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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!
Made this tonight for the first time and loved it. I had to put a little extra water in at the end but that was no biggie. I did cut the spices by at least half and my family STILL thought it was spicy, but they loved it. Next time I will use chicken stock instead of water to boost the flavor a little. Loved a different flavor profile than what I normally cook! Thank you!
Thank you so much! Sooo happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe! 🙂 xT
I think this is a great base recipe! I make zillions of HBH recipes, and this one lacked a little oomph for me, but I will definitely tweak and keep in the rotation.
Based on the comments and my own judgment, I used 1 cup of medium grain rice and 2 cups of boiling water, and the cook time was spot on. You could definitely increase the rice per the recipe, but then I would definitely increase the liquid. (Also, I’ve found that “medium grain” is a good sub for “Basmati” in any recipe, as I can’t find Basmati in my normal store.)
I would definitely replace the water with chicken broth next time, or maybe a combo of enchilada sauce and water per this recipe on HBH (https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/chicken-tortilla-enchilada-rice-bake/), and I would add at least a teaspoon of salt (not measured in the original recipe: just says “salt”).
I would also definitely toss the chicken in a longer list of spices, or increase the amounts of garlic, onion, etc. I felt like I was only tasting chipotle. I might even add some lemon juice: the lemon zest was a great addition, but I wanted more acid 🙂 Maybe I’ll marinate my chicken next time, this seemed like a killer marinade recipe.
The hot honey is incredible, but I’m a glutton and I wanted something creamy on this, so I added a creamy green avocado dressing I made for another meal the day before, and it was a nice, flavorful but cooling addition.
You could use probably whatever veggies you want in this, and probably any type of chicken (I used boneless breasts cut up): again, great, easy, base recipe, but I’ll definitely punch up the non-pepper flavors next time.
Thanks Tieghan!
Hi Samantha! Thank you so so much for this feedback! I really appreciate it! 🙂 xT
Could I use long grain white rice instead of basmati?
Hi Chelsea,
The long grain white rice might cook differently, but it will work for you! Let me know if you give this recipe a try! xT
Recipe tastes great, but this is the second time I’ve made it and neither time did the rice cook in the allotted time, nor with the amount of liquid called for. I had to take the chicken out so it didn’t overcook and added an additional 30 minutes to get the rice to cook. Next time, I’ll cook the rice separately from the chicken and zucchini
Hi Jill,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback! So sorry to hear about your rice! What kind are you using? Let me know how I can help! xT
Good flavor, however could not get rice to fully cook. I removed chicken and still wouldn’t cook. Removed veggies (I used green beans) and had to microwave to finish rice. Cost me about 30 minutes extra time. Not sure how to correct issue but def needs corrected.
Hi Michelle,
Love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks a lot for trying it and your feedback! Sorry to hear about your rice. What kind of rice did you use? xT
I just made this. The flavors are amazing, but the chicken took almost an hour to cook through. Also, the rice needed much more than 0.5 cups more water. The recipe is great, but cooking as directed didn’t work for me. I’ll have to keep this in mind if I make again.
Hi Nicole,
Wonderful!! I am so glad that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks for giving it a go! Sorry to hear you had to adjust the cook time! xx
This dish was better than I expected! I did have to add more water like it said for the rice, towards the end. The flavors from the rice and chicken compliment each other so well. My kids even said I made a “fancy” dinner tonight 🙂
Hey Amanda,
Happy Sunday!! Thanks a bunch for giving this recipe a try, I am so glad to hear that it turned out well for you:)
Just made this, so good but so spicy! We’ve been trying to adventure a little with our meals, and this was a good starting point. I used about half of the recommended serving sizes for the spicy things (cayenne pepper, the chipotle in adobo, etc) and used sriracha for the hot honey. So good! I also doubled the rice, since we like rice in our household. I loved that it was all one pan, it was seriously such an easy dinner to cook after a long day at work. Thanks for sharing!
Hey Savannah,
Thanks for your comment and trying this recipe! I am so glad it turned out well for you! Have a great day:)
We absolutely love this recipe. So much that the last time we made it we did two pans of it next to each other in the over so we had tons of leftovers.
We haven’t had any issues with it. The rice cooks perfectly! We sometimes make extra sauce only because it’s so incredible.
The best thing is that it’s so simple and takes no time to make but is delicious. It’s become a go to in our house.
Hey there,
That’s fantastic to hear! Thanks for trying this dish and your comment, love that it was enjoyed! xT
This is a definite keeper! I found if I added 2 cups of boiling water the rice cooked much quicker. Served with your harvest salad & some corn bread with honey butter…Deelish!
Love to hear this Danielle!! Thanks a lot for making this recipe and your review:) xT
This recipe while delicious, it took 20-25 more minutes to cook than the suggested time and 1/2 cup more water as the rice did not cook. I removed the chicken and continued to cook until the rice was done. I wonder if it would not be better to cover this dish during cooking to decrease the time and water ratio. The baked rice recipes I have used in the past have called for a cover during cooking. We enjoyed the chicken marinade, it is a winner!
Hi Rita,
I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your feedback! Sorry to hear you had to make some adjustments, but glad you enjoyed the final flavors! xx
We’ve made it numerous times with no issues on the rice.
Such a delicious, flavorful recipe! And one pan is icing on the cake!
Thank you Tesha! xT
This was the first rice bake that I made from HBH and it was so easy and delicious! I am looking forward to making more variations. I halved the rice for personal preference and roasted some extra zucchini on the side. Needed some extra time in the oven, but potentially because I used brown rice instead of white. I also skipped the butter and did not miss it at all!
Hi there! Thanks so so much for trying out the recipe! Hope you enjoyed! 🙂 xT
What kind of hot sauce do you recommend for the hot honey? Can’t wait to make this!
This is by far the best recipe I´ve tried from your collection! The lemon zest is a key ingredient, and the rice just soaks up all the lovely flavours!
Wow thank you so so much Nina! Love to hear this! xT