With lots of warming spices, ground chicken, fluffy rice, raisins, walnuts and colourful veggies, this delicious one-pan ground chicken and rice recipe is a cinch to put together and cleanup is a breeze. If you’re a fan of sweet and savoury combinations, this ground chicken recipe is a must try!
Who doesn’t love a flavourful one-pan dinner that requires very little fuss? This one-pan chicken and rice recipe is easy enough for a busy weeknight dinner but special enough for a lovely date night in or casual entertaining with friends.
Fan of ground chicken recipes? Check out this yummy ground chicken meatloaf.
Ingredients
- Olive oil
- Ground chicken: If you don’t have ground chicken on hand, you can substitute with ground turkey.
- Veggies: Yellow onion, garlic, carrot and baby spinach.
- White basmati rice: Rinse the rice well to remove excess surface starch so the grains remain separate. That way, the rice will be less sticky and more fluffy once cooked.
- Raisins: They add a lovely sweetness to the recipe. An alternative to raisins that you can use is sweetened dried cranberries.
- Walnuts: Give them a chop before using. Instead of walnuts, you can try using pecans, almonds or pine nuts.
- Butter: Helps add a little lushness to the dish.
- Seasoning: Salt, black pepper, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, crushed red pepper flakes and ground cloves adds plenty of flavour.
- Chicken broth: I prefer to use a no salt added variety. If you use a low sodium or regular version, you may want to add less salt.
How To Make It
Here is an overview of how to make this one-pot ground chicken and rice recipe (full details are in the recipe card below):
- Heat olive oil in a sauté pan and cook the ground chicken. Add the onion and cook until softened, then stir in the garlic and cook until nice and fragrant.
- Stir in the rice, shredded carrot, raisins, walnuts and butter, and then season with salt, black pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, crushed red pepper flakes and cloves. Pour in the chicken broth and give everything another stir.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook until the rice is cooked through and the broth has been absorbed. Then remove the pan from the heat, leave the cover on, and let sit for about 5 minutes. Uncover and stir to fluff the rice.
- Stir in the baby spinach (it will wilt from the residual heat).
What To Serve With It
This one-pan chicken and rice recipe is a meal all on its own but pairs deliciously with any of these:
- Garlic bread
- Grilled naan
- Green salad
- Roasted cauliflower
Tip: Mix things up! Besides serving the recipe as is, you can pile some of the mixture onto a flour tortilla and enjoy as a wrap with a little plain Greek yogurt and squeeze of lemon juice (such a great lunch).
Tips
- I used white basmati rice for this ground chicken and rice recipe. The cook time was about 15 to 20 minutes. If not using white basmati rice, pick a rice with a similar cook time (white rice or jasmine rice are some yummy options).
- Want to add some cheese? Some crumbled feta or goat cheese sprinkled over each serving is delicious.
- If you want to add more colour, flavour and freshness to this ground chicken and rice recipe, garnish the finished dish with some freshly chopped parsley or mint leaves.
More Easy Ground Chicken Recipes
If you make this one-pan ground chicken and rice recipe, be sure to leave a comment below!
One-Pan Ground Chicken and Rice
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 yellow onion, peeled and diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup white basmati rice, rinsed well and drained
- 1 carrot, peeled and shredded
- ½ cup raisins
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, optional
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 2.5 cups no salt added chicken broth
- 2 to 3 large handfuls baby spinach
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the ground chicken and cook, breaking the ground chicken into small pieces as it cooks and stirring occasionally, until fully cooked through, about 8 to 10 minutes.Note: You want to use a large sauté pan with a tight-fitting lid (the lid will be used shortly).
- Add the onion to the ground chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until it's mostly softened, about 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- To the pan, add the rice, shredded carrot, raisins, walnuts and butter. Season with salt, black pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, crushed red pepper flakes (if using) and cloves. Stir to combine, then stir in the chicken broth.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat (to about medium-low) to maintain a simmer. Cover and cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until the rice is cooked through and the broth has been absorbed. Note: If the rice needs a tad longer cooking time, that's okay, just continue to cook (if it needs a little more broth, you can add more as necessary).
- Remove from the heat, leave the cover on, and let sit for 5 minutes. Once the 5 minutes is up, uncover, then stir to fluff the rice.
- Stir in the baby spinach until it wilts from the residual heat (you can cover the pan with the lid for a couple of minutes, if you like). Season with additional salt, black pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg or cloves, if desired. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- I used white basmati rice for this ground chicken and rice recipe. The cook time was about 15 to 20 minutes. If not using white basmati rice, pick a rice with a similar cook time (white rice or jasmine rice are some yummy options).
- Once you add the broth and start to cook the rice, it is important that it’s gently simmering. You want the rice to cook and the liquid to absorb, but you don’t want to burn the rice.
- Want to add some cheese? Some crumbled feta or goat cheese sprinkled over each serving is delicious.
- If you want to add more colour, flavour and freshness to this ground chicken and rice recipe, garnish the finished dish with some freshly chopped parsley or mint leaves.
A note on times provided: appliances vary, any prep and/or cook times provided are estimates only.
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Tried this recipe?
If you do make this recipe, thank you!! It would mean so much if you could leave a comment below. Love to know how you enjoyed it, and it helps other readers too!
RJ says
It was really good. My husband found it a bit bland but I had refrained from adding salt because I thought the chicken broth I had used was salty. But next time I’ll ad salt. I used steamed broccoli rather than baby spinach.
Stone Wolfsong says
Made this today. The recipe ingredients looked intriguing. We all thought it was delicious. The spices, raisins and walnuts really elevated chicken and rice.
Dawn | Girl Heart Food says
Thank you very much, Stone!! I’m so glad you all enjoyed the recipe!!
Valentina says
So interesting to add the raisins into this — I really like that touch sweetness. Love them with carrots, and with the chicken and rice, it becomes dinner. 🙂 ~Valentina
Michelle says
Love a good old one-pot meal! This is perfect for our still-gloomy weather. The addition of raisins and walnuts to the rice reminds me of tagine 🙂
Dawn | Girl Heart Food says
Me too! It’s such a comforting recipe. Thank you, Michelle!
David @ Spiced says
This sounds like my kinda one-pot meal! I used to make something similar using sliced chicken and slivered almonds. Back when I was a bachelor, it was one of my go-to recipes whenever I needed something “fancy.” 🙂 I’ll have to try your version soon!
Dawn | Girl Heart Food says
Thank you very much, David! Hope you love the recipe!