One Pot Lemon Herb Chicken and Rice
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Tonight, all eyes will be on this buttery, One Pot Lemon Herb Chicken and Rice with lemon herb spices, all cooked and ready to devour in 30 minutes in just one pot!
Loving one-pot wonders for busy nights? You’ve gotta try One Pot Cashew Chicken Ramen, One Pot Enchilada Orzo, and One Pan Mediterranean Chicken with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce.
This is one of those where-have-you-been-all-my-life moments…kinda like the first time I put on ankle socks.
Ankle socks? What does that have to do with chicken, you ask? Well, I grew up in the 90s so if you can remember back that far you might recall those long socks we used to wear all the time reaching anywhere from 2 to 5 inches above your shoes. I was fairly young and easily influenced when the ankle sock movement began, so when I finally gave into peer pressure and tried on my first pair of ankle socks, let’s just say it felt…revolutionary. I had that, “where have you been all my life?“ feeling.
That all is to say, why has everyone else in the world known how wonderful one-pot dishes were while I avoided them? Although I may not have all the answers, I do know one thing: One pot dishes are here to stay on this blog.
Why This Recipe Works
This recipe for lemon herb chicken and rice is about as easy as it gets. And so tasty too!
One pot — I have to say it again. I might even shout it from the rooftops. One-pot meals are LIFE. So easy to cook in, so easy to clean up, I wish every meal could be made in one pot.
Easy pantry staples — Doesn’t get any easier than thawing some chicken, cooking in butter, adding boxed or canned broth, rice, lemon, and some spices.
Leftovers — This recipe makes a decent amount of food and makes for great leftovers. Or, if you’re into meal prepping, this would make four excellent to-go lunches or dinners and reheats easily.
Easy to customize — If you prefer different flavors, you could do some cumin and chili powder and limes instead of lemon, or whatever is your favorite flavor.
Here’s How You Make It
Get out that one pot and that’s all you need to make this delicious lemon herb chicken and rice.
- First, melt the butter over medium-high heat in a large skillet or pan with a lid. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and add the Italian seasonings to the chicken, too. Put the chicken in the butter and brown it for 1-2 minutes on each side.
- Take the chicken off and put it on a plate (it won’t be cooked all the way through).
- Now, to the same pot, add in the rice, chicken broth, lemon juice, and the rest of the Italian seasoning. Put the chicken back in on top of this mixture and put the lid on. Simmer over medium-low heat till the liquid is dissolved and rice is cooked, about 20-25 minutes.
- Serve with fresh parsley or cilantro as a garnish and with extra lemon wedges if you prefer. Serve while hot.
Frequently Asked Questions
Although you brown the chicken before adding the rice into this dish, the chicken is basically still raw inside. So, yes, you can cook raw chicken and rice together. If you are worried about cross-contamination, remember that you’ll be cooking both the chicken and the rice so there’s no need to worry that you’ll get sick from eating undercooked chicken/contaminated rice.
For an average size bone-in breast, you should get about 1 ½ cups of chicken. For a skinless, boneless chicken breast, you’ll get about 1 ½ cups as well. Of course, it all depends on the size of your chicken breasts to begin with.
Expert Tips
- If you are cooking with bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts, up the browning time to about 3-4 minutes per side before removing to add the rice and broth. Be sure to check that the chicken has reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees before eating.
- If you are using brown rice, you’ll need to up the cooking time to about 30-35 minutes. Check around the 30-minute mark for doneness.
- Some great add-ins to this recipe include one can of fire-roasted tomatoes, half a cup of frozen peas or carrots, one teaspoon of red pepper flakes, or add half a finely chopped onion to the butter to caramelize a bit before adding chicken.
- This chicken and rice recipe will keep for up to 3 days in the fridge or up to 3 months in the freezer in an airtight container.
More Recipes You’ve Gotta Try
- Baked Honey Lemon Garlic Salmon in Foil
- Chicken and Asparagus Stir Fry
- One Pan Spanish Chicken and Rice
- Lemon Herb Shrimp and Rice Skillet
Did you make this One Pot Lemon Herb Chicken and Rice recipe? YAY! Please rate the recipe below!
One Pot Lemon Herb Chicken & Rice
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 2 tablespoons butter
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
Rice
- 1 cup uncooked white rice
- 2 ¼ cups chicken broth , (I used low sodium)
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Instructions
- Melt butter over medium heat in a large skillet or pan (one that has a lid). Season chicken with salt and pepper to taste, and Italian seasoning. Brown chicken in the butter for 1-2 minutes on each side. (Chicken shouldn’t be cooked through at this point) Transfer chicken to a plate.
- Add rice, chicken broth, lemon juice, and remaining Italian seasoning to the pan (no need to clean it first). Place chicken on top, then cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 20-25 minutes until liquid is dissolved.
- Garnish with fresh parsley or cilantro if desired and lemon wedges for squeezing. Serve immediately.
Notes
- If you are cooking with bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts, up the browning time to about 3-4 minutes per side before removing to add the rice and broth. Be sure to check that the chicken has reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees before eating.
- If you are using brown rice, you’ll need to up the cooking time to about 30-35 minutes. Check around the 30-minute mark for doneness.
- Some great add-ins to this recipe include one can of fire-roasted tomatoes, half a cup of frozen peas or carrots, one teaspoon of red pepper flakes, or add half a finely chopped onion to the butter to caramelize a bit before adding chicken.
- This chicken and rice recipe will keep for up to 3 days in the fridge or up to 3 months in the freezer in an airtight container.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
CHICKEN POUNDED TO FLATTEN OR LEFT THICK RIGHT OUT OF THE PACKAGE?
Pounded to an even thickness – generally no thicker than 1 inch.
Wondering if you have ever added veggies to the pot? I’m thinking broccoli or asparagus would work well?
Ooh that sounds amazing – I haven’t tried it but now I’m thinking I will definitely have to throw some in next time!!
I made this tonight and it was great! I used jasmine rice and added fresh broccoli with about five minutes left to cook. I like my veggies crunchy! Delish!!!
Yum I definitely have to toss some broccoli in there next time!!!
Hey Tiffany, What a great and easy recipe. I wanted to let you know that when I went to print off your recipe, your follow on Pinterest, facebook, etc. shows up in the instructions and makes it a little hard to read.
Oh shoot – thanks for letting me know Amy I’ll look into that!!
Made this tonight and loved it… Adding more chicken and rice next time so we can have left overs 🙂 thanks for this amazing recipe!! Xo
This looks amazing! Love the photos, what camera do you use? I like the recipe, not so many elaborate ingredients. Can wait to try it, would make for a nice summer dish.
Hi Cindy! Thanks so much, this dish really is so yummy! Also, I have used a Canon 7D for the past two years and just upgraded about two weeks ago to the new Canon 5Ds 🙂
We loved this recipe! I modified it for my family of 6: used about 2 lbs chicken (about 2 large breasts). I pounded it down and cut into 8 pieces. Doubled the rice ingredients. I find with regular rice I have to bring it to a boil and then stir it before I put a lid on it for it to not seem “crunchy.” After I stirred it, I added the chicken on top. This is a great summer dish!
Great tip about the boil-then-stir with the rice Karissa! Thanks!!
I made this tonight, oh my, it was amazing,i followed the easy instructions carefully and i took pictures of the yumminess and sent it to all my girls. Thank you, this is definitely a keeper! Company will be impressed with it. I served it with dill carrots! Cant wait to eat the leftovers!
Ooh yum, dill carrots?! That sounds amazing and would definitely go with this dish. So glad you liked it!!
Can you add quinoa instead of rice?
I haven’t tried that with this recipe yet, but it would probably work! Let me know how it goes! 🙂
Quinoa usually needs a slightly higher proportion of liquid to grain than rice does, so make sure your ratio is what you’d normally use. The cooking times are a little bit long for quinoa as well, especially white quinoa, so check your favorite recipe for cooking time. If it wants less time than this recipe suggests, you might cook the chicken for just a smidge longer.
I maid this recipe and it was amazing my kids and husband loved it. Thank you for the recipe
I made this tonight must need to use instant rice because I had to cook this for 45 mins. I will have to modify so the chicken doesn’t over cook. It was really yummy just a little over done.
I didn’t use instant rice, I used regular white rice… not sure what might have gone wrong for you with the timing, maybe it would have helped to bump up the heat a bit! Glad you thought it was yummy though!
This actually happened to me as well. I think based on the taste and too much liquid that I must have had too much lemon! Maybe you could specific how much lemon juice by ounce because lemons can range quite a bit!! It was really yummy though!! I paired it with green beans.
Normally the juice of 1 lemon is about 2 tablespoons. Hope that helps!
I’m making it right now and I’m having the SAME problem! I did exactly as the recipe said…but I have a history of being unlucky with rice…lol
Bring it to alow boil before you cover it. Mine turned out just right
Sounds like you had your temp a good bit too low. Try it on medium instead of medium-low, and your rice should be done in 25 mins.
So easy to make, and it tastes really good!
Brilliant!