This is my mother’s chicken ‘n rice recipe that has been in my family as long as I can remember.  My mother had a wicker basket that fit the 9X13 pan perfectly and I remember passing the heavy basket down the line on many Sundays. Her recipe calls for “nestling some tomato wedges into the rice” right after you take it out of the oven. It’s not something I usually do, but I might have to start that just for tradition’s sake.

Chicken 'n Rice

  • Servings: 4-6
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • chicken pieces with bone in and skin on (my kids prefer chicken breasts, which I cut in half using a large sharp knife. Three large breasts cut into six pieces will fill the pan)
  • 1 cup flour
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 – 4 T buttermini_ingredients
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 4 & 1/2 cups chicken stock
  • 1 & 1/2 cups white rice
  • chopped green pepper  & chopped parsley (optional)
  • tomato wedges (optional).

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 425ºF
  2. Put butter in a 9 x 13 pan and place pan in oven only long enough to melt the butter
  3. While the butter is melting, cut any overly large chicken pieces in half
  4. Sprinkle all the chicken with salt and pepper
  5. Place the flour in a plastic or paper bag and toss the chicken pieces in the bag until lightly covered in flour
  6. Remove the pan from the oven and place the chicken skin side down.  Bake for 25 minutes
  7. Remove the pan and reduce the heat to 350ºF
  8. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.  Add onions, broth, rice and peppers & parsley (if using)
  9. Place the chicken on top of the rice, skin side up
  10. Bake for 45-50 minutes until the rice has absorbed all the liquid (you may need a little additional liquid if it absorbs all of it too fast). Decorate the dish with tomato wedges (if using) by nestling the pieces into the rice.  Serve immediately.


Lessons Learned/Advice:

  • There are other options for what you might add to the flour mixture: 1 tsp. garlic powder, 1 tsp. onion powder, or herbs such as rosemary and thyme
  • My mother’s recipe calls for decorating with tomato quarters.  Good idea to add some variety in taste, nutrients and color although I’ve never done it myself
  • As I said up top — short prep time but about 90 minutes baking time, so plan ahead
  • If you’re in a real hurry, you can put the butter in without melting it first, or slice it thinly first and it will melt very quickly
  • I’ve always used chicken breasts, but thighs, legs, or a cut up chicken work well (I remember chicken drumsticks from those childhood Sundays)
  • Another variation of my mother’s is to add parsley and chopped green pepper to the rice mixture, and any other vegetables; since this comes from the 60s, that means frozen peas and carrots.  Let me know if you try any variations and how it turns out.

Credits:

Full credit to my mother.  Many years ago she clipped it from a newspaper, but I’m sure that clipping is long gone, and I know she no longer needs the recipe to cook this meal.