Flavor-packed Cilantro lime chicken, rice, and beans cooked in one pan. With juicy chicken, fluffy rice, and so much flavor, this quick 45-minute meal is sure to become a favorite!
If you’re a fan of Mexican food, you’re going to love this one-pan cilantro chicken and rice. It’s one of the easiest dishes to cook and makes a great weeknight dinner in under 45 minutes.
The chicken, rice, and beans are all cooked in one pan so the flavor of the chicken gets soaked up into the rice. The rice is also packed with fresh flavors of cilantro and lime and the addition of beans makes this one-pot meal complete. This also means that there’s minimal cleanup required!
This one-pan meal is quick and easy! If you’d like to try more one-pan meals, add this One-Pan Spanish Chicken & Rice, this One-pan Mediterranean Chicken & Rice, or these delicious One-pan Chicken Burrito Bowls to your weekly dinner menu!
How to Make Cilantro Lime Chicken and Rice
This is a very easy one-pot chicken and rice dinner that comes together with simple methods and doesn’t require any fancy ingredients. Here’s how to make it:
Prep: Preheat oven to 400ºF. Wash and pat the chicken dry with a paper towel. Season and place chicken skin side down on a deep oven safe skillet or pan and cook for 5-6 minutes per side until crispy then remove from the pan and set aside.
Sautee: To the same pan, add the onions and cook until golden and soft then add in the garlic and seasoning, sautee for a few seconds then stir in the rice, and black beans. Sautee until give it some flavor then add in the chicken stock and chicken.
Bake: Bring to a simmer and cover the pan then transfer to the oven and cook for about 25 minutes or until rice and chicken are cooked through. Remove the cover and broil the chicken under the broiler until the skin is golden and crispy.
Add Cilantro Lime Flavor: Lastly, for that final fresh cilantro lime flavor, remove the chicken from the pan add the cilantro and lime juice to the rice, and gently fluff it through. Add the chicken back on top of the rice and serve!
Serve: You can easily serve this as a chipotle burrito-style bowl by topping the chicken and rice with tomatoes, avocado, lettuce, salsa, sour cream, and a drizzle of lime. or simply with your favorite salsa.
Pro Recipe Tips
Use similar size chicken pieces: Try to use the same size of chicken pieces, so everything cooks at the same rate. However, if your chicken is not the same size, it’s a good idea to check for doneness on the smaller pieces first.
Cooking option: Instead of baking this dish in the oven, you can also cook the chicken and rice on the stovetop, covered, on the lowest heat setting.
Variations and substitutions
- Chicken: I really like using bone-in skin-on chicken thighs for the extra flavor; however, you can use chicken breasts or boneless skinless chicken thighs, if preferred. Just be sure to adjust the cooking time accordingly if using boneless chicken, as it may cook faster.
- More add-ins: You can add in any extra ingredients that you’d like! vegetables like zucchini, eggplant, broccoli, green beans, or mushrooms would be a wonderful addition!
- Turn up the heat: Feel free to make this a bit spicy by adding serrano or jalapeno peppers, or cayenne pepper and/or red pepper flakes.
Frequently asked questions
How to know when chicken is fully cooked?
Use a digital probe thermometer to check if your chicken is cooked. Insert the probe into the thickest part of the chicken, but be sure it is not touching the bone. The chicken is ready to eat when the thermometer registers at least 165ºF.
Do you have to rinse the rice?
It’s a good idea to rinse rice before cooking it to remove any unwanted dirt or debris. This will also remove excess starch, which will result in fluffier rice.
What Kind of Rice can I use for One Pan Chicken and Rice
You can use any long-grain rice you’d like. I like to use either basmati, jasmine, or parboiled rice. The basmati is a lighter aromatic rice, while the Jasmin and parboiled rice have more of a bite and chew and will soak up all the juices so it’s completely up to you!
How to Freeze Chicken and Rice?
Yes, once it has cooled completely transfer it to an airtight, freezer-safe container. Freeze for up to 2-3 months. To reheat, thaw the dish in the refrigerator overnight and reheat in a skillet or microwave until warmed through.
More Delicious Chicken Rice Dinners
One Pan Cilantro Lime Chicken and Rice
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 5-6 chicken thighs, bone in, skin on
- 1/2 cup diced onion
- 4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon EACH cumin, paprika, salt, pepper
- 1 cup Jasmine or basmati rice, uncooked
- 1 cup black beans, rinsed and drained (optional)
- 2 cups chicken stock or water
- 1 tablespoon lime juice, freshly squeezed
- 1/4 fresh cilantro, chopped
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400F. Heat olive oil in a large oven-safe skillet on medium-high heat. Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper on both sides. Place chicken skin side down on the pan and cook for 5-6 minutes or until golden and crispy. Flip and cook the other side for 5-6 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.
- To the same pan, add the onions and cook until golden and soft (2-3 minutes). If there is no more oil in the pan, add about a teaspoon of oil. Stir in garlic and seasoning and sautte for a few seconds then stir in the rice and black beans and mix to combine. Add the chicken stock and return the chicken to the pan.
- Bring to a simmer and cover the pan then transfer to the oven and cook for 20 minutes or until rice and chicken are cooked through. Remove the cover and broil the chicken for a few minutes to give the skin color and texture.
- Remove the chicken from the skillet. Mix in the 1 tablespoon of lime juice and fresh cilantro into the cooked rice, gently fluffing with a fork. Rearrange the chicken on-top of the rice.
- Serve with fresh tomato salsa, avocado, lettuce, sour-cream or guacamole!
Equipment
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Storage recommendations
One of the best parts about this recipe is that it’s perfect for meal prep! Simply let the meal cool completely, then divide the chicken and rice into individual meal prep containers and place them in the refrigerator to enjoy for up to about 4-5 days.
Recipe by Layla Atik // Photography by: Eat Love Eats
How long do you recommend if cooking on the stovetop?
Everything cooked perfectly and so much flavor in the rice!
It was very good. The only change I made was I used stock instead of water.
I made this today for dinner and it was delicious! The rice/beans were perfect but I needed to add a bit more seasoning to the chicken. Will definitely make this again!
Simply Perfect! I’m definitely making this again next weekend.
This dish was incredibly tasty! I followed the recipe exactly just opted to leave out the salt as I am on a low sodium diet. I did opt to leave the skin off and it still came out kind of oily. The rice was a bit soggy. I used basmati rice and made sure to rinse it properly. Not sure why my rice doesn’t come out fluffy. Will use a little less water next time. Hope that fixes the problem.
I made this recipe with Chicken breast. They came out a bit dry, but the overall recipe was delicious. Loved the rice/bean combo.
I have made this twice! It’s so delicious! I used minute rice with this and regular rice. I feel the minute rice is better only because I’m horrible at making regular rice lol definitely making more often!!
The rice was hard still. Not enough water. Ruined the whole recipe
The rice to water ratio works every time. Did you cover the pan and reduce the heat to stop the water from over evaporating?
How can I use long grain brown rice in this?
Brown rice takes a long time to cook so I’m not sure it would work in this dish. If you do give it a try and it works out, please let us know!
Is it precooked beans?
Yes, it’s canned, pre-cooked beans. Uncooked beans would never cook in this short time.
Love this recipe! Super easy to make, super yummy, and is great for meal prep
I made this last night and it was so, sooo good! My 3 little ones each had 2 bowls and raved over it. I had the leftovers for lunch today and it was just as delicious as the night before. Adding sour cream, salsa & extra cilantro was a nice touch. Definitely a keeper!
can I use long grain rice?
Yes, feel free to use jasmine rice.
I tried this and it is amazing! Thanks for posting.
Do you use boneless or bone-in chicken thighs? It doesn’t specify and I would imaging the cooking time would vary greatly/
The chicken thighs are bone in but bone out work great too!
I’ve made several recipes — great stuff. Wondering which pan you’re using in the photos. Do you have a list of all pans you use in your kitchen?
Thanks,
Jared
Thanks so much, Jared! I used the Calphalon 3-Qt. Saute Pan With Cover for this recipe. I don’t have all the pans I use in my shop but I will add them soon! Please check out the shop to see my kitchen Must-haves.
https://gimmedelicious.com/shop/