Oooh! Two of my favourite Middle Eastern foods baked together in one pan! This Baked Chicken Shawarma and Rice is made with chicken coated with Shawarma seasoning that’s seared then plonked on a fragrant rice with chickpeas before baking. When it’s in the oven, the the gorgeous juices from the chicken mingles with the rice, adding incredible flavour you just can’t buy!
My family will rib me for sharing yet another Middle Eastern recipe. And yet another one skillet recipe! I love that they have no control over what I post. Unlike deciding the menu for our regular family dinners. The number of emails that fly back and forth as we argue over what the menu will be and who is making what…..
Oh boy. It’s ridiculous. Absolute undeniable evidence that I was born into a foodie family!
Chicken Shawarma is one of my most requested recipes. By my friends, that is. No one in my family has ever asked me for this recipe. It’s a matter of principle. They can’t make fun of how often I make Middle Eastern dishes then come crawling to me for my secret Chicken Shawarma recipe!
It’s not-so-secret anymore anyway because I shared my stovetop / BBQ Chicken Shawarma recipe last year – you can find it here. Hmm. I wonder if anyone in my family has used the recipe? 😉
One of the reasons I love Chicken Shawarma so much is because I think that the effort vs flavour is off the charts. Just a handful of spices packs a serious punch! And it is spices that I always have in stock – cumin, coriander, paprika and cardamon. Sometimes I add cayenne pepper too, for a bit of a kick (I’ve made it optional for this recipe).
So it was just a matter of time before I created a one pot version of Chicken Shawarma. Well, not one pot. One skillet. At least, that’s what I used, but it can definitely be made in a pot too! In fact, this is ideal to make in a dutch oven. 🙂
The wonderful benefit of cooking the chicken and the rice together in one pot is that the juices of the chicken drips down into the rice as they cook. So basically, the rice is being cooked with the best stock in the world! There is so much flavour in the rice, honestly, I’d be happy to forgo the chicken and just have the rice for dinner!
Well actually, that’s just a blatant lie. I’m not passing on the chicken. I want BOTH!
The pilaf for this Baked Chicken Shawarma and Rice is adapted from a recipe by the great Yotam Ottolenghi, from his cookbook Jerusalem. It’s flavoured with a touch of cardamon and a couple of cinnamon sticks and the fragrance is delicate and exotic.
Because the spice rub for the chicken is so intense, it isn’t necessary to marinate for very long. Though it certainly would benefit from marinating overnight. As long as you get a bit of skin with each bite of chicken, there is plenty of flavour, so I rarely marinate it. I consider this Baked Chicken Shawarma and Rice to be my midweek version.
We’re half way through the week! Back Friday with something delish for the weekend. 🙂
– Nagi x
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One Skillet Oven Baked Chicken Shawarma and Rice Pilaf
Ingredients
Spice Rub
- 1 large garlic clove , minced (or 2 small cloves)
- 1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- 1 tsp smoked paprika (or ordinary is fine)
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Black pepper
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
Chicken and Rice
- 5 chicken thigh fillets , bone in, skin on - about 2 lb / 1kg in total (Note 1)
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small onion , finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 1/2 cups long grain rice , uncooked (Note 2)
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth (or water)
- 2 cups water
- 3/4 - 1 tsp salt
- Black pepper
- 1 1/2 tsp cardamon powder
- 2 cinnamon sticks (or 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder)
- 400g (14oz) can chickpeas , drained (1 can)
- 1/4 cup raisins or sultanas (optional)
Garnish (optional)
- Yoghurt (plain, unsweetened. Greek yoghurt is great)
- Cilantro/coriander leaves , roughly chopped
- Parsley leaves , roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
- Mix the Spice Rub ingredients together in a small bowl. Slather onto the chicken, covering both sides.
- Optional: Marinate for at least 1 hour, up to 24 hours. (Note 3)
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the chicken, skin side down, and cook for 5 minutes on each side, or until light golden brown.
- Remove chicken from skillet. Scrape off excess black bits stuck to the pan and discard, along with excess oil (but leave some to cook the onion).
- Add garlic and onion. Cook for 2 minutes until translucent.
- Add rice and stir so the grains are coated in oil and become a bit translucent.
- Add remaining ingredients. Place the chicken on top - it should be half submerged with the skin above the surface. Pour in the juices from the plate as well.
- Bring to simmer, then place a lid on (or cover with foil) and transfer to oven.
- Bake for 35 minutes, then remove the lid and bake for a further 10 minutes.
- Remove from the oven. Let it rest for 5 minutes.
- Remove chicken from the rice and mix the rice quickly (to evenly distribute flavour).
- Serve, garnished with cilantro/coriander and parsley if desired. I also like to serve it with a bit of plain yoghurt. (Note 4)
Recipe Notes:
- Drumsticks and large breast fillets - follow recipe
- Small to medium chicken breast fillets - bake for 25 to 35 minutes, so put it in the oven 10 to 15 minutes after the rice has been in the oven
- Boneless skinless thigh fillets - put in oven on the rice after the rice has been in the oven for 15 minutes
Also, if you want to make this with chicken breast fillets, add 1 tbsp of olive oil to the Marinade, otherwise it will be too dry to sear. 2. This can be made with white long grain or medium grain rice. Jasmin and basmati will work too. Short grain white rice can be used as a last resort. This recipe is not suitable for arborio (risotto rice), calasparra (paella rice) or brown rice (takes too long to cook in the oven). 3. The flavours of the spice rub are quite strong. So as long as you get a bit of skin/chicken surface with each bite, there is plenty of flavour even without marinating. Plus, because it is half braised, there is extra flavour from the braising liquid too. 4. Yoghurt - you can fancy up the yoghurt a bit if you want. If I'm cooking for company, I will make a yoghurt sauce with 1 1/2 cups of yoghurt, 1 minced garlic clove, 2 tbsp lemon juice, salt and pepper. 5. This makes more rice than for 5 servings. I think it makes enough for 7 servings. 6. The nutrition analysis below takes into account that I discard 3 tablespoons of fat that rendered out when I browned the chicken and that this recipe makes enough rice for 7 servings.
Nutrition Information:
Thanks Nagi
I made this delicious chicken dish and the whole family enjoyed it so much.. lots of compliment and lots of people going back for seconds!! The only thing I did different was add a little saffron and turmeric to the onion mix which gives the rice a lovely colour. Will definitely make again and also my son and daughter in law made the salad on this site which complimented the chicken beautifully. Can’t wait to make the other dishes!!
Glyn
Thanks Glyn, so glad you enjoyed it! Love the addition of saffron and tumeric! N x
Hi Nagi,
Could you make this without the chicken or will that interfere with the liquid measurement? (I have cooked chicken that I want to add afterwards – otherwise it will get too dry) Similarly, if, say, I wanted to add some green leaves (such as kale) into the rice, would that muff up the liquid measurement?
Many thanks.
PS, I though I could fry the onion in some of the spice rub/marinade to get its flavour into the rice.
Hi Penny! If you remove the chicken, add about 1/3 cup of water. Green leaves will probably be fine as they actually don’t leech that much water compared to things like zucchini, eggplant etc. 🙂 And yes to the onion!
Thanks so much Nagi!
I made this last night and it was delicious. I also fried up some mushrooms with the onion so lessened the extra water by a little. In the end I put shredded kale and chicken on the top of the rice for the last ten minutes or so, which warmed and wilted things (and looked quite pretty).
The spice combo you put together is just lovely (as you know!! 🙂 ).
I’m going to further experiment with a combo of different grains in the rice. And alternative veg additions to make it meat free. (I’m thinking eggplant…). Suffice to say – this is a killer recipe!
Thanks again for your reply. I love your site/ideas.
Penny
I’m so thrilled to hear that you enjoyed it Penny! THANK YOU for letting me know! N x
I adore this recipe! I made it last week, and now I’m thinking about making it for a dinner party. Any recommendations for a salad or veggie side to serve with it?
I’m so glad you enjoyed this Jessica, thanks! Try one of the salads in this Middle Eastern menu I did, they are great! https://salesdock.info/arabian-feast-fast-cost-efficient-make-ahead/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
I made this dish for supper tonight and I have to say it was spectacular ! the flavour of that rice is just sublime, and I love that you don’t use chilli which seems to be in everything that chefs cook these days. This is the second recipe of yours that I have tried and I am mightily impressed, thank you Nagi please keep these one pot wonders coming, it’s so refreshing to try new recipes that actually work, well done you!!
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it Diane, thanks for letting me know! N x
I love this recipe!!! I’ve made this recipe so many times I lost count. Love the flavours and it’s so easy to put together. Just a note on the rice. I’ve made this recipe mainly with jasmine rice since that’s what I always have and I find using 2 cups of liquid to be just perfect.
I’m so glad you love this too Emma! Thank you so much for letting me know! N x
Hey Nagi
Dinner tonight – I substitued Garam Marsala for the spice rub though. I had everything else ie: cinnamon quills, currants, cardamom ground, etc.
Went for my 1hr walk, whilst the chicken was resting in the lovely spicy rub, returned and got on with the rest of the recipe. Wowza – soo good, so tasty. served as you recommended with coriander (my favourite herb – ever) and Greek yogurt. Hubby is on night shift and has requested the leftovers for dinner at 4am!
We all loved it, flavours were awesome and very easy to put together. I used skinless thigh fillets and they were very nice, tender, and full of flavour. Another 10/10 from all of us x
YAY!!! So glad you enjoyed this Vanessa – thank you SO MUCH for coming back to let me know!! N x PS Garam Marsala is a perfect sub. The flavours go wonderfully with the pilaf!!! 🙂
I’ve been craving Middle Eastern dishes this week and wow! The spices are still lingering in my mouth-beautiful. This food is beautiful, full of life and screaming “aphrodisiac” 😉 I couldn’t be happier with the flavors I had the pleasure to confront this evening at a meal in my own home that was 10+ times better than anything I would have ordered out! The contrast of aromatic rice with spices was phemnomenal, warming and accentuated by the sweetness of the raisins and fresh herbs. I paired it with a frisée salad with tomatoes. I did have to re-cover and cook for 10 minutes for the rice to cook through. The wait was with the while. Thank you!
Yay!! I am so SO glad you loved this too Drea, thank you for letting me know! N xx
Thank you for sharing such an awesome recipe! Loved the flavors and how easily the dish came together. Definitely a recipe I will come back to often. 🙂
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Addie! Thank you for taking the time to let me know! N x
My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed this dish tonight. Thanks for sharing!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this Debra! N x
This recipe looks brilliant! I have a dutch oven but my actual oven doesn’t work at the moment. Would I be able to make this on a stove top? How would I adjust the temperature?
Hi Jit! Stove top will be a little trickier, what I would do is cook the chicken in the pan almost all the way through, then take it out, put the rice etc in, reduce the water to 1 1/2 cups of water (so total of 3 cups of liquid), then put the lid on and cook the rice on the stove on medium low. When most of the water is absorbed, plonk the chicken on top to warm through and so the juices drop into the rice. 🙂 The chicken won’t be quite as crispy because it gets crispy in the oven, but it will still be delicious!!
Wow, thank you so much for your help! Stove top was indeed much tricker but it was absolutely worth it. During cleanup, I deboned the chicken (thighs and legs), added the meat to the rice, and created a quick stir fry for our lunch today. These leftovers are amazing. The fat/juice from the chicken, raisins, cinnamon sticks, etc. really make the rice. I couldn’t find cardamom at my local supermarket and substituted with equal parts allspice/nutmeg. Thanks again for yet another deliciously complex yet easy recipe, Nagi! Can’t wait to try it with cardamom and you know, an actual oven. 🙂
YAY! So glad it worked out Jit!!! 🙂 N x PS I am impressed you were so determined to try this you made it on the stove!!
Delicious! My husband and two kids (4.5 and 2) gobbled it up! Problem is, there was WAY too much rice for the amount of chicken and I used six chicken thighs. I decided to make more chicken to finish up the rice for dinner the following night. I added some lemon zest in the marinade and used chicken drumsticks because that’s what I had. My husband grilled the chicken on the bbq. The combination of the added lemon zest and grilling the chicken that just made it even better.
The only thing is, we still have so much rice left over. Is there any way to cut back the rice in the recipe?
Hi Stephanie! So glad you enjoyed it! It is hard to make less rice because it affects the cook time overall so it can’t all be cooked at the same time. The rice keeps for a couple of days and is so yum to have as a side or toss through salads!
Really enjoyed this, thanks so much for posting it, my other half has said it might have even edged out his previous favourite chicken dish and that he was already looking forward to left overs tomorrow for lunch, so an absolute keeper. Didnt have chickpeas, used tinned brown lentils and added green frozen peas n beans for colour. Delicious.
Oooh, that’s a BIG CALL! Yay, so glad you loved it, thank you!!
“really good mum”….both boys demolished a large plate full I have done a similar dish with lamb mince always a hit,..
next week clients get this one. thanks heaps
That’s so great to hear Lucilla! I’m curious – what do you do for work? N x
Yet another great family dinner thanks to you Nagi – this was really tasty and so simple to make. I’ve made about 8 of your dishes now and every one of them has been a success so thank you. You should publish a hard copy recipe book, I’m sure it would be a hit here in the UK.
I have one question – with skin on chicken so much of the marinade flavour is in the skin and yet I worry that it’s unhealthy to eat the skin – would this recipe work with skinless thighs?
Hi Debra! Thank you for your wonderful message! 🙂 YES it works with skinless thighs. One of the reasons I pan fry the skin on chicken on a lower heat is to render out as much fat as possible before popping it in the oven. But I’ve definitely made this plenty of times with thigh too! And book, you say? On the cards!! I’m aiming to release my first one in the 3rd quarter of next year (thinking just in time for Christmas!!;) )
I made this tonight and it was very tasty but I used jasmine rice and it was definitely overcooked and super sticky and mushy. I also used chicken breasts and they ended up being quite dry. I baked it for 35 minutes and feel it maybe needed less time due to soggy rice and dry chicken 🙁 will try to remake it with thighs and less cooking time.
Hi Anna! Hmm, that’s odd. If anything, I would have thought jasmine rice would be slightly firmer. Was the rice fresh? As in, not sitting around in the pantry for ages? And definitely try it with thigh, it is MUCH juicier than breast!!
Hi, Nagi. I have a question about the liquid – in my experience cooking with jasmine rice, I use 1.5 cups liquid to 1 cup rice. I was just wondering if all the liquid in the recipe is necessary because of the chicken and other ingredients? Just don’t want to end up with soggy rice!
Thanks!
Hi Cris! You are absolutely right, it is usually 1.5 to 1. That is the ratio for stovetop for perfect (not soggy!) rice. There is more liquid in this because it is baked in the oven and so much liquid evaporates during the baking time when the lid is taken off. The rice is definitely not soggy. Being of Japanese background, I was brought up to be a rice snob. No soggy rice for me!! My mother would disown me if I did a recipe result in soggy rice!!!
Hi Nagi, I’m English but I live in France and I just wanted to tell you how much I loved your recipe for Shawarma Chicken! It was perfect, subtle but interestingly spiced – really delicious! I look forward to trying our more of your recipes and love receiving them each week. Thank you so much!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I am envious of your life in France, I imagine it to be very exotic and romantic! 🙂
As much as I love Middle Eastern food, I rarely make it at home. This recipe may have to be tried and tested! Yum!
Really? I would have thought it would be a regular in your household! Let’s go get a hole-in-the-wall Lebanese fix in Redfern soon! 🙂
I have made this recipe twice since you posted it. The smells fill the house with the most amazing perfume. The rub is absolutely outstanding. Do you think that I could use it on another type of meat?
Hi Barbra! I’m SO GLAD you enjoy it!! Yes, the rub is fabulous on beef and lamb, though they can’t be cooked in this particular recipe because of the cooking time 🙂 It’s particularly good rubbed on beef or lamb and thrown on the grill. Or used to make koftas! I have a kofta recipe on my site. 🙂 SO GOOD! Thank you for taking the time to come back and let me know you enjoyed it! <3
I love Middle Eastern food!!! And love the idea to put the rice in with the chicken so smart that will taste amazing! 🙂