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oven baked chicken and rice

Oven baked chicken and rice

This oven baked chicken and rice is my absolute favourite dish right now! It's so easy to make and the result is scrumptious, juicy, tasty chicken and flavoursome rice! Oh, and budget friendly too!
4.79 from 14 votes
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Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Servings: 5 people
Calories: 554kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 kg /2.2lbs chicken drumsticks/thigh mix skin on, bone-in
  • cups uncooked white rice (note 1)
  • 2 cups chicken stock hot
  • cups water hot
  • 1 onion finely diced
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 sprigs fresh lemon thyme
  • salt & pepper

Chicken rub

  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 3 sprigs fresh lemon thyme use leaves only
  • ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
  • salt & pepper

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 180°C/360°F (fan-forced).
  • Mix chicken with chicken rub ingredients thoroughly.
  • In a medium/hot pan, sear chicken pieces on both sides until golden and fat of chicken thighs rendered. Remove chicken from pan. (see note 2)
  • In the same pan, saute onion and garlic until soft, about 3 minutes.
  • Add water, stock, rice, fresh lemon thyme sprigs and bring to boil. Lightly season with salt and pepper. Add chicken, spread evenly across the pan.
  • Lid on, bake in the oven for 35 minutes. After 30 minutes, take the lid off and bake remainder 5 minutes without the lid to crisp up the chicken skin.

Notes

Note 1. Rinse the rice before cooking rising washes away the surface starch of rice and thus ensures rice turns out fluffy every time. 
Note 2. If using only chicken thighs chicken thighs are fattier than drumsticks thus after searing and rendering the fat of thigh skin you'll find quite a lot of oil left in the pan. Simply wipe majority of it off with scrunched up kitchen paper towels, leaving a little behind to saute onions and garlic. No need to wipe fat off if using a combination of thighs and drumsticks or just drumsticks. 
Reheating if reheating on a pan, simply spread rice and chicken out evenly across the pan with a lid on for a few minutes. Putting a lid on will ensure the rice stays soft and not dry out. If reheating in a microwave, loosely cover. You may need to drizzle a little water on the rice to prevent it from drying out. 
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Nutrition

Calories: 554kcal | Carbohydrates: 47.5g | Protein: 37.1g | Fat: 21.9g | Saturated Fat: 6.4g | Cholesterol: 162mg | Potassium: 124mg | Fiber: 1.4g | Sugar: 1.4g | Calcium: 48mg | Iron: 4mg