I have lost count how many times and how many variations I have made of this One Pot Chicken and Rice dish. Hardly any hassle, loads of flavour and you can chop and change the flavours as you please.

The recipe comes from Diana Henry’s book called Simple, one of my all time favourite cookbooks. For some reason the recipe never caught my eye and it was only after I saw my friend Hande’s Instagram story where she made her version of it that I went back to the book to find it.

As mentioned before, I have made various versions of the recipe and you can flavour the dish as you please. I have done a pick and mix of spices that I had in the cupboard and I have also made a curry version which was really delicious. For this version I added chorizo, sweet red pepper and combined it with garlic and paprika. Absolutely delicious.

I added a few steps but the original recipe bungs it all in the pan and and it works perfectly that way. You don’t have to brown the chicken but I do prefer to fry the onions and garlic. I also find that coating the chicken portions in some of the spices before cooking intensifies the flavour as the rice will soak and mellow it so you want bursts of flavour on the chicken skin. The most important step is washing the rice, do not skip that otherwise the rice will end up sticky. (I have made a version with wholegrain basmati last week – worked like a charm.)

If you love rice dishes you will love this dish. Loads of flavour and it is so hard to resist another portion. Serve with some yoghurt on the side, roasted veggies, fresh veggies or a simple salad

I hope you enjoy this recipe for One Pot Chicken and Rice with Chorizo. If you’ve made the recipe share it with me by tagging @heinstirred on Instagram or Facebook with the hashtag #heinstirred.

Olive Oil provided by Baleia Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I am proud to be associated with Baleia Extra Virgin Olive Oil and use it whenever a recipe requires Extra Virgin Olive Oil. The South African cold press extra virgin Olive Oil is produced in the Riversdale area, has a whiff of fresh cut grass and aromas of green tomatoes, almonds artichokes and green apples.

One Pot Chicken and Rice with Chorizo

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Ingredients

225 g basmati rice
120 g chorizo sausage roughly chopped
1 onion roughly chopped
1 red pepper deseeded and roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic mashed
olive oil for frying if needed
20 ml smoked paprika
15 ml ground cumin
5 ml ground ginger
1 tsp chilli flakes more or less to taste
8 skin on bone chicken thighs or thighs and drumsticks
600 ml hot chicken stock
sea salt flakes

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C
Put the rice in a sieve and wash it under running water until the water runs clear
Mix the paprika, cumin, ginger and chilli and place about a tablespoon of the spice mix in a large sandwich bag with the chicken pieces
Close the bag and shake to coat the chicken
Place a large heavy-based oven proof dish that will hold the chicken in a single layer over a medium heat
Add the chorizo and fry the sausage for a few minutes until the fat is released
Add the onion and red pepper and fry for another 10 minutes until soft (add some olive oil if needed)
Add the garlic and spices and cook for another 5 minutes
Tip the rice into the pan, add sea salt flakes and give it a good mix
Place the chicken in the pan and press slightly in the rice
Add the stock and sprinkle the chicken pieces with a bit more salt so the skin crisps
Place in the oven and cook uncovered for 40 minutes until the top is golden ,the chicken cooked through and the rice crispy around the edges of the pan