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The easiest One Pan Chipotle Honey Chicken and Rice, our new weeknight staple. Chicken breasts or skinless chicken 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.
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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 honey chipotle chicken! 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 sauce, 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
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!
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
The rice didn’t cook at all. Next time I make this recipe I’ll cover the dish with aluminum foil. Really disappointing.
Hi Becca,
Thanks for trying this dish and sharing your feedback, very sorry to hear it did not turn out for you!
I made this for a birthday dinner and it came out beautifully and was enjoyed by everyone, even the fussy eater. I did not find the main part of the dish overly spicy, but I served the hot honey on the side versus pouring it over the chicken, as not everyone present likes spicy dishes. I used skin on thighs (I deboned myself), and I did choose to use chicken broth instead of water for the rice which I would recommend if you have it on hand. I cooked in a enamelled cast iron casserole pan with the lid off, and with the recommended amount of liquid and didn’t have any issue with the rice being cooked in the amount of time specified. I can see possibly needing a little extra liquid if using skinless chicken.
Hey Cindy,
Yay! Love to hear this dish turned out nicely for you, I appreciate you making it and your feedback!
Love this! Made a tofu version too! Ran out of basmati for the tofu version so I subbed in 3/4 green lentils. So good! My
Boys eat meat and loved the original version.
Hey Amanda,
Amazing! So glad to hear you enjoyed this dish, thanks for making it! Happy Sunday!
This recipe is absolutely delicious. It’s my go to. It’s so easy ..you can’t not say no to a one pot meal. I sometimes do have to add extra broth and cook for the additional 10 mins .. but honestly it’s worth the wait . Thank you for sharing .
Hi Ashley,
Love to hear this! Thanks for making this recipe so often and sharing your feedback! Happy fall!
I’ve made this twice now, and my husband and I loved it both times! The first time I made as is, and deboned the chicken thighs because I wanted the skin- great decision but a little time consuming. This time, I used boneless skinless chicken thighs. I also doubled the recipe and used my roasting pan so everything was still pretty flat. It came out wonderfully! I cooked it for about 50 minutes, and ended up adding 1 more cup of water while it was cooking. Now we’ve got plenty of leftovers for the week!
Hi Alysha! So happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Thanks so much for giving it a try! Have a great day! xT
We really enjoyed this dish. I wasn’t sure if it was supposed to be boneless or bone in chicken thighs. I used bone in so had to cook an extra 20 minutes and covered with foil for half the time. Added some more water to rice as well and then to crisp the skin I put on a cookie sheet on broil. Should I have used boneless instead?
Hi Connie! I would use boneless chicken in this recipe so you don’t have to cook quite as long! So sorry for the confusion! Hope you enjoyed 🙂 xT
This was made as a meal for my family after the birth of our first baby in 2023. It’s been a regular on our menu ever since! I do cut back on some of the spice, purely because I am a weenie.
Thank you SO much Alex! Aww makes me so happy that this recipe has become a staple for you! Have a great week! xT
Made this dish, was absolutely delicious! Came out perfect at 40 min
Love all your recipes that I have tried of yours. My family loves all the spicy food
Hi Denise! I am sooo glad you loved this recipe! Thanks for trying it out! xT
Hi,
Was wondering if you would do anything differently if you were taking it to a potluck.
Hi Katherine,
Nope, I would keep everything the same:) Please let me know if you have any other questions!
Disappointed I had to keep putting my dish back in because the boneless chicken thighs would not get close to 165 even after 60 mins! I ended up pulling the thighs and putting them in the air fryer instead. My annoyance mostly went away after we were finally able to eat it. It was very spicy, but the flavor was great. I put the whole pot of sauce overtop. I did use a ceramic dish and my thighs were what I would consider normal size. I think I would just cook the thighs separate next time!
Hi LJ,
Thanks for trying this dish and sharing your feedback, sorry to hear it took so long for your thighs to cook. Sounds like quite a long time especially at 400F. My apologies! xx
The chicken had a really good flavor. I used broccoli instead of zucchini and it was great. Super easy to throw together and loved the easy cleanup. The only complaint I have is that it was a little dry. My family thought it needed a more substantial sauce for the rice & veggies. Honey was good but not enough. Other than that, it was a win!
Hi there,
Happy Friday!! Thank you so much for trying this recipe and your comment, glad to hear you enjoyed the flavors, sorry for any dryness!
The idea of the recipe is good and flavors can be great but measurements are not right. First things first, rice needed more water especially bc Basmati can be dry without enough moisture. Also, use HALF the amount of chipotle peppers! Holy s*** that’s spicy! We had to avoid the spicy honey bc it was extremely spicy and i like spice. I consider myself a great cook so I will try this again but with my own twist.
Hi there,
Thanks so much for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback. So sorry to hear it did not turn out for you. Please let me know if you try again:) xx
Recipe was delicious but I kept having to put the dish back in the oven because my chicken stayed very pink on the inside?? I eventually covered it with tin foil… would this be because i used a glass baking dish?
Hi Darah,
Thanks so much for trying this dish, so glad it was enjoyed! I’m wondering if your chicken was just on the thicker side? That could have been the issue. Thanks again for making this! xT
We liked the flavours but since I use brown rice I added a bit more water to the rice and let it soak before assembly. I did have to cook another 15 minutes. Used mushrooms instead of the zucchini as I had to use them up and not really a fan of cooked zucchini. I did find it a bit greasy, thought maybe I’d sprinkle the cheese on rather than mix it in to the olive oil next time and use less oil. The flavours went very well together. I’ll try it again with my tweaks. Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks so much, Susan! So glad to hear you will make this again, thanks for sharing your feedback!
Hi! This was another success! We loved it! However, about 10% of my rice didn’t cook that was under the chicken. I had to remove the chicken when done and place back in with more broth to continue cooking the rice. What did I do wrong?
Hi! This was another success! We loved it! However, about 10% of my rice didn’t cook that was under the chicken. I had to remove the chicken when done and place back in with more broth to continue cooking rice. What did I do wrong?
Hi Brandi,
Thanks so much for making this recipe and your comment, so glad to hear it was enjoyed! What kind of baking dish did you use? If you have ceramic, I would try that next time. Have the best week! xxT
Everything cooked well for me in this recipe. The chicken was a little spicier than I was expecting – not sure if it was the peppers in adobo or the hot honey. That being said, everyone cleaned their plates and said how much they enjoyed this dish. We will definitely be making it again.
Thanks so much, Jennifer!!
This recipe ! OMG I absolutely love it. I always do a little more chipotle 😉 because I love the spice. Big hit in my house . Even my 4yr old likes it . Thank you for sharing ☺️
Hi there! Wow I am SO glad you and your family enjoyed this yummy one pan dinner! Thanks so much for giving it a try! 🙂 xT
Hi! Our family loves this recipe. Can I replace the rice with long grain brown rice?
Hi Kaci,
Love to hear your family enjoys this recipe! Totally, that should work nicely for you! Have a great week! xx