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One Pan Herb Brown Butter Chicken and Zucchini Rice Pilaf, my family’s favorite type of dish. Chicken breasts or thighs seasoned with olive oil, parmesan, garlic, thyme, rosemary, paprika, and cayenne. All tossed together with jasmine rice pilaf made with orzo and shredded zucchini. This herb butter chicken and rice pilaf is all made in one pan. No cooking the rice pilaf separately. You’re going to LOVE this. Serve each plate of chicken and rice pilaf with a drizzle of sage brown butter. YUM!
Ok, yes I know, more chicken and rice. But hear me out, my family lives off of this style of meal. But today’s recipe is even more special than others I’ve previously shared. This one takes me back to my middle school days when mom would do roasted chicken with a store-bought seasoning blend and that yummy box of chicken-flavored rice pilaf. She’d maybe add a vegetable side like broccoli, but honestly, I don’t really remember that.
Mom pretty much stuck to chicken and rice. She was/is basic, but she knows what’s good. Plenty of butter was always her secret. So she taught me well and we love her even more for that.
Per usual this time of year, I start to crave those cozy, homestyle recipes we’d all enjoy as kids. The ones our mom would cook up on Sunday nights. They made the whole house smell like a cozy roasted chicken dinner.
This is pretty much the herby, buttery roasted chicken and rice dinner we all love and crave. But this one is made in one pan and with very little effort. But the taste is so delicious.
Some details
Step 1: season the chicken
Start with the chicken. Toss it together with olive oil and parmesan. Add dried thyme, rosemary, smoked paprika, cayenne, and then make sure to season well with salt and pepper.
If you have fresh thyme and rosemary in your garden, definitely use those. I recommend about two tablespoons of fresh thyme and 1 scant tablespoon of fresh rosemary.
Step 2: make the zucchini rice pilaf.
Now the rice pilaf, which is my favorite. A mix of rice and pasta, then I also like to add summer zucchini and warming sage.
Get a 9×13 inch baking dish, add the dry rice, dry orzo pasta, an onion (optional), and 1-2 grated zucchini. Pour chicken or chicken bone broth overtop, and then use some fresh sage too. The broth will cook the rice in the oven.
Place the chicken directly over the rice pilaf, add a couple of pats of butter, and set the pan in the oven to cook. The rice will get fluffy and the chicken will become crispy!
I don’t even cover the pan or anything. This cooks up beautifully in just about 30 minutes. However, the timing will depend on the size of your chicken pieces and the size of your baking dish.
Step 3: make the sage brown butter
This is “extra” and while you don’t need it, it makes every bite of this dish yummier. So I of course recommend it. It’s salted butter cooked on the stove with whole leaves of sage.
It’s warming, and rich, so very delicious when spooned over the chicken and rice pilaf. You will really enjoy it.
Step 4: serve
Now that that chicken is cooked and the butter browned, simply plate and enjoy! Serve the chicken overtop a bowl of rice pilaf. Then spoon that golden sage brown butter over each bowl. A little sea salt is always nice too.
I absolutely could not love this recipe more and I know it’s a recipe that I’ll be coming back to time and time again. Perfect dinner to make for family and friends as we head into September and the cozy months beyond.
Looking for other crockpot meals? Here are a few ideas:
Crockpot Herb Butter Chicken and Wild Rice
Creamy White Bean Noodle Soup with Rosemary Bacon.
Mustard Herb Chicken and Creamy Orzo
Crockpot Crispy Buffalo Chicken Tacos with Jalapeño Ranch
Slow Cooker Saucy Sunday Bolognese Pasta
Crockpot Spaghetti Squash Lasagna Bolognese
One Pan Chipotle Honey Chicken and Rice
One Pan Lemon Pepper Yogurt Chicken and Rice
Lastly, if you make this One Pan Herb Butter Chicken and Zucchini Rice Pilaf, 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 Herb Butter Chicken and Zucchini Rice Pilaf
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 583 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 6 boneless chicken thighs or breasts (skin on or off)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan, plus parmesan rind
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 1 cup dry white jasmine rice
- 3/4 cup dry orzo pasta
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 cup grated zucchini
- 1 tablespoon chopped sage, plus 8 sage leaves
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 400°.2. In a bowl, toss together the chicken, olive oil, parmesan, garlic, thyme, rosemary, paprika, cayenne, salt, and pepper.3. Pour the rice, orzo, onion, zucchini, and chopped sage into a 9×13-inch baking dish. Pour over 2 cups broth. Add 2 tablespoons butter. Arrange the chicken over the rice and zucchini. Add the parmesan rind, if using. Bake 30-40 minutes, until the rice is fluffy and the chicken is cooked through. If the rice is hard, add 1/3 cup water and cook for an additional 10 minutes.4. Just before serving, melt together the 2 tablespoons butter and sage leaves in a skillet set over medium heat. Cook until the butter is browning and the sage is crisp, 4 minutes. 5. Severe the chicken and rice topped with sage butter. And enjoy!
I made this last night spur of the moment and prayed my family would like it. To my pleasant surprise, they didn’t just like it, they loved it. My daughter is so picky about her chicken. Normally it is plain jane boring for her! I almost fell off my chair when she said she loved the seasoning on the chicken.
Hey Jennifer! So glad you and your fam enjoyed this recipe! xT
Fabulous! so savory and comforting. i followed the suggestion of a few other community members by sautéing the onions- wonderful suggestion! i am gluten free so i subbed the orzo for the smallest GF pasta i could find. i ended up adding some water at the end and extending the cooking time (as suggested by T)… i will absolutely be making this again! i couldn’t help myself scooping spoonfuls of rice into my mouth as i was packing away the leftovers!
Awesome!! Love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed! Thanks for trying it out 🙂 xT
The flavors in this dish were really good! My only complaint is the onion was not very cooked and I prefer the flavor of cooked onion. Next time I will cook in an oven safe skillet and cook onion until translucent, add zucchini (would double the amount) and sage for another 2-3 minutes until fragrant and add chicken broth. Then add rice and orzo, followed by the marinated chicken. Then transfer it all to the oven to bake and finish. Love one pan cooking and the rich cozy flavors in this dinner!
Thanks for letting me know Anne! xT
This was so flavorful and yummy. Kiddo ate all of it including the hidden zucchini. I used white rice and broken spaghetti and those substitutions worked great. Another fantastic recipe by Tiegan!
Thank you sooo much for giving the recipe a try! I am so glad you enjoyed it! xT
Made this for dinner last night….it was outstanding! Thanks for another great recipe !
Thank you so so much! I appreciate you giving the recipe a try! xT
We had it last nicht, it was delecious. Thank you for the blog and recepie.
Thanks so much Christine! xT
This recipe was delicious!
Thanks sooo much Nancy! xT
As with all your recipes I have tried, this one did not disappoint! Only change I made was to add sautéed mushrooms to the Pilaf as I had some that were close to passing their prime. Absolutely delicious dinner! Easy enough for a weeknight, but definitely company worthy. Thanks Tieghan!
Awesome! Thank you so so much! xT
Delicious! Reminds me of the Rice-a-Roni we ate as a kid. Next time I am going to sauté the onions before adding to the rice. I also didn’t see in the instructions when to add onion so I put them in with the zucchini and rice. I didn’t do the sage butter this time, but I will definitely try it next time!
Hi! Thanks so much! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe! xT
So delicious! I halved the recipe for two of us, otherwise followed and it was perfect. I have never had the sage leaves in brown butter and it made the dish over the top. Thanks for teaching this grandma a new trick!
Thank you so much for trying out this recipe! Have a lovely day! xT
Delicious. Our whole family loved it.
Thanks so much for trying out the recipe Monika! xT
Delicious! I would add more vegetables. We par cooked the jasmine rice. Add, sauté the onions with garlic and butter. Added more stock too. We covered for a 1/2 hour and them uncovered for 1/2 hour. This is definitely a keeper. Thank you Tieghan ❤️
Thank you for the feedback Suzanne! xT
The recipe is delicious and has wonderful flavor with all the herbs. It’s a complete meal and I served with a salad.
I followed the directions exactly and even at the 40 min mark, the jasmine rice was still al dente. Next time I think I will precook the jasmine rice!
Now trying to think of other dishes to use the sage brown butter sauce with-wonderful finishing flavor.
Delicious and really easy! I threw some chopped cherry tomatoes on top when serving as well. I could see myself making this again with different combinations of herbs too.
Awesome Rachel! Love to hear that this was enjoyed! xT
Definitely a keeper! My husband loved this recipe. Such great flavor! Next time I would start the rice for 10 minutes covered to give the rice a head start. I had to add the water for an extra 15 minutes, but took the chicken off as it was done and covered the dish with aluminum foil to help keep the rice soft. Maybe it was because the chicken thighs were very small. The rice ended up great!
Thank you Nancy! xT
We are drowning in zucchini from the garden and this was a great way to use some up! So easy to throw together. I think next time I will sauté the onion first as it didn’t really lose its crunch with baking. It won’t be a one pan recipe then but I think it will be worth the extra step. This is such a comforting dish!
Hi Rebecca! Perfect! So glad you were able to use up all of that zucchini with this dish! xT