Chicken Thighs with Sun-Dried Tomato Basil Rice – delicious, easy, one-pan Italian-inspired recipe. You will fall in love with this Mediterranean style chicken dinner: flavorful rice cooked in chicken broth and in juices from chicken thighs, then mixed with chopped sun-dried tomatoes, chopped fresh basil leaves, and shredded Parmesan cheese! Chicken thighs are moist and juicy, and everything is cooked together in one pan to minimize the cleanup. It’s a gluten free recipe.
If you want something refreshing, light and not so heavy, – you will love this Mediterranean style chicken and rice! Sun-dried tomatoes and basil are a great accompaniment to rice! My recipe instructs to drain the sun-dried tomatoes from oil, but if you’re looking for more delicious ways to add olive oil to your diet, go ahead and add some of the olive oil from the sun-dried tomato jar to your rice – I think it makes the rice even more delicious! See the recipe below for details.
MY OTHER VIDEOSStart by cooking chicken thighs in 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Sear them skin-side down, for 5 minutes, until skins get golden brown color but don’t get burned. Then, flip the chicken thighs to the other side and sear for 2 more minutes on medium heat. In this photo, I have cooked chicken thighs for 5 minutes, skin-side down, on medium-high heat – see how the bottom of the pan is not burned? Yet the skins have nice golden color (see next photos)!
Remove the chicken from the skillet (it will not be cooked through – you’ll continue cooking it in the next steps).
To the same (now empty) skillet, add chicken broth, water, uncooked rice, 1/4 teaspoon salt.
Bring to boil. Mix everything well. Put chicken thighs on top, making wells for them in the rice.
Reduce the heat to low boil simmer. Cover the skillet with the lid. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, covered, until the rice is cooked through, and the chicken is completely cooked through (no longer pink in the center). The completely cooked chicken and rice should look like this:
Remove the chicken from the skillet. Add chopped sun-dried tomatoes, drained of oil, chopped fresh basil, and shredded Parmesan cheese to the skillet with rice (without chicken). Mix everything. Taste, and add more salt or olive oil from the sun-dried tomato jar, to taste. I added at least 2 tablespoons of olive oil from sun-dried tomatoes to the rice – but it’s up to you! You might skip adding the olive oil altogether, the rice is very flavorful with or without it.
Place cooked chicken thighs on top of rice, garnish with more fresh basil.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 5 chicken thighs
- salt and pepper
- 2 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
- 1 cup uncooked Jasmine rice (or use any rice that says on the package that it takes 15 minutes to cook it)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained, chopped
- 10 fresh large basil leaves, chopped + more, for garnish
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet on medium-high heat until hot. Add olive oil - it should run easily because the skillet is hot, but not sizzle or smoke. Generously season both sides of chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Sear them on high-medium heat in the skillet, skin-side down, for 5 minutes, until skins get golden brown color but don't get burned. Skillet should not be burned on the bottom. Flip the chicken thighs to the other side and sear for 2 more minutes on medium heat. Remove the chicken from the skillet (it will not be cooked through - you'll continue cooking it in the next steps).
- To the same (now empty) skillet, add chicken broth, uncooked rice, 1/4 teaspoon salt. Bring to boil. Mix everything well. Put chicken thighs on top, making wells for them in the rice. Reduce the heat to low boil simmer. Cover the skillet with the lid. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, covered, on low boiling simmer, until the rice is cooked through, and the chicken is completely cooked through (no longer pink in the center). If the rice absorbs all of the broth but is still tough, add about 1/2 cup water to the rice, cover with lid, and cook on low simmer until all water is absorbed, and the rice is cooked and tender in texture.
- Remove the chicken from the skillet. Add 1/2 cup of sun-dried tomatoes, drained of oil and chopped into smaller bites, chopped fresh basil (about 10 large leaves), and 1/2 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese to the skillet with rice (without chicken). Mix everything. Taste, and add more salt or olive oil from the sun-dried tomato jar, to taste.
- Put cooked chicken thighs on top of rice, garnish with more fresh basil.
Great recipe. Added a bit more low sodium broth towards the end. Moist and delicious. Looking forward to the leftovers. Thanks!
Thank you, Marisa! 🙂 So glad you liked it!
I’m cooking this now, the rice is already cooked but the chicken is not!! No idea what to do now. Somadded more water and turned the heat up a little. Hope that works.
So added not somadded
Did you keep the pan covered at all times? Cooking the rice in the broth with the chicken on top on low boil simmer (make sure the liquid simmers!), covered for 20 minutes should be more than enough to cook the chicken! So, make sure the pan is covered, and that everything is on low boil simmer.
Definitely don’t need the extra 1/2 cup of water. My rice is cooked….but swimming in liquid. Disappointing.
Hi Lorie, thank you for the feedback. I updated the recipe to make 1/2 cup of water optional.
Thanks Ellen fir the tip.
Debbie
I wonder if you could use quinoa insead of rice?
Will the thighs turn out tender? We dislike them because they are always tough. I would like to use them if possible.
Thank you so much,
Debbie
I’m one of those who cannot achieve tender chicken thighs in under an hour of cooking. Before assembling the dish I actually boiled the thighs for another 20 minutes in the remaining broth I had. It made the skin soggy so I removed it after. I’d rather have a less attractive dish than tough meat. That did the trick for me. I added pesto to the rice also.
Mmmmm yummm love one pan dinners less cleanup mmmm chicken and rice my fave looks really way yummm Julia would this dish also work with couscous
Oh yes, it would work with couscous. I use rice because I generally eat gluten free diet and rice is gluten free.
Really wow cool that it can work with both I’ll pass it on to some people who I know are gluten free
I made this last night with boneless thighs ( because that’s what I had). Absolutely delicious! Had the left overs today and wonderful again. Thanks for sharing!
Renee – thank you, so glad you liked it!
This looks delicious. I love sun-dried tomatoes and am always looking for new recipes using them. I will be making this next week…it’s already on my menu.
Thanks for the recipe.
Linda – thank you! I love sun-dried tomatoes as well, and try to use them in all kinds of recipes, too. 🙂