Chicken with Rice: A One Pot Frugal Family Meal!

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Follow FFF on Pinterest!I love to try to recreate dishes I had as a child/teen from scratch.

Never really knowing if I have the ingredients correct or not, I tend to go on taste alone.

This is one of those dishes that I’m pretty sure I’m not recreating authentically…but it doesn’t really matter because it tastes so darn good.

Plus it’s a rather frugal meal that can feed a large group for very little cash.

Essentially, this dish can be made from a cheap pack of chicken thighs, some chicken broth, some peppers and some rice.

Under $10 for a huge pot that could feed a large gathering/family, or split the meal and have some for tomorrow’s lunch.

My chicken with rice might not be authentic Arroz Con Pollo…but it does taste muy yummy!

Chicken with Rice

Ingredients:

1 pack of chicken thighs (10 chicken thighs)
2 cups of white rice
4 cups of chicken broth
3 multicolored bell peppers diced
1 large onion diced
olive oil
2 packages Sazon (purchase here or make your own Sazon from ingredients you likely already have on hand)
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat a small bit of olive oil in a deep pot (this pot is going to need to hold 4 cups of chicken broth, rice, and chicken and it’s going to need a lid…plan accordingly!)

Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper (I like to use kosher salt)

Start cooking chicken skin side down. Cook each side about 5-8 minutes. (NOTE: You can remove chicken skin after cooking. We are going to use the fat that renders off of the chicken skin to cook our veggies though, so at least cook it with the skin and than remove before the next step)

Place cooked chicken in a closed container (it’s okay and actually preferable if it is NOT cooked through. It will finish cooking later).

Add diced veggies to your pot and season with salt and pepper. Cook until slightly browned and tender. Add your sazon packages or two servings of your homemade Sazon.

Add rice to your pot and stir around to “brown” the rice for just a few minutes. This gives the finished rice a bit more of a “toasty” flavor.

Pour the chicken broth in the pot and add the chicken back in. Bring to a slight boil then cover and reduce heat to a simmer.

Cook until rice is tender and chicken is cooked through. This can vary based on the heat you use, your pot, etc. For me it’s generally around 20-30 minutes. Just keep your eye on it and stir it every 5-10 minutes.

Allow to sit off the heat for around 10 minutes to let the rice fluff.

Enjoy!