My favorite types of recipes to make are one pot dishes. They are easy to make and the best part is—clean up is just as easy. This chicken and rice one pot recipe with cilantro-lime sauce is bursting with flavor and great for a family weeknight dinner. It combines tender seasoned chicken, flavorful rice, and a zesty cilantro-lime sauce to create a mouthwatering experience even the kids will love.
Why I love this recipe
For starters, this chicken and rice one pot recipe with cilantro-lime sauce so easy to make. I love cooking both the main and side dish in the same pot. The flavors meld together and you don’t have to fuss over a bunch of different pots and pans at different times in the process. Plus the clean up super easy. The lime in the rice and the cilantro-topping adds a great flavor to the dish. Second, anytime my kids gobble down a dish and ask for seconds, it’s a winner. My kids love a good chicken and rice recipe and they definitely enjoyed this one. It was a nice switch up of the usual taco night too, as it had a lot of the same flavors.
I also really enjoyed the chicken. It was so tender due to it cooking slowly. And there are not a ton of ingredients in this recipe which is always a plus. The ingredients are also all ones I’m familiar with and usually have on hand or are always available at the store.
Tips for making this recipe
Coating the chicken in a plastic zip-lock back was a great and easy way to coat the chicken with seasoning, without the mess of another dish. You can also add a little cayenne pepper to the mix if you want to make it spicy. We opted to leave it out so we wouldn’t get any fuss from the kiddos.
When choosing your ingredients, make sure you don’t use instant rice in this dish or you’ll over cook it, as the chicken finishes cooking in the same pot.
When to make this recipe
This recipe is perfect for a weeknight dinner. Everything can be easily found at the grocery store and even kept on hand until your ready to make. Items like the beans, green chilis and taco seasoning can hang in the pantry, and the other items like garlic, limes, and chicken broth are staples in any kitchen.
The dish turned out amazing and the whole family loved it.
Chicken and Rice One Pot Recipe with Cilantro Lime Sauce
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 package taco seasoning
- 2 boneless/skinless chicken breasts cut in half
- 1 tbsp cooking oil avocado or olive oil
Rice Mixture
- 2 1/4 cups chicken broth
- 2 tbsp lime juice 1-2 limes
- 1 tbsp finely chopped garlic 3-4 cloves
- 1 cup uncooked regular long-grain white rice
- 1 cup black beans (from 15-oz can) drained and rinsed
- 4.5 oz chopped green chiles 1 can
Cilantro-Lime Sauce
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tbsp lime juice 1-2 limes
- 1 medium avocado
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- In large resealable plastic bag, add chicken and taco seasoning mix. Seal and shake to coat chicken evenly.
- In 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Cook chicken 5 to 7 minutes, turning once, until browned on both sides. Remove chicken from skillet and cover to keep warm.
- To same skillet, add Rice Mixture ingredients; heat to boiling.
- Cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer about 15 minutes or until liquid has been reduced by about half.
- Stir mixture thoroughly and place chicken on top of the rice.
- Cover and continue cooking 12 to 15 minutes or until juice of chicken is clear when center of thickest part is cut (at least 165°F), and rice is tender.
- Meanwhile, in mini food processor or blender, combine Cilantro-Lime Sauce ingredients; blend until smooth, scraping down sides of blender as necessary. Transfer mixture to small resealable plastic bag.
- Remove chicken and cut at angle into 1/2-inch slices. Then return chicken to skillet.
- Cut the corner off one end of the sauce bag and squeeze on top of sliced chicken and rice before serving.
- Optional: Garnish with chopped cilantro and lime wedges.
