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The easiest One Pan Chipotle Honey Chicken and Rice, our new weeknight staple. Chicken breasts or thighs seasoned with olive oil, parmesan cheese, chipotle, paprika, garlic, and salt. All tossed together with dry basmati rice and sliced zucchini. Top the chicken with a spicy honey sauce just as it comes out of the oven. This juicy spicy/smoky chicken and rice is all made in one pan – no cooking the rice separately. Simply mix, bake, eat, and enjoy. You’re going to LOVE this.
I think I’m in my “quick and easy” era. One of the things that I find so inspiring about Taylor Swift is her ability to continue to recreate herself. She never stops. And because she has the ability to always be evolving and changing, she never gets boring. We always want more from her!
I hope in a way I can be like this. I definitely am the type of person that has “eras”. Periods when life looks a little different than other times. And I’m always, changing and growing, literally by the day.
The point is, right now I’m in a quick and easy era.
Because of this, I get to be creative with recipes. How can I make this taste the yummiest but also be easy? What ingredients can I use that are multi-purpose?
I think about it all. And certainly, nothing is easier than a dinner that cooks up all in one pan. Especially a one-pan chicken and rice situation. We just love a one-pan recipe that’s also filled with yummy flavor!
Onto the details
Step 1: season up the chicken
I wanted to create a spicy, smoky chicken. So I decided on chipotle honey garlic! Such a delicious flavor profile that most people love.
Take chicken breasts or thighs (or do a mix) and mix them together with olive oil, grated parmesan cheese, chipotle in adobo, paprika, onion powder, and fresh chopped-up garlic.
Step 2: the rice and zucchini
Next, get a 9×13 inch baking dish, add the dry rice and sliced rounds (or chopped chunks) of zucchini. Pour over the water, which will cook into the dry rice while baking.
Place the chicken directly over the rice and set the pan in the oven to cook. The rice will get fluffy and the chicken becomes crispy!
Step 3: the honey sauce
While the chicken bakes, work on the honey sauce. This is a very simple mix of honey, hot sauces, and spices all simmered together gently on the stove.
As the chicken comes out of the oven, spoon the sauce directly over each piece.
Step 4: add basil and enjoy
Finish the dish with fresh basil. Or use parsley, green onion, thyme, cilantro, or whatever you love or have on hand. I think basil and parsley work best.
Serve the fluffy rice under each piece of chicken, then extra honey sauce on top! Oh, and a little sea salt and some lemon juice are really nice too.
As the chicken roasts, the juices drip down into the rice creating flavorful rice and roasting up the zucchini too. It’s so delicious!
And the chicken doesn’t dry out since it’s roasted with a bit of water. As the water cooks into the rice, the chicken slowly and beautifully roasts and gets perfectly crisp.
I love to serve this with my favorite loaf of 5 ingredient beer bread. This is certainly a wonderful transitional dinner that will be nice heading into September!
Looking for other easy chicken and rice dinners? Here are my favorites:
One Pan Lemon Pepper Yogurt Chicken and Rice
One Skillet Louisiana Style Chicken and Rice
Broccoli Cheddar Chicken and Rice Casserole
Cheesy Zucchini Chicken and Rice Bake
Slow Cooker Herbed Chicken and Rice Pilaf
Spicy Sesame Chicken and Ginger Rice
Lastly, if you make this One Pan Chipotle Honey Chicken and Rice, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
One Pan Chipotle Honey Chicken and Rice
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 687 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 6 chicken thighs or breasts (skin on or off)
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1-2 tablespoons chopped chipotle in adobo
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 1 3/4 cups dry basmati rice
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 2 cups sliced/chopped zucchini
Hot Honey
- 1/2 cup honey
- 2-3 tablespoons hot sauce
- 1-3 teaspoons cayenne pepper
- 3/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
- 1/2 teaspon onion powder
- sea salt
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 400°.2. In a bowl, toss together the chicken, olive oil, parmesan, chipotle, paprika, onion powder, garlic, lemon, salt, and pepper. 3. Pour the rice and zucchini into a 9×13-inch baking dish. Pour over 2 cups of water. Add the butter. Arrange the chicken over the rice and zucchini. Bake 30-40 minutes, until the rice is fluffy and the chicken is cooked through. If the rice is hard, add 1/3 cup more water and cook for an additional 10 minutes.4. To make the sauce. In a sauce pot, warm together the honey, hot sauce, cayenne, chili powder, onion powder, and a pinch of salt.5. When the chicken is done, spoon half the sauce over the chicken. Serve the chicken, rice, and zucchini topped with fresh basil and extra honey sauce. Enjoy!
Do you need to cover the pan with foil so the rice will cook properly?
Hi Vickie,
Yes, you can go ahead and cover the dish:) Let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xT
Delicious. Got lots of compliments.
Hey Sarah,
Amazing!! Love to hear that this dish turned out nicely for you, thanks for trying it! xx
Instead of making your own Hot Honey, could you buy some and use that?
Thank you!
Hi Kyla,
Of course, that would work well for you! Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
This was just the kind of recipe I was looking for! The flavor is KICK A$$!! And it’s some hands on, but a fair amount of hands off for a BIG payoff. Can’t wait to try more of your recipes. *chef’s kiss*
Hey Kelli,
Wonderful!! Thanks a lot for trying this recipe and your comment, so glad it turned out well! Have a great weekend! xT
This was just ok. Spicy but not really flavourful? Wouldn’t make again and would not recommend. It was easy and required minimal ingredients so still giving it 2 stars.
Hi Kris! I’m really sorry you didn’t enjoy this recipe! thank you for letting me know, I appreciate the feedback! xT
I love your recipes, but we’re vegetarians. I wonder if you could sub the chicken with tofu?
Hi Mikki! I haven’t ever tried this with tofu before so I can’t say for sure! xT
Brilliant recipe and delicious results. I used whole grain basmati rice, which is far healthier than the white basmati. If you’re using whole grain rice, then whatever quantity of whole grain rice you use, you must use double the quantity of water AND double the cooking time.
It was a bit nerve-wracking to see the chicken floating on top of the water, before it went into the oven but I held my nerve and it worked. The extra water from the outset is essential. Next time, I’m going to try starting the whole grain rice off in the oven for twenty minutes without the chicken and then add the chicken. I’ll post about my results.
Such a brilliant website , I’m so happy I found you! One request from chilly England: would you be so kind as to add in your quantities in metric as well as US cups etc., please? It’s bewildering having to navigate US recipes sometimes.
Best wishes
Denise
Thank you for giving this recipe a try! Hope you have a great rest of your week! 🙂 xT
Making this tonight and can already tell some changes I’ll make.
1. Sautee two yellow onions, garlic and red pepper until soft and add to the rice.
2. Searing the skin side of the chicken in a cast iron skillet before adding to the bake
3. Cooking the casserole covered so the rice will steam – if chicken skin isn’t crispy it goes under the broiler for 3-5min at the end.
4. I’m making this for a crowd so 10 thighs, at least 2 cups of rice and 6 cups of chicken stock. I always do 1:3 ratio of rice to liquid and it comes out great. Will also increase cook time to 45 min due to larger quantity. Fingers crossed!
Thank you so much for the feedback Kate! I hope this turns out for you! Let me know if you love it! 🙂 xT
Loved this one. The list of ingredients make the recipe seem intimidating, but it was very easy to make. The chicken had a ton of flavor. I’m a medium spice person, and was a little worried it would be too spicy for me with the sauce on top but it was perfect!
Thank you so much Samantha! So glad this recipe turned out for you! xT
Very flavorful. YUM!
Thank you Sharon! xT