Baked Rice With Chicken and Mushrooms

By David Tanis

Baked Rice With Chicken and Mushrooms
Evan Sung for The New York Times
Total Time
1 hour 20 minutes
Rating
4(3,010)
Comments
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This warming, savory, hearty baked rice casserole was originally meant to be an Indian-style biriyani, but my larder was stocked with Gallic ingredients: mushrooms, thyme, garlic, parsley. I switched gears, heading in a French direction. It’s a great dish for feeding a crowd and also reheats beautifully, so it’s worth making the entire batch. Serve with a crisp green salad, juicy wilted spinach or mustard greens, or all-season frozen peas.

Featured in: Rice and Chicken With a French Accent

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Ingredients

Yield:8 servings
  • 2pounds skinless boneless chicken thighs, cut into 2-inch chunks
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2tablespoons olive oil
  • 1large onion, diced (about 1½ cups)
  • 1large sprig thyme, plus 1 teaspoon freshly chopped leaves
  • 1bay leaf
  • 1cup white wine
  • 2cups basmati rice, soaked for 20 minutes, rinsed and drained
  • 8ounces king trumpet mushrooms, or a mixture of mushrooms, sliced ¼-inch thick
  • 4cups hot chicken broth
  • 3tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1cup frozen peas, cooked for 2 minutes in salted water (optional)
  • 2small garlic cloves, smashed to a paste with a little salt
  • 3tablespoons roughly chopped parsley
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

593 calories; 29 grams fat; 9 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 12 grams monounsaturated fat; 5 grams polyunsaturated fat; 50 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 5 grams sugars; 27 grams protein; 940 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Put chicken pieces on a baking sheet and season generously with salt and pepper. Set aside. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

  2. Step 2

    Pour olive oil into a 4-quart enamelware Dutch oven or similar heavy pot and set over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook, stirring, until nicely browned, 8 to 10 minutes, then season with salt. Add chicken, thyme sprig and bay leaf, and continue to cook, stirring, for 2 minutes more.

  3. Step 3

    Add wine and simmer briskly until reduced by half, about 5 minutes.

  4. Step 4

    Add rice and a large handful of mushrooms and stir to combine. (Reserve most of the mushrooms for garnish.) Add broth and bring to a simmer. Check broth for seasoning and adjust.

  5. Step 5

    Cover pot and cook for 10 minutes over medium heat. Transfer pot to oven and bake for 20 minutes. Finally, remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes off heat.

  6. Step 6

    While rice is baking, sauté remaining mushrooms: Melt butter in a large skillet over high heat. Add mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and cook, rapidly stirring, until they have softened and browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Add peas, if using, and heat through. Turn off heat, then add reserved chopped thyme, the garlic and the parsley. Toss to coat well.

  7. Step 7

    Fluff rice, then top with sautéed mushrooms and serve.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
3,010 user ratings
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Comments

Mike

Is there a step missing here? Why does the chicken start out on a "baking sheet" that is never actually put in the oven?

Dan

I have made this twice now. The first time was exactly as written. All of us loved the flavors in the dish but the texture was terrible. The rice disintegrated to the point of mushiness. It felt like bad Thanksgiving dressing.

The second time I cut the rice, wine and stock in half and instead of soaking the rice I just rinsed it in several changes of water for a minute or so to take off some of the outer starch. The texture of the rice was far superior. Much better.

Mei

Indistinguishable from risotto but easier to make. As such, I would add some grated Parmesan at the end for more flavor. The baking sheet step is unnecessary if you season the chicken in the cutting board. I like one pot meals so I would sauté the mushrooms, garlic and peas in the Dutch oven first, set aside and then start the recipe as written- saving a pan to clean after.

ccfca

Made recipe with 1.3 lbs of chicken breast and subsequently adjusted to use about 3/4 of the remaining ingredients (generally). I put about 3/4 of the 8 oz. of mushrooms I used into the rice/oven mix and then sautéed the rest per recipe. I think next time do 1/2. Used a bit more frozen peas than asked for and just defrosted them in hot water rather than cooking them. Added about 1/2 tsp hot chili flakes along the way. Also used 100% of the herbs even with the lesser amounts of chicken and rice. Very good and easy. Fun fact: I used homegrown oyster mushrooms!!

Katia

I love Tanis and these flavors, but read all the comments before making; "bland" and "mush" were common descriptors. So I preemptively tweaked it, and it came out GREAT: Browned the chicken thoroughly first, removed Sautéed onions and some mushrooms in the fond, removed Deglazed with wine and reduced Added rice, then broth as needed (using the knuckle method) Returned chicken and mushrooms to pot and simmered for 15 minutes Let rest for 10, sautéed and added toppings as written.

Erin

Ugh. I really wanted this one to work. I read the comments in advance and cut back on the rice. No luck. Just mush.

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