Mona
“I am beyond thrilled with this recipe! To make something so good in thirty minutes after a long night at work…from the bottom of my heart and sore sore feet thank you!!!” – Alison
“Great recipe. the flavors were great and the meat was juicy (i was worried it wouldn’t be). The spice was just the right amount. It seemed like a ton of spice so I was worried it would be too hot for me, but it wasn’t at all.” – Sarah
One Pan Spanish Chicken and Rice
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts - OR 6 chicken thighs
- 3 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
- 1 cup uncooked white rice
- 2 ¼ cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 lemon
- chopped cilantro or parsley - for garnish
Spanish seasoning mix
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon coriander - (see note)
- ¼ teaspoon Italian seasoning
Instructions
- In a small bowl whisk together all ingredients for the Spanish seasoning mix. Divide in half and set aside. Cut the lemon in half, then thinly slice one half - for garnish - and reserve the other half for juicing later in the recipe.
- Place chicken in a medium bowl. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil, then toss to coat well. Use half of the prepared seasoning mix to rub on both sides of each piece of chicken.
- Drizzle a large skillet with remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and bring to medium heat. Cook chicken for 2-3 minutes on each side until browned. Transfer to a plate. (It won't be cooked through at this point)
- Add rice, chicken broth, juice from 1/2 of the lemon, and remaining seasoning mix and stir to combine. Return chicken to the pan on top of the rice. Cover and cook for 20-25 minutes until liquid is absorbed, rice is tender, and chicken is cooked through.
- Garnish with lemon slices and freshly chopped cilantro or parsley and serve immediately.
A delicious and easy recipe the whole family loves. I add vegetables – red peppers, mushrooms and peas and it is a perfect one pot meal
Nice job, Penny! Thanks for sharing!
Loved this recipe!! so delicious!! thank you for sharing!
Super excited to hear you enjoyed this recipe so much, Sadie! Thanks!
I give this a 4 for the Yummy flavor and texture this dish gives…although there’s too much seasoning used for the rice. Coming from a spanish family we enjoy the natural flavor of the rice And we like the flavors to accent the rIce. I recommend maybe using no more than 1/4 of the remaining seasoning for the rice and combine WITH SAFFRON. If no saffron is available then replace with a small portion of Sazon. Also with the ricei would double the quantity of rice. 1 cup was not enough to serve four people.
Thanks for sharing your input, Alyssa!
Nice flavor. NOt over powering. Might try adding diced tomatoes Next time. I reCommend keeping an eye on the chicken. Depending on the breast size, time might be too long. My chicken was not as juicy. My fault. Leftover chicken made a nice taco lunch. Thank you.
Thanks for your feedback, Christine! Happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe.
This was such an easy and delicious recipe. I used chicken thighs that hadn’t defrosted totally yet so I just seared them for a bit longer, added a little bit more broth, and extended the cooking time by 5 minutes. It was perfect.
Awesome job, Holly!! Glad to hear that you enjoyed this recipe and had such great success with using half defrosted chicken thighs! Thanks for sharing.
Had a lot of grease it didn’t say to drain oil after cooking the chicken or to use skinless I got a lot of grease I was spooning off during the cooking method, haven’t tasted yet will let you know.
i dont have a lid for my cast iron skillet. Can i cover with foil or does it need a supert tight fit?
That should be fine!
Hey!! Recipe looks delish, I’m starting to make it now and just realized I have no lemon. Do you think it would be ok without?
Darn it! You’ll probably be ok although the addition of the lemon is one of my favorite parts!
Im not sure what i did wrong. The rice came out delicious but chicken wasnt fully cooked. I didnt use a skillet i used a regular cast iron pot. Next time will try it all in a skillet.
Not sure what went wrong for you- I haven’t had that issue before! Sorry to hear that, May!
Extremely flavorful. Easily became one of my families favorite recipes. I think this is one of the best online chicken reciceps ever. Thanks Tiffany
Best compliment ever! Thanks, Lisa! I am glad to hear that you and your family all enjoyed this recipe so much. Thanks for your feedback 🙂
Currently making this as i tYpe, it smElls amazing but i was wondering if its freezable?
Hi Katie! Some rice dishes are difficult to do as a freezer meal, and unfortunately I haven’t tried freezing this one myself so I can’t say for sure. I’d love to hear the outcome if you do give it a try tho!
This recipe was so easy! Some days im dont feel like whIpping up an EXHAUSTING recipe but this one was so SEAMLESS. Didnt have All the seasonings so i just used what i had and it still came out amazing. I may have Went hEavy on the lemon in tHe rice (it was big & i only put half) – i liked the twist it gave but my Husband found the LEMon flavor too stronG. Less may be more your first time trying this recipe.
Awesome job! I am glad to hear that your version came out delicious as well!
The very best company meal. My sister and brother-in-Law and 10 year old niece, all wanted the recipe
Way to go, Martha! Pleasing the entire crowd with one dish 😉 Thanks for your feedback!
What is the calorie count
I recommend using MyFitnessPal. They have a tool where you can input any recipe URL into and it will generate the nutritional information that you are looking for!
Thank you for this delicious recipe tiffany! I love spanish rice. I added 1 extra cup of rice, a large can of diced stewed tomatoes (with liquid) and a red pepper diced in small pieces. I adjusted the amount of spices you listed just to cover the added INGREDIENTs. It was fantastic for dinner and even better the next day for lunch. My new go-to recipe when i next crave Spanish Rice
Awesome job, Debbie!! Thank you for sharing!