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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 the 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.
Watch the How-To Reel
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!
This post was originally published on August 24, 2023
Delicious and easy to make! Such a fun late summer recipe featuring things from the garden now… zucchini and sage 🍃 enjoyed by all! I made three of your recent chicken and zucchini recipes – all had totally different flavors, enjoyed by all and fun to make. I follow step by step and appreciate you sharing your incredible talent and recipes ❤️
Hi Stacey! Thank you so so much for giving this recipe a try! And thanks for taking the time to leave a comment! Have a great day! xT
This was a nice, delicious & cozy version of chicken & rice. I used GF orzo & decided not to par boil it. After reading comments, I decided to cover the dish & bake for 20 min. I added more water, recovered and baked for another 20 min. While waiting for another pot to finish, I uncovered the chicken dish and let it cook about 10 more min. It made everything golden & perfect! There was a nice crunch here & there from the cheesy rice. It def needed more salt at the end, but topping it with parm was just what it needed. As my son says, you can never have too much parm!
Thank you so much Brooke!
Love one pan meals! This was really good and the sage butter takes it to that 5 star level so don’t skip. Family was hovering in the kitchen waiting.
Thank you so much Heather!
I made this tonight and it was delicious! I used boneless thighs and jasmine rice BUT I did increase liquid to 2.5 c of broth and cooked it 20 mons covered and 30 more mins uncovered. The rice/orzo was perfect!
Thank you so so much for giving this recipe a try! And thanks for taking the time to leave a comment! Have a great day! xT
I added some lemon slices on top of the rice and farro (substituted bc I didn’t have orzo). It paired really nicely with the sage.
Awesome!! So glad you enjoyed this recipe! xT
Great flavors, the house smelled amazing while baking. I had the same problem with the undercooked rice. Perhaps my zucchini wasn’t as moist as our whiz HBH? I would just use all orzo next time because that cooked at the same pace as the chicken. I did try the extra h2o and 10 minutes, still crunchy.
Hey Libby, thanks for letting me know about the rice!
Great recipe! Family favorite! Did recommended temp but checked it every 10 minutes after 20 minutes to ensure adequate liquid. Delish!
Thank you for trying out the recipe Stacy! xT
Flavors were great but the rice didn’t cook at all even though I added an extra 2/3 cups of broth. After 30 mins the rice was already too crunchy to be salvaged even after adding more water and baking for an additional 10 mins as the recipe says.
Oh no I’m so sorry about that!! Thanks for letting me know!
Turned out great for us. The hubby loves a good chic n rice din din. Saw the comments about undercooked rice, so I covered mine for about 20 min. to maybe steam the rice a bit and then uncovered. Perfect!
Thank you so much Tia!
This was delicious. My rice cooked just fine. The sage leaves in the brown butter were our favorite part.
Thank you so much for trying out the recipe! Have an amazing week! xT
Made this tonight and it was delicious! I added an extra 1/2 cup of chicken broth and 1/3 of water. Cooked for 40 minutes and it was perfect! Definitely will make this again.
Thank you for another wonderful recipe!
Hi Jamie! Thank you so much for trying out the recipe! Have an amazing week! xT
Made it!! I added some sweet summer corn in the zucchini/rice/orzo mix and a little more salt as well. I did add more broth but after 35 min the mix was just a tiny tad under done, but the chicken was cooked through. So maybe next time I’d add even more broth? Overall though, this was super easy and tasty, and my kids didn’t even notice the zucchini!
Thank you so much for trying out the recipe! Have an amazing week! xT
Pretty warm and filling for fall. Good recipe if you like uncooked rice. Added an additional half cup broth and extra 10 min trying to get it to cook but still hard. Great crunch.
Thank you for the feedback! xT
The pan chicken and rice was excellent. I didn’t have any sage so skipped that part but could see how it would enrich the dish. The zucchini made it so moist and delicious. A keeper!
Thank you for trying out the recipe! xT
Love your recipes and have been a fan for a while! I’m experiencing an issue with this recipe, however. Cooked for 40 minutes and chicken dish came out from the oven looking somewhat undercooked, especially the chicken and onion. Popped it back in the oven to further cook, but concerned that the rice and orzo would overcook, even though I added more water.
Hi there! Thank you so much Freida! I’m so sorry about that! Are there any adjustments you made to the recipe? xT