Chicken and Wild Rice with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Mushrooms

Chicken and Wild Rice with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Mushrooms is the coziest chicken dinner you can make year-round! It's packed with veggies, rich in fiber, and gluten-free. There is no cream and no cheese in this nutrient-dense simple weeknight meal. It's easy to make it ahead - perfect for meal prep. Simple enough to make on a busy weekday - fancy enough to serve company!

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword chicken wild rice, wild rice mushrooms

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 45

Total Time 1

Servings people

Calories 738kcal

Author Julia

Ingredients

Wild rice

3 cups water
1 cup wild rice uncooked

Sweet potatoes

1 pound sweet potatoes peeled and chopped into 1-inch dice (about 2 medium sweet potatoes)
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons fresh thyme no sprigs, just leaves

Chicken

1.5 lb chicken thighs skinless, boneless
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon fresh thyme no sprigs, just leaves
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil

Other ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
3 oz portobello mushroom (1 large)
5 cloves garlic minced
1 cup chicken stock
4 tablespoons butter

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Cook wild rice on the stovetop

Rinse wild rice really well. Add 1 cup of wild rice and 3 cups of water to a large saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook according to the package instructions, which usually means 45 minutes. Or, use pre-cooked wild rice blend in a pouch and skip this step!
While the rice cooks, prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Roast sweet potatoes in the oven

Preheat oven to 400 F. Toss diced potatoes with olive oil, salt, pepper, and fresh thyme (no sprigs, just leaves) on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
Roast for about 15 or 20 minutes. In the meantime, proceed with the recipe.

Sear chicken thighs and mushrooms on the stovetop

Generously season the chicken thighs with salt, freshly ground black pepper, smoked paprika, Italian seasoning, and fresh thyme.
Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium heat for 3 minutes. This allows the skillet to heat through. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add chicken thighs. Cook the chicken on medium heat for 5 minutes, without moving it. This allows the chicken to sear.
Flip the chicken thighs over, reduce heat to low-medium, and cook for about 5 more minutes or longer until it's cooked through. The meat thermometer should register 165°F (74°C) in the thickest part of the chicken. Remove chicken to a plate.
To the same, now empty, skillet add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, chopped portobello mushroom, and minced garlic, sprinkle everything with salt, and cook, stirring, on medium heat, until the garlic is softened and the portobello is cooked.

Assembly

Add cooked wild rice to the skillet with mushrooms and garlic. Add 1 cup of chicken stock and 4 tablespoons of butter. Stir everything well, warming up the rice on medium heat. Stir in roasted sweet potatoes. Season with salt and pepper.
Return cooked chicken to the skillet with wild rice. Top with fresh thyme sprigs.

Notes

You can turn this recipe into a 30-minute meal! Use cooked wild rice blend in a pouch (such as the Brown and Wild Rice pouch by O Organics Brand sold at Safeway stores). This way you don't even have to cook the wild rice for 45 minutes - it's already cooked! To make this recipe even faster, buy precut butternut squash (if your store sells it) - use that instead of sweet potatoes to save even more time! This way, you don't have to peel and dice sweet potatoes!

Nutrition