Description
Cheesy Chicken Broccoli and Rice – a one pot dinner that is so easy to make! Perfect for an easy weeknight dinner! Kid-friendly!
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or ghee
- 6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- kosher salt and ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- 1/3 cup yellow onion, diced
- 3 cups broccoli florets, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 2 1/4 cup chicken bone broth
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon + 1/4 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/3 cup long grain white rice
- 2 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese, divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Pat chicken thighs dry with a clean paper towel.
- Season generously with kosher salt and ground black pepper (about a tablespoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper).
- Add oil to a 5.5qt Dutch Oven and bring to medium-high heat (it should sizzle if you flick some water into it). Add chicken thighs skin-side down. Sear both sides 3-4 minutes. Remove chicken thighs and set them on a plate; set aside.
- Add garlic to the pan and move around until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add onions and let reduce, about 1 minute.
- Add broccoli, broth, soy sauce, lemon zest and salt. Stir to combine.
- Add rice; stir to combine.
- Bring to a simmer and then place chicken thighs back on top (skin side up) along with any juices that have settled on the plate under them.
- Cover and place in the oven (middle rack).
- Bake 30-40 minutes or until rice is soft (or cooked to your liking). If you check the rice and you feel like all of the broth is gone but the rice isn’t fully cooked, add an additional 1/4 cup broth.
- Remove from oven and place on stove top; let sit 5-10 minutes.
- Remove the chicken and set aside on a plate.
- Add in 1 cup of shredded cheese and gently fold in until the cheese has melted (don’t turn on the stove, the rice will be plenty hot from the stove). Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Cover with the lid until cheese is soft and starting to melt.
- Serve rice with chicken.
Notes
- Cook Time: if you are using white rice that, per package instructions, would only take 15 minutes to cook normally – I would recommend reducing the cook time to 25 minutes.
- Rice: while I wish we could make this with brown rice, the cooking time would be way off. Make sure you are using long grain white rice, otherwise I can’t guarantee cooking time!
- Broth: while you don’t have to use chicken bone broth (any kind of chicken broth will do), it will really add to the flavor of the dish.
- Excess Broth: it’s okay if there is a little excess broth at the bottom of the pan after cooking. Once you remove the chicken, give the rice a stir and let it sit a few minutes with the cover off. The rice will continue to soak up the broth.
- Leftovers: this recipe makes great leftovers!
- Dairy-Free: to keep this dairy-free simply opt for olive oil instead of ghee and use a dairy-free cheese alternative.
- Gluten-Free: to keep this gluten-free use tamari instead of soy sauce.