One-Pot Chicken and Rice With Caramelized Lemon
Published Aug. 23, 2024
- Total Time
- 55 minutes
- Prep Time
- 10 minutes
- Cook Time
- 45 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 4bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 1½ pounds)
- Salt and black pepper
- 2teaspoons dried oregano
- Crushed red pepper
- 2tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2lemons
- 1cup pitted Castelvetrano or kalamata olives, smashed and roughly chopped
- 6garlic cloves, minced
- 1medium shallot or ½ medium onion, minced
- 2cups long-grain white rice, rinsed
- 4cups (32 ounces) chicken broth
- ¼cup roughly chopped fresh parsley, for serving
Preparation
- Step 1
Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Use paper towels to pat the chicken thighs until dry on all sides. Season the chicken with 1 teaspoon each salt, pepper and dried oregano and a pinch of crushed red pepper.
- Step 2
Place a large Dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat and add oil. Let oil heat up for a few minutes. Add thighs to the pot, skin side down, and let cook undisturbed until they self-release from the bottom of the pot, about 5 minutes. Remove from the pot and set aside.
- Step 3
Cut 1 lemon into ¼-inch-thick slices. Add to the pot and cook until caramelized and softened, about 2 minutes. Remove from the pot and set aside.
- Step 4
Add the olives, garlic, shallot and 1 teaspoon each salt, pepper and dried oregano to the pot. Cook over medium-low heat, scraping browned bits from the bottom of the pan, until garlic is fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn the heat up to high, add the rice and broth to the pot, stir to combine and cover until it comes to a boil, about 5 minutes.
- Step 5
Remove the pot from heat, add the browned chicken thighs on top of the rice, skin side up, then cover the chicken thighs with the lemon slices. Place the pot, covered, into the oven and bake until the rice and chicken are fully cooked, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve topped with fresh parsley and a squeeze of lemon juice.
Private Notes
Comments
I made it in the Instant Pot, since my kitchen doesn’t have air conditioning. Mostly followed the steps as written, except after cooking all the vegetables I deglazed the pot with the broth, then put the rice in and the chicken on top. Lemons on top of the chicken. 6 minutes high pressure with a natural release. It came out great!
Really delicious and easy meal. I upped the thigh count to 6, and reduced rice to 1.5 cups and broth to 3 cups, which sorted the carb/protein ratio issues mentioned by other users. I personally like the bitterness of the lemon slices, but I think using the zest of one lemon instead of slices would eliminate the bitterness while maintaining the lift of citrus.
For those finding the Lemons too bitter or strong, make sure they are at least lightly browned on both sides before removing from the pan, and put them under the chicken rather than over the chicken. This will allow them to cook/mellow further in the broth.
I’ve made this five times and it’s still a huge hit at my house. Hubs says it’s his favorite NYT recipe and I’ve made about 50 of them this year. I haven’t tried it with Kalamata olives yet but plan to. I agree that one can never have enough savory rice and think the proportions are perfect. No changes. Minor timing tweaks due to my hot oven and that’s it! Make this.
It’s unclear from the recipe if the chicken should be browned on one or both sides. Same with the lemons, though the video says both sides for lemons. Thoughts on what’s best for the chicken?
Doubled the recipe. Cooked per instructions. Divine. Used plenty of olives and oregano. Skinless boneless thighs were substituted for thighs with skins. The skinless thighs worked out great! The family raved about this recipe.