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This classic chicken and rice recipe is pure Sunday dinner comfort food. A whole chicken simmers with carrots, celery, and onion to create flavorful broth that cooks tender rice into a hearty, satisfying one-pot meal.
Southern comfort food at it’s best!
Do I make this chicken and rice recipe at least once a month all fall and winter long? Yes, sure do.
I’ll be honest – this isn’t the quickest recipe, but I’ll keep being honest: it’s one of my favorite comfort food meals.
You boil a whole chicken, which makes the most tender meat and flavorful stock. Next you add in rice and a bit of broth back every few minutes, stirring it all together until the rice is perfectly fluffy and tender and has soaked up all that homemade brothy goodness.
This is a fabulous Sunday dinner, partially because lazy Sunday afternoons are the perfect time for boiling a chicken and partially because this makes a big pot of comfort food that you can eat all week long.
♥ 3 Reasons You’ll Love This Recipe:
One–Pot Recipe: All you need is a big stock pot for this recipe to cook the chicken and rice which keeps things simple for clean up!
Whole Chicken: They just taste better when cooked whole, don’t they? They also tend to be cheaper than buying individual cuts. It’s a great way to feed the whole family!
Leftovers: You’ll probably have them, and that’s something to get excited about.
Ingredients, Swaps, & Tips:
- Chicken: We prefer to use a whole chicken because it adds so much more flavor! You could use bone-in chicken thighs or breasts instead if you don’t want to deal with a whole chicken.
- Rice: You’ll want long-grain white rice. Do not use minute or instant rice in this recipe.
- Seasoning – We use salt, pepper, oregano, and celery salt to season this dish. You can use any other seasonings you like!
- Veggies: We boil carrots, onion, and celery with the chicken to flavor the stock. You could chop these up and add them to finished chicken and rice or stir in some frozen peas if you wanted to bulk it up a bit.
My Favorite Thermometer!
I love using this meat thermometer for making sure the meat is fully cooked! Easy for beginners & absolutely worth the low cost.
How To Make Chicken And Rice:
Add the chicken, seasonings, veggies, and water to a large stock pot and bring to a boil. Simmer for around 3 hours.
Remove the chicken from the pot and shred it. Strain the vegetables from the broth.
Add the shredded chicken and rice to the stock pot along with 6 cups of broth and cook for 15 minutes. Stir in 1 more cup of broth and continue cooking for 5 minutes.
Continue adding broth, 1/2 cup at a time, every 5 minutes, stirring and testing until the rice is done. The amount of broth you’ll add will vary – just keep adding and cooking until the rice is tender and cooked through.
Weeknight Hack!
Don’t have 4 hours to make this one? Start with a rotisserie chicken and dinner will be done in about 45 minutes!
Shred the chicken and used boxed chicken stock. Follow the recipe as directed, starting with step 6!
Serving Suggestions:
The great thing about chicken and rice is that you can serve it as a complete meal all by itself, as a side dish to a larger meal, or as a main course with other sides. Chicken and rice is about as versatile as it gets!
Try it with a green salad (topped with our easy garlic dressing!), or some green beans with bacon.
Serve it with a drizzle of your favorite sauce. Hot sauce, ranch, sriracha… pretty much anything is an option here, but honestly, I like it simple – just like Grandma made it!
Storage:
- Fridge: You can keep any leftover chicken and rice stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about 3 to 4 days.
- Reheat: Add a splash of water or broth when reheating so it isn’t too dry. Reheat in the microwave or the stove.
- Freeze: Let it cool completely before transferring to a freezer safe container. It can be stored for up to a few months. The texture of the rice can change when frozen.
MORE CHICKEN AND RICE RECIPES!
- Crockpot Chicken and Rice Soup
- French Onion Chicken and Rice
- Creamy Chicken and Rice
- Cheesy Chicken and Rice with Broccoli
- Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole
MORE WEEKNIGHT DINNER RECIPES!
- Beef and Noodles Recipe
- Fried Tacos
- Beefaroni
- Air Fryer Whole Chicken
- Sheet Pan Chicken and Brussels Sprouts
- Bacon Wrapped Chicken Tenders
- Crock Pot Ribs
Chicken and Rice
Ingredients
- 4 pounds whole chicken
- 4 carrots
- 3 stalks celery
- 1 large onion halved
- 2 cloves garlic rough chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt more to taste
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper more to taste
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon celery salt
- 3 cups long grain white rice
Instructions
- Remove the neck and giblets from the chicken if included and place the chicken in a large stock pot.
- Chop the carrots and all of the celery into 3 or 4 chunks each and add to the pot, along with onion, garlic, salt, pepper, oregano, and celery salt. Add enough water to fully cover the chicken and vegetables.
- Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce the heat and cook at a low simmer for about 3 hours. The chicken should be very tender and easily come off the bone when done.
- Remove chicken from the pot and set aside to cool a bit. Use forks (or your hands if cool enough) to pull off small chunks of meat. Remove all of the meat from the chicken and set aside. Discard carcass.
- Strain the broth from the pot into a large bowl, discarding the vegetables or saving them for another use.
- Add 6 cups of broth, the shredded chicken, and the rice to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook for 15 minutes.
- Add another cup of broth to the pot, stir, and cover. Simmer for 5 minutes more.
- Continue to add broth, about 1/2 cup at a time, stirring and checking every 5 minutes until the rice is tender and cooked through. You'll need to taste test to check for doneness. Keep your heat fairly low to avoid burning the bottom of the rice.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.
Tips & Notes:
Nutrition Information:
slightly adapted from She Wears Many Hats
June Hutchinson says
Karly…very glad I found your blog. Two quick questions, please.
One-your chicken and rice recipe that I see called for a 14#chicken.
Was that possibly a typo? Could it have been meant to be 1-4 #s?
Two-do use garlic in your recipes?
Karly says
Hi June! So sorry about that – the recipe formatting was all messed up. I’ve fixed it now and all is good.
I do use garlic quite a bit, but don’t in this recipe. You can add it if you like.
margaret says
sorry to hear about your grandma, alzheimer’s is a toughie. but glad to hear that you find some comfort in her food.
quick question about the chicken, i’m still too scared to buy a whole chicken (you have to pull out its guts and whatnot). is there a way to order it from the meat counter so that all the weird stuff is already gone (head, guts, etc)? or should i buy a prepackaged chicken? any tips would be great!
Karly says
Hi @margaret,
Your question made me laugh! I HATE dealing with raw meat, but especially chicken and most especially when it has bones in it! Ew.
Assuming you’re shopping at a grocery store and not getting a chicken straight from the farm, you’re not going to find chickens with heads or guts (at least not the way I’m imagining you think you will). Haha! Most of the chickens you find will have a little bag stuffed inside them and all the ick is contained in that bag. You just use a pair of tongs and pull it out and toss it (or use it to make gravy, but I’m not a fan myself).
Tyson sells a whole chicken without any of that weird stuff in it so you just unwrap the bird and you’re good to go. I’ve only seen that at Walmart though and you have to read the packages. The package will state something like “Whole Frying Chicken – without neck and giblets.” I opt for those if I can find them, but if not, I just use tongs to deal.
Trust me, if I can deal with an entire raw bird, you can too. 😉 I’m a big wimp about raw meat.
If, however, you’re seriously not into it, go ahead and use a pack of bone in cut up chicken. I don’t see why that wouldn’t work just fine!
Hope that helps and good luck!
Erika - The Teenage Taste says
Sometimes there is nothing better than some good ol’ fashioned home cooking. I think everyone will agree that a grandmother’s cooking is the ultimate in comfort food. This looks delicious, Karly!
Lauren says
So simple and so good!
Joanne says
My grandma doesn’t remember her recipes either. She also has no idea who any of us are, which is just so sad. It breaks my heart every time I see her, especially since I cook now and I want her to know how much she has rubbed off on me, in so many good ways. Sigh. Miss her.
Shaking it off.
Chicken and rice. Yum.
Anna says
I am sorry your Grandma is “not there” anymore. My grandma went through a similar thing, for different reasons.
My other grandma, though, makes the same kind of dish with the noodles. I should ask her the secret. (We serve with mashed potatoes, do you?) I have done my best, using real chicken off the bone, and frozen egg noodles. Now, explain to me why No Yolks and those thick wide noodles are called the same thing? Oh, anyway- yeah. I over boil in broth, and add chicken. It’s not perfect, but I’m getting closer.
I will file this other recipe away for another time, though. I had been making baked chicken and rice w/ broccoli for a while, but the rice is always undercooked. So frustrating.