This Lemon Chicken Rice Skillet is a super quick and easy weeknight dinner that the whole family will love!
Lemon Chicken Rice Skillet is a one skillet dinner that my whole family loves. The chicken is super tender and the rice is light, fluffy and has a delightful lemon fragrance to it!
I’m all about those easy dinners, and since it’s officially Spring weather, I’m loving all things lemon! Who am I kidding, I love lemon all times of the year. I especially love it when an easy, one skillet dinner comes together this quickly!
I started out with 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, but you can also use chicken thighs for that tender dark meat.
I used butter to sear the chicken, which I think gave it a nice and nutty flavor when the butter started to brown. The smell was just heavenly!
Once the chicken is cooked all you have to do is remove it from the skillet, add the rice, chicken broth and a little bit of lemon juice. Stir it around and be sure to scrape the bottom of the pan to get those browned bits. That’s where all the lovely flavor is!
Then just place the chicken back on top of the rice, cover and let it cook until the rice is nice and fluffy.
My kids absolutely LOVED this dish. My husband couldn’t get over how flavorful the rice was, and I am always happy when dinner only takes one pan getting dirty!
If you’re looking for more easy chicken skillet dinner ideas, try these ones:
- Asparagus Stuffed Chicken – quickly a fan favorite
- BBQ Chicken Pasta Skillet – all the flavors of BBQ without the grill
- One Skillet Greek Chicken – this one uses a fun pasta
- Chicken and Stuffing Skillet – the combination of flavors in this one is unreal
- Mexican Chicken Taco Skillet – turn taco Tuesday into something new and fun
With the weather warming up, it’s always nice to have a handful of easy dinner ideas that don’t require too much effort. I’m sure you’re going to love this Lemon Chicken Rice Skillet as much as we did.
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Lemon Chicken Rice Skillet
Recipe adapted slightly from Creme de la Crumb
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (or boneless chicken thighs)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 cup uncooked white rice, I use Jasmine
- 2 1/4 cup chicken stock
- 1 tsp lemon zest + 3 tbsp lemon juice (from one lemon)
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 whole lemon, cut into slices for garnish
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet (with lid) over medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder and parsley.
- Add the butter to the skillet and cook chicken in hot butter until browned, but not cooked all the way through (about 2 minutes per side). Remove chicken from skillet to a plate nearby.
- Add the rice, chicken stock, lemon zest, lemon juice and parsley to the skillet over medium heat and use a wooden spoon to scrape the browned bits from the pan. Let rice come to a small boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Place the chicken on top of the rice mixture, cover with lid and let cook an additional 20 to 25 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed.
- Garnish the chicken with lemon slices and extra parsley if desired. Enjoy right away!
Keywords: lemon, chicken, rice, skillet, stove top, easy, quick
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One Skillet
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Can i use instant Rice?
When you say chicken breast halves, what is the weight? Do you filet a chicken breast to get a thinner chicken breast?
Yes, you’ll want to filet the chicken breasts in half. Or you can use a whole chicken breast and just pound it thin with a heavy rolling pin. Either way will work.
I was excited to see a one-pan dinner with no oven. Unfortunately, I must have done something wrong. It wasn’t a hit with our family. The chicken ended up too dried out yet the rice was gummy. Sorry, but we won’t be making it again.
★★
Hi Diane, I’m so sorry you didn’t get great results with this. Honestly it sounds like something went wrong in the cooking process, because this dish always comes out great for me. Here are some tips that might get you better results – all you need to do is sear the chicken before adding in the rice. If you cook the chicken too long it’ll end up being dry. If the rice is gummy it sounds like there is too much starch in there. I prefer to use Jasmine rice for recipes like this, but if you’re using a different kind, make sure you rinse your rice before adding it to the skillet to remove excess starches. Hope you give it another try!
I have made this 3 times and I love it its my new addiction!! So good
★★★★★
Awesome! I’m so glad you have been enjoying the recipe Regina!
Do you cook the ride before putting it in the pan or does it cook from raw in the pan?
You’ll use uncooked rice for this recipe, it gets cooked right in the pan with the chicken!
This was delicious! I didn’t use chicken broth, because I had all the ingredients except that, but I didn’t miss it. It’s plenty flavorful all on its own. I replaced the white rice with brown, and a note to those who decide to do this: you do not need to add extra liquid. I find that brown rice tends to need more liquid, so I added an extra 1/4 cup or so and it was unnecessary. I took the chicken out and left the lid off for the last five minutes to let it evaporate. I steamed some Brussels sprouts to go with it and it was amazing. It’s going in my recipe rotation.
So glad you enjoyed the recipe Alyssa!
What did you use instead f chicken stock?
I just used water. I’ve made this recipe 3-4 times since I originally tried and I love it every time. 🙂
Awesome! I’m so glad you have enjoyed it.
I was looking for a quick easy one stove top meal tonight. This was perfect! Used up some of my frozen Meyer lemon slices instead of juice. Flavorful and a keeper. Thank you!
This was VERY tasty! My only caution – be careful not to use too much salt. I overdid it a little. The rice was quite flavorful with a subtle lemon flavor.
I made this for supper tonight, it was really good, thanks for sharing!
This was AMAZING. My only complaint is that I waited so long to try it!! Super simple and excellent flavor!
So glad you enjoyed it Katie!
I followed your recipe totally. I did use arborio rice. This was GREAT.!!!!! My wife and I couldn’t get enough of it…
Hi! I’m wondering can I use brown rice to cook with the chicken?
Did you try it with brown rice?
This was so easy to make and tastes fab, I take any leftovers to work and still tastes as good
That’s awesome! So glad you are enjoying it!
Thank you for this recipe. We had this for dinner replacing the rice with quinoa. Was absolutely delicious. I will make it again very soon and will use rice. One of the best recipes I’ve gotten from FB!
Do you think this would save and reheat well for a meal I’m taking to someone else? I don’t want it to be overcooked.
I’ve eaten this as a leftover and it’s just as delicious!
Look simple and delicious!!
I love all of your posts but I wish you include the nutrition information!
OMG this looks to die for! I HAVE to make this dish this week!
Just asking is a skillet and frying pan the same thing,or would a skillet be deeper
You’ll want a skillet that is at least 2 inches deep and has a lid for this recipe. 🙂
Wow, it looks delicious, thanks for sharing the recipe, it’s useful!
Question: I have 4 teens, so I usually have to double a recipe. If I use a large cast iron skillet, do you think that I can safely double to rice? Or will it most likely boil over? I”m wondering if I would need to make the rice separately and then try to combine everything at the end? Thanks!
If I were to double it, I would just make sure you have a very large (and deep) skillet. You may have to cook the chicken in two batches, but just place the chicken back on top once you get all the rice in there. I’m thinking you’ll need at least a 12″ skillet that is between 2″ to 3″ deep. Hope this helps!
Hi,
This recipe sounds absolutely delicious and easy to make. Thank you for sharing it with all of us. Smile BIG! 🙂
Mary from NH
Thanks Mary! Hope you enjoy it! 🙂