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The easiest One Pan Chipotle Honey Chicken and Rice, our new weeknight staple. Chicken breasts or skinless chicken 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 honey chipotle chicken! 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 sauce, 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.
Watch the How-To Reel
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!
This post was originally published on August 16, 2023
This is delicious. I made it with chicken breast and Jasmine rice. Used 1 1/2 tsp of cayenne in the honey sauce. Spicy and so, so good.
Thanks Angie! xT
This was absolutely delicious- spicy & sweet & the rice definitely soaked up all the flavour. I used chicken broth & boneless chicken thighs & breasts. I also drizzled more sauce on the top near the end of the bake.
Thank you so much! So glad this recipe was a success for you! xT
Did you use bone in or no bone chicken?
I use boneless! xT
While I’ve made sooo many of her recipes and my fam loves almost every one, this one misses the mark in my humble opinion. It’s a bit boring in flavor and I think it needs something like salt and/or acid…something.
Oh no I’m so sorry to hear that! Is there anything I can do to help? xT
This was a delicious dinner. I used honey fermented garlic for the garlic in the recipe and a mix of the honey that had the garlic in it and raw honey for the hot honey sauce. I didn’t have cayenne pepper so I omitted that. I used boneless chicken thighs. It was a very flavorful one pan meal. Thank you!
Thank you Kirstin! xT
This was really good! Can’t wait to riff on it further. I cut back on the oil and butter. Next time I’d do that again, and maybe use some chicken stock in place of the water, leave out the parmesan, and change up the vegetables to some peppers or cherry tomatoes. Definitely going to play around with this one!
Thank you sooo much! So glad you’re enjoying the recipes, have an awesome week! xT
Hi there! Could you use cauliflower rice instead of regular rice?
I haven’t ever tried that personally so I’m not sure! So sorry! xT
I used extra water and the rice was still a bit dry. I wonder if cooking it covered in to foil for part of the baking time would help? The taste however is amazing!!
Hi! Yes you could definitely use more liquid! xT
This turned out AMAZING! My family absolutely loved it! The mix of sweet/spice is perfection, super delicious..highly recommend.
Thanks sooo much for trying out the recipe! I hope it was a hit! xT
Could you use cauliflower rice ?
Hi! I haven’t ever tried that myself so I’m not sure! xT
Recipe says to use Chipotle powder in first step with chicken but is not listed as ingredient for the chicken. It is then listed in ingredients for the sauce, but not included in instructions for the sauce. Did I miss something?
Excellent! Only had brown rice just used more water and bit more time. My husband could not stop raving about it! The flavor combinations were perfect. Love one dish oven meals!
Thanks for trying out the recipe! xT
Could I substitute jasmine rice?
Yes, that should work fine! xT
Made this tonight for my husband and son. BIG HIT!
” This definitely goes in the rotation, Mom” !
So glad you are loving this recipe! Thanks for trying it out! xT
Hello! How much onion powder goes in the hot honey sauce? 🙂
I was just wondering the same thing! and why just add half the sauce after its baked, what do you do with the other half? Seems a bit random…hope it turns out!
Wowzers… this really didn’t turn out at all. I was hesitant about raw chicken on raw rice and vegetables. The rice simply did not cook even with added water. The hot honey was inedible, even using the lesser recommended amounts of hot sauce and cayenne! Sad to have wasted 1/2 cup of nice honey. I hope you’ll go back and retest this more thoroughly and republish.
Hi Tieghan! I made this tonight as directed and it turned out perfect! I used the lesser amounts for all the spicy goodies and although it is very spicy, it is not inedible! This was so easy and tasty, perfect for these busy school nights. I love all of your recipes and it’s a ritual to go through your blog every Sunday and pick out our meals for the week. I’ve interacted with you on IG several times and you’re always so sweet! My copy of Every Day just came in the mail and we can’t wait to try some new recipes.
I’m hesitant for same reason. I’m thinking of cooking separately.
Hey Landon, I’m so sorry to hear this dish wasn’t enjoyed. Is there anything you subbed/did differently in the recipe? xT
Seriously? This is how chicken and rice has been made by so many different nationalities for 100’s of years!