Oven-Baked Chicken and Rice with Lemon and Mushrooms
Sep 22, 2022, Updated Oct 11, 2022
This easy, oven-baked chicken and rice recipe is cozy and packed with mushrooms and bright lemon flavour. Not to mention it’s a one-pot meal!
Why This Recipe Works
This baked chicken and rice recipe is so good because flavours are built in layers.
- The chicken thighs are crisped up to a beautiful golden brown first. This adds amazing depth to the final dish.
- The onions and garlic are cooked down with the mushrooms to concentrate their flavours.
- As the rice is simmering away in the oven, it absorbs all the delicious juices of the chicken and mushrooms.
Why You’re going to Love This Lemony One-Pot Mushroom Chicken and Rice:
This easy baked chicken and rice recipe is so cozy and hearty, it’s like a hug in dutch oven. Packed with mushrooms and bright lemon flavour, you’re going to want to make it on repeat. Not to mention only one pot to clean up. HELLO! Such a simple, hands-off, oven-baked, one-pan meal.
The Ingredients:
- Chicken thighs: I love skin-on bone-in chicken thighs for this because of all the beautiful, rich flavour it gives the recipe. Skip chicken breasts, as they will dry out by the time the rice is cooked. You can choose to eat or discard the skin. It doesn’t stay perfectly crispy after baking (because it must be baked covered and the trapped steam softens it) but it still adds tons of browned-chicken flavour.
- Mushroom: use button or shitake or substitute any of your favourite varieties
- Lemon: for extra lemon flavour, add the lemon zest too
- Onions and garlic: important flavour builders
- Flavourful liquids: broth, wine and lemon juice – yum!
- Rice: I love to use basmati rice but you could use any long-grain rice for this recipe, or use converted brown rice (which is parboiled and cooks faster)
How to Make it:
Although the majority of the cooking time is totally hands-off, there are a few important steps to do first to build up all the yummy lemony, rich flavours.
- First, crisp up the chicken thighs in the dutch oven to give them golden brown colour and render the fat.
- Then, saute the aromatics to release their flavour.
- Cook the mushrooms to concentrate that umami and release some moisture.
- Deglaze all those delicious brown bits with a bit of flavour-boosting white wine, then add the rice and bake it all.
- The key is to keep it covered, then treat it to a quick last-minute broil to re-crisp up the skin a bit before serving.
Other Weeknight Chicken Recipes You Won’t Want to Miss:
Healthier Honey Garlic Chicken
Cheesy Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Casserole
Baked BBQ Chicken Drumsticks + Legs
Oven-Baked Chicken and Rice with Lemon and Mushrooms
This easy, oven-baked chicken and rice recipe is cozy and packed with mushrooms and bright lemon flavour. Not to mention it's a one-pot meal!
Ingredients
- 5 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs
- 1 ½ tsp kosher salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- 1 onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- ½ lb 8 oz mushrooms, sliced (white button and/or shiitake)
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- ¼ cup white wine (or more broth)
- 3 cups regular chicken broth (not low sodium or unsalted)
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 cup rice
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ¼ cup fresh parsley
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Season chicken all over with 1 ½ tsp salt , pepper and garlic powder. Heat oil in a large oven-safe dutch oven over medium heat until oil is shimmering hot, about 2 minutes. Place chicken thighs, skin side down, in the heated skillet and cook for 7 minutes or until skin is crispy and golden brown. Transfer to a plate.
- Add onions, garlic, mushrooms and ¼ tsp more salt to the same dutch oven and cook for 5 minutes or until soft.
- Add white wine to deglaze the pan, scraping up all the brown bits. Cook for 30 seconds. Mix in chicken broth, lemon juice, rice, remaining 1/2 tsp salt, and pepper (1/2 tsp).
- Place chicken thighs on top of the rice, skin facing up. Cover and bake for 1 hour 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and rice is tender.
- Turn oven to broil setting, position the dutch oven on the rack closest to the element, and broil for a few minutes to re-crisp the skin. Garnish with fresh parsley and enjoy!
Tried this recipe? Leave a comment!
I made this chicken and rice recipe for a potluck and it was a huge hit! Everyone loved the combination of flavors and the fact that it’s a one-pot meal meant there was minimal cleanup. I’ll definitely be making this recipe again and again.
What I love about this chicken and rice recipe is how versatile it is. You can use any type of mushroom you like, and you can adjust the amount of lemon to suit your tastes. And it was the perfect meal for our cozy night in.
I’m not usually a fan of baked chicken, but this recipe has converted me! The chicken thighs come out so tender and flavorful, and the rice soaks up all the amazing juices.
As a busy mom, I love one-pot meals that are easy to prepare and clean up. This recipe definitely fits the bill – it’s so simple to make and it all cooks in one dutch oven. Plus, the layers of flavor in the dish are amazing.
I tried this chicken and rice recipe for dinner last night and it was a hit! The chicken thighs were perfectly crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. And the lemony mushroom flavor in the rice was so delicious and satisfying.
Just made this tonight – I added a pat of butter too. Perfection.
Made this yesterday and it was delicious!! I love mushrooms. My only changes were Boneless, skinless thighs and sake(instead of white wine..it’s what I had) and 1 c basmati plus 2c broth(not 3) and it turned out great.
There seems to be something off with the conversion to metric. 2tbs is listed as both 15ml and 30ml, 1 cup is 250ml but 3 cups is 500ml.
Never mind, I didn’t see your section discussing ingredients where you mention parboiled brown rice. I’ve always shied away from parboiled rice, but it sounds like that is the best approach for a recipe like this.
No worries! Parboiled rice seems like a lesser choice because intuitively it seems more processed, but actually the processing converts the starch to a type that actually takes longer for your body to turn to sugar. Converted/parboiled rice has a lower glycemic index than regular rice and just as much fibre and nutrients. I love using parboiled/converted brown rice! 🙂
Good to know. I will add it to my pantry (and try it with the recipe), Thank you
This looks good, but I would prefer to make with brown rice. Any suggestions? Cooking longer seems necessary, but I don’t want the chicken to be overcooked.