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close up boiled chicken and rice with lemon wedges.
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5 from 2 votes

Boiled Rice and Chicken

Traditional boiled rice and chicken is one of the most comforting, reliable dinners you could make: just a few ingredients, yet so much flavor.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 20 minutes
Course: Poultry
Cuisine: American
Servings: 6
Calories: 628kcal
Author: Adina

Equipment

  • 1 Large stockpot
  • 1 Large saucepan

Ingredients

Boiled chicken:

  • 1 chicken medium Note 1
  • 2 celery sticks
  • 2 carrots
  • 1 onion medium
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1 tablespoon coarse sea salt less if using fine salt
  • 10 black peppercorns

Rice and chicken

  • 2 cups long-grain rice
  • 5 cups chicken stock more if required
  • 1 chicken stock cube optional
  • ¼ - ½ teaspoon fine sea salt or Kosher, Note 2
  • freshly ground black pepper generously
  • 2 tablespoons butter salted or unsalted
  • a squeeze of fresh lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Instructions

Boil chicken:

  • Prepare: Place the chicken in a large pot. Add the roughly chopped celery sticks, carrots, and halved onion, the whole garlic cloves, bay leaves, salt, and peppercorns. Cover it with plenty of cold water, about 1 inch/ 2 ½ cm above the chicken, and place the lid on top
  • Boil: Bring to a gentle boil on medium-high heat but don’t let the water come to a rolling boil.
  • Remove the foam.
  • Simmer: Turn down the heat and remove the lid. Simmer on low heat until cooked through but not overcooked, it should take about 45 minutes, but make sure to check that the chicken is cooked through. Carefully remove the chicken from the broth.
  • Strain the poaching liquid and discard the solids.
  • Remove the skin and the bones of the bird once it’s cool enough to handle. Shred the meat.

Chicken and rice

  • Wash the rice and place it in a large saucepan.
  • Add the shredded meat, about 5 cups of the broth, the crumbled chicken stock cube, ¼ - ½ salt (Note 2), and black pepper.
  • Cook rice: Bring to a boil, turn the heat down and simmer for about 15 minutes until the rice is soft but not mushy (check the rice packet’s instructions regarding the cooking time as well).
  • Check the liquid stand from time to time and add a little more of the broth if the dish seems dry.
  • Once the rice is cooked, stir in the butter.
  • Rest for 10-15 minutes, covered.
  • Adjust the taste with salt, plenty of freshly ground black pepper, and a squeeze of lemon juice.
  • Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Notes

  1. About 2.5 lbs/ 1.2 kg. Once deboned, it will yield about 1 – 1 ½ lb/ 450 – 650 g of meat.
  2. How much salt you need depends on the type of salt, the stock cube, the saltiness of the chicken’s boiling liquid, and the type of butter (Read Expert tips for details).

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 628kcal | Carbohydrates: 61g | Protein: 34g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 112mg | Sodium: 1866mg | Potassium: 630mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 3709IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 55mg | Iron: 2mg