Our Favourite One Pot Baked Chicken & Rice

This recipe is a staple in both our houses, you can even prepare it ahead of time and then simply pop it in the oven when you get home from work and voila - dinner is served!

This is the basic recipe, but you can customise - sometimes I add diced celery, carrot, zucchini (whatevers in the fridge) when sautéing the onions to up the veg content. You can also sub in different herbs or marinate the chicken in your fave marinade just to change it up!

I like to use skin on, bone in chicken thighs as they have a higher concentration of nutrients and trace minerals, and they are also a great source of gelatin, collagen and glycine which are great for gut health - and they taste so much better. You can substitute boneless thighs if you prefer, but breast would probably be way too dry so sub in at your own risk!

INGREDIENTS:

- 4 bone in, skin on chicken thighs

Marinade:

- 4 tsp dried oregano

- 1/2 small brown onion, finely diced

- 5 (or more) cloves of garlic, crushed and finely chopped

- zest of 1 lemon

- 1 tsp good quality sea salt

- 1 tsp black pepper

- 4 tbsp olive oil

Rice:

- 2 tbsp butter/ghee

- 1 large brown onion, diced

- 5 (or more) cloves of garlic, crushed and finely chopped

- 1 tsp dried oregano

- 1 tsp good quality sea salt

- 1/2 tsp pepper

- 1/2 cup white wine (optional)

- 2 cups chicken bone broth

- 1 cup medium grain white rice

- finely chopped fresh parsley, to serve (optional)

METHOD:

1. Mix up marinade ingredients and marinate chicken for at least an hour (but overnight is best)

2. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius

3. Melt butter/ghee in a cast iron (oven safe) pan on medium/high heat. Add chicken, skin side down and cook for 4-5 mins each side. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.

4. Reduce heat to medium (add more butter/ghee if necessary) and add onions to pan, cook until softened and well browned, add garlic and cook until fragrant (around 1-2 mins). Add oregano, salt and pepper and stir together for a minute or so.

5. Deglaze pan with white wine and allow to cook off for a minute or so before adding chicken broth. Increase heat and bring to a simmer.

6. Once simmering, turn heat off and place chicken thighs, skin side up on top of rice.

7. Cover with lid or foil and bake for 35 mins. Uncover, return to oven for around 10-15 mins until liquid is absorbed, rice is tender and chicken is cooked through.

8. Garnish with chopped parsley and S&P and serve.