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One Pan Roasted Herb Chicken and Wild Rice. I turned my family’s favorite dinner into an easy and delicious one-pan recipe that makes weeknight cooking easy and delicious! Wild rice is cooked together with vegetables, chicken, and herbs. This oven-roasted chicken dinner is the coziest thing you’ll make this week. And also, the simplest and most delicious! The trick is a few slices of butter over each piece of chicken. The butter drips down over the chicken and creates the most flavorful all-in-one recipe! So easy to prepare and enjoyed by all.
It’s always the simplest of recipes that I end up loving the most. This chicken and rice dish is just that, and I’m so excited to share it. I hope the recipe finds its way into your kitchen all fall and winter long – it’s that perfect.
I love creating more one-pot, sheet pan, or crockpot recipes for you all. Anything simple and easy is what I’m all about. When I was dreaming up this recipe, it started out a little more complicated than the recipe I’m sharing today.
After making this twice, I was actually going to move on. The dish just wasn’t working the way I had envisioned in my head.
And at the time, I didn’t feel it was special enough to share. So I left the recipe alone for a bit. But then it was my mom who reminded me how delicious this sounded on paper. She is a sucker for any chicken and rice style dish. Actually, I guess I am too.
I decided to give the recipe one more try, but this time I simplified the process and made the dish even easier. It turned out so delicious, and pretty. I quickly fell in love with it.
I’ve now made this multiple times since. And just like Monday’s pot roast recipe, it’s almost effortless, and a dish that everyone in my family really enjoys.
Here are the details
Step 1: the ingredients
This is not my first one pan chicken and rice, but it’s my simplest to date, and yet still so flavorful. You’ll of course need chicken. I love to use a skinless chicken thigh in this recipe since the dish will cook for a longer period of time. You can use thighs, breasts, or even a mix of the two.
You’ll need shallots, garlic, fresh and or dried herbs, your favorite Italian seasoning blend, a touch of chili powder, wild rice, orzo, mushrooms, and celery.
You’ll also need some gouda cheese, cider or white wine, broth, and butter.
Step 2: mix everything
Now, working in a large casserole dish with a lid, or oven-safe skillet with a lid, toss the chicken with olive oil, shallots, garlic, thyme, sage, Italian seasoning, and chili powder. Then season very well with salt and pepper.
Mix in the wild rice, orzo, mushrooms, and celery.
Add apple cider, or if you don’t have cider, try using white wine. Then add bone broth (or chicken broth). Now arrange pats of butter all around the chicken.
Step 3: bake
Slide the entire dish, covered, into the oven. Now bake for a good amount of time. The wild rice takes a little longer to cook. This needs about 45 minutes with the lid on.
After 45 minutes, I remove the lid and continue to roast the chicken until it’s browned and golden on top, the rice is fluffy, and the liquid in the pan has mostly cooked into the rice.
And that’s simply it, the dish is done.
Step 4: serve
There is not one fancy finishing step or detail. I scoop the rice and veggies up and serve them underneath the juicy herb butter chicken.
Totally no fuss and so delicious. I know this is a recipe I’ll be coming back to time and time again. Perfect dinner to make for family and friends in the next few cozy months ahead!
Looking for other weeknight meals? Here are a few ideas:
Creamy Broccoli Cheddar Chicken Rice
One Pan Chipotle Honey Chicken and 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
Crockpot Herb Butter Chicken and Wild Rice
Lastly, if you make this One Pan Roasted Herb Chicken and Wild 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 Roasted Herb Chicken and Wild Rice
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 679 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 (skin on or off)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 shallots, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped thyme
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped sage
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 1 1/2 cups dry wild rice
- 1/2 cup dry orzo
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 1 cup cubed gouda cheese
- 1 cup apple cider or dry white wine
- 2 cup chicken or chicken bone broth
- 6 tablespoons salted butter
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 400°. 2. In a 9×13 inch baking dish or oven-safe skillet with sides, toss together the chicken, olive oil, shallots, garlic, thyme, sage, Italian seasoning, chili powder, and season with salt and pepper. Add the wild rice, orzo, mushrooms, celery, and cheese. 3. Pour over the apple cider and broth. Position the chicken pieces over the rice. Add slices of butter. Cover and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the lid and bake for another 15-20 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. Serve the chicken and rice topped with fresh thyme. And enjoy!
Notes
Trouble Shooting the Rice: some are having issues with the rice cooking properly. Wild rice takes longer to cook than white, it’s also a bit tricker. If you are having issues, you can start with pre-cooked wild rice (Trader Joes and Whole Foods sell cooked, frozen wild rice) and cook the entire dish, 30-40 minutes. Or, add 1 cup of additional broth, plus 20-30 extra minutes of cooking time. My rice cooks perfectly as directed, but ovens and wild rice brands all vary.
This post was originally published on October 25, 2023
Can you use Spanish rice typically used for making paella?
Hi Evita,
Sure, I don’t see why that wouldn’t work for you! I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xx
I can’t rate this dish yet because mine is cooking now. I wish I would’ve read the reviews 1st! I, too, added apple cider vinegar. I’m actually taking this to a friend for dinner.
I hope she likes a tangy dish.
I’ll let you know what she says.
I’ve loved everything else I’ve made from HBH.
Hi Diana,
Thanks so much for trying this recipe!! I hope it turns out okay with the vinegar. Have a great day! xx
Ok, so let me start by saying I adjusted this recipe a lot, simply because I had to, based on what I had and did not have. I also know my way around the kitchen so I typically get creative anyway. I feel like most of the negative comments came from those people who always follow a recipe to the tee because they don’t know any other way to cook. First of all, I used 10 thighs because that’s what I had. I did not have any shallots or mushrooms or celery. I got creative with the seasonings. I had no orzo, but I used Arborio instead. I also used white wine in place of the apple cider and my broth was from turkey bone broth I had simmering on the stove. In addition, I chopped up some broccoli to add to the rice. This dish was excellent and so tasty! Definitely needed the extra cooking time for the rice, but no extra liquid. I will be pinning this for later!
Hi Shay,
Awesome! Thank you so much for trying this recipe and making it with what you had available! I’m so glad it turned out nicely for you! xx
This is delicious, but I did have the challenge you mentioned with the rice. Would another kind of rice work instead?
Hi there,
Thanks so much for making this dish, so glad to hear it was enjoyed! Sorry to hear about the rice, I think a brown basmati might work nicely for you. xx
Is there an alternative to the butter..like cashew cream or something?
Hi Sam,
I’ve only used butter before, but you could try olive oil. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xx
We are not fans of this dish. I did use a whole chicken instead of the thighs, but I followed the directions otherwise. It tasted kind of dusky and it was overwhelmed with the rice in relation to the chicken.
Hi Jane,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback, so sorry to hear you didn’t love it! xx
This dish was very tasty. I will definitely make it again, with some changes. Leave out the celery. The cheese doesn’t add anything. And I will use leeks instead of shallots. I will also use all wild rice and no orzo. The wild rice takes long to cook and the orzo was mushy.
Hi Debbie,
Thanks so much for trying this dish and sharing your feedback! Glad to hear you’ll make it again with some adjustments! Have the best Friday! xT
I was wondering why mine came out so tangy too and realized it calls for Apple Cider and not ACV! It wasn’t bad but would have been much better with the Cider or wine
Ahhh so sorry about that, Amanda! Thanks so much for trying this recipe. Please let me know if you try again using apple cider. xx
Oh no, your comment made me realize I did the same thing. Eek!
Good Lord with the negativity, everyone chill. It’s an elevated chicken and rice. I added extra liquid, because sometime with rice you need to be a tad more vigilant. The extra liquid and time made for a lovely dish. Thanks for this recipe!
Hey Laura,
Awesome!! So glad to hear this recipe was enjoyed by your family. I appreciate you giving it a try and your feedback! Have the best day! XxT
The cook on the rice was a bit off and I don’t think the orzo brought anything to the recipe. I could have done without it and just use the rice. Also, the skin on the chicken was not appetizing – luckily it was easy to remove. I also added more spice to the recipe and I think it could have used even more. I still enjoyed it and would make it again with some modifications.
Hi Lauren,
I appreciate you giving this dish a try and your feedback! Sorry to hear there were a few things you didn’t enjoy, but love to hear you would make it again to your liking! xT
Rice wasn’t 100% cooked and the flavor was just ok compared to her other recipes. Won’t make this one again but to keep making her delicious meals
Hi Kelli,
I appreciate you making this recipe and so many others, so sorry to hear this one wasn’t a fave! Have the best November week! Xx
Am I missing the part in the instructions on when to add the Gouda? I mean, it’s a one pot dish, so there’s really just one option. 🙂 I guess I’m wondering if it goes in the rice mix or on top with the chicken? Thank you!
Hi Katie,
The cheese is added in step 2. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xx
Flavor was excellent. Followed exactly but wild rice was way under cooked by at least 30 minutes. Wouldn’t use, would substitute brown rice. Will try again though.
Hi Laurie,
Thanks so much for trying this dish and sharing your feedback, I’m so glad to hear it turned out well for you! Sorry to hear the wild rice had some issues cooking, let me know how it turns out using brown rice. xx
Delicious and super easy! I am glad I preemptively added the extra liquid and cooking time (+1 cup liquid, +20 minutes cooking time); everything was cooked perfectly!
I did have a brain fart and forgot my stock was unsalted, so I did need to add some salt/pepper to the rice mixture upon serving, but this wasn’t necessary for everyone in my party, so it’s definitely to your taste. I also added a spritz of lemon juice on top and it really brightened up this dish; I recommend!
For next time, I think I would add more chicken thighs as the ones I purchased shrank quite a bit in cooking. I’m not sure how additional meat would affect the cooking time, but to make the rice/chicken portions more proportional, I would add more protein.
I always love the flavor of Half-Baked Harvest recipes, and this one was no exception.
Hi Alexandra,
Happy Sunday! Thanks a lot for trying this recipe and your comment, I’m so glad it was enjoyed! Thanks for sharing all of your helpful notes! xxx
I used Lundberg gourmet wild rice. It definitely needed more time and by the time it was done, the orzo was mushy. BUT, the flavor of the dish was excellent. Next time I would leave out the orzo and only cook for the wild rice.
Hi Anna,
Thanks so much for giving this dish a try and sharing your feedback! Sorry to hear about the orzo, let me know if you make this again without it! xx
Do you think you could make all with wild rice blend?
Hi Stephanie,
Yes, you could omit the orzo if you wanted to. Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love this recipe! xT