One Pot Coconut Chicken and Rice is the best weeknight meal because it is tasty, simple and it’s a cinch to clean up!
Anytime I can make dinner in ONE pan, I am sold. Sometimes you just need a recipe that is easy and delicious. For this recipe, you simply add all of the ingredients and bake. Can it get easier than that? Makes busy nights so much more manageable.
One Pot Coconut Chicken and Rice
I love Thai food and this recipe reminds me why. Coconut is one of my favorite ingredients and it is often used in Thai dishes. It has a subtle sweet flavor that I just crave. Coconut milk and shredded coconut is the real MVP of this one pot meal but when you add ginger and cilantro the flavors really come alive.
For this recipe I like to use chicken thighs. They are usually cheaper than chicken breast and so tender when you cook them. You could use chicken breast but this recipe just goes next level when you use chicken thighs.
Ingredients in Coconut Chicken and Rice:
- Chicken: using boneless skinless chicken thighs here is amazing, they cook up like a dream and are full of flavor.
- Rice: you can use any white rice you'd like for this recipe, I like jasmine rice and any long grain rice will work great.
- Coconut: coconut milk AND shredded coconut add flavor to this dish
- Onion and fresh ginger: these two are adding tons of flavor to the dish.
- Green onion, cilantro, and lime juice: these aren't just garnishes, they are adding all kind of complex flavor at the end of cooking, don't skip them.
What do I serve with Coconut Chicken and Rice?
This meal can completely stand alone if you want, but I like to add a side of vegetables too. Either a green salad, broccoli or green beans would compliment this dish perfectly. And everything is good with some fresh baguettes, highly recommend that.
Frequently Asked Questions:
I really like using Jasmine rice when I cook. It is slightly sweet and accompanies many dishes well. Any white rice will work for this recipe, long grain is preferred.
A one pot meal means that everything is cooked in 1 pot or pan. It makes it easy to cook and clean up. We need more one pot meals in our life.
Yes and I love it because the cooking chicken releases some moisture and those juices get absorbed by the rice. It's part of what makes the dish so delicious.
More chicken recipes:
- Stove Top Chicken and Rice
- Simple Instant Pot Chicken and Rice
- Instant Pot Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
- Roasted Chicken Thighs and Potatoes
- Baked Chicken Thighs
If you’ve tried this coconut chicken and rice recipe or any other recipe on Bless this Mess, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some pictures of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can repost on my stories.
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One Pot Coconut Chicken and Rice
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
This One Pot Coconut Chicken and Rice Recipe is the perfect quick and easy weeknight meal for your family! It's flavorful, delicious, and it makes for easy clean up!
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, patted dry
- 1 medium onion, diced or grated
- 1 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced
- 1 (15oz) can coconut milk
- 1 ½ cups chicken broth
- 1 ½ cups rice, uncooked
- ½ cup unsweetened, finely shredded coconut
- 2 green onions, diced
- 2 limes
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- salt and pepper, to taste
- olive oil
Instructions
- Heat a drizzle of olive oil in an oven-safe Dutch oven or pan.
- Heat the Dutch oven to medium to medium-high heat.
- Sprinkle salt and pepper over chicken.
- When the oil in the pan is hot brown the chicken in the oil for 3-4 minutes per side. Remove from the pan and set on a plate.
- Add the onion and ginger to the pan. Heat until tender and translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Pour coconut milk and broth into the pan and stir to scrape up any browned bits.
- Add rice and stir to coat.
- Nestle the chicken into the rice mixture and sprinkle with coconut.
- Add a tight fitting lit to the pan.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or till rice is tender and chicken is cooked through.
- Sprinkle green onions and cilantro over all the rice and chicken, and then squeeze lime juice over everything.
- Serve right away.
Notes
- Delicious served with broccoli or green beans.
- Author: One Lovely Life, adapted from Tyler Florence
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: Serves 4
Keywords: one pot chicken and rice, chicken and rice recipe, easy chicken and rice recipe, best chicken and rice recipe, coconut chicken, coconut chicken recipe, one pot chicken recipe, easy chicken and rice
There is something real tasty about One Pot Coconut Chicken and Rice. Quick, easy and delicious. You really gotta give this one a shot! It will be a meal that you will put on repeat.
Alyssa Ruman
If you are using chicken breast, would the cook time change? Thanks!
Andrea
Love this recipe! So easy to put together and very delicious!
★★★★★
Lymphoma Treatment Market
Thanks for your nice post I really like it and appreciate it.
★★★★★
stacy
THis looks amazing....have you tried freezing it before or after cooking so it can be ready quickly?
Ally
This reminded me immediately of Mark Bittman's Chicken and Rice the Easy Way (Google it, it was published in the NY Times) - do you know it? Everyone should learn this basic toolbox recipe! Busy mamas, working singles, college students on their own for the first time, (or even better) older kids just learning to cook - utterly simple almost-one-pot recipe with real ingredients, honestly 30 minutes start to finish, and you can vary it endlessly with spices, herbs, vegetables, sauces etc. It has a lot in common with this recipe but does not bake, you coat your dry rice in hot oil in your pot and pour separately-boiled liquid over it and the chicken, simmer for 20 minutes, and it comes out beautifully. I'm going to use these ingredients with that method and see how it comes out!
Emily Johnson
Um...do you need to put the lid on the pot when you put it in the oven? Dummies like me need this in the directions. Cuz my rice ain't cooked . . .
Melissa
Oh no!! Yes, it does need a lid. I changed the recipe. Your willingness to try it out has forever corrected the mistake for the world. Thank you for being the guinea pig. I owe you a bag of rice!
Liz
A lovely recipe. Thanks so much.
Kristy
Would brown rice work well with this recipe? What did you use?
Melissa
Here's Emily's thoughts on the rice:
I just used long grain white rice. Brown rice would probably have to be par-cooked (cooked halfway). The time required for the brown rice would be too much for the chicken and you'd either have dry chicken or crunchy rice 🙂
Is also stay away from jasmine rice (the flavor would compete here), but long or short grain white rice is your best bet.
Jen
guess I should have scrolled through the comments first! I currently have the dish in the oven with brown rice! Just checked at 20 mins and the rice is no where near done!!
Naomi
This looks delicious, I'm going to make it for my Friday evening meal since I never got that far in my menu planning...haha. Could you make it in a crockpot?
Melissa
Hmmm. I don't have much experience with rice in a slow cooker. Do you? I'd be nervous about it cooking too long!