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One-Pot Chicken and Rice with Coconut-Ginger Sauce

By Mark Huxsoll

Published on June 21, 2022

Time

1¼ hours

Yield

Serves 4

One-Pot Chicken and Rice with Coconut-Ginger Sauce

Ingredients

Coconut-Ginger Sauce

½ cup canned coconut milk ¼ cup packed brown sugar 3 tablespoons fish sauce 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger 1 tablespoon minced garlic 1 tablespoon sriracha 1 tablespoon lime juice

Chicken, Vegetables, and Rice

8 (5- to 7-ounce) bone-in chicken thighs, trimmed2 teaspoons table salt, divided1 teaspoon vegetable oil 1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1½-inch pieces1 red onion, cut into 1½-inch pieces1½ cups long-grain white rice, rinsed¾ cup water ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro 4 scallions, sliced thin

Before You Begin

Be sure to rinse the rice before cooking it to remove excess starch.

Instructions

    for the coconut-ginger sauce

  1. Combine coconut milk, sugar, fish sauce, ginger, garlic, and sriracha in bowl. Set aside.
  2. and rice

  3. FOR THE CHICKEN, VEGETABLES, Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Pat chicken dry with paper towels and sprinkle all over with 1 teaspoon salt. Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add half of chicken, skin side down, and cook until skin is well-browned, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to plate skin side up. Repeat with remaining chicken.
  4.  Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from pot and heat over medium heat until shimmering. Add bell pepper and onion and cook until vegetables are spotty brown, about 3 minutes. Stir in rice, water, ¾ cup coconut-ginger sauce, and remaining 1 teaspoon salt, scraping up any browned bits, and bring to boil. Nestle chicken into rice mixture skin side up. Cover; transfer to oven; and bake until chicken registers at least 185 degrees, about 25 minutes.
  5.  Transfer pot to wire rack and let stand, covered, for 15 minutes. Transfer chicken to serving platter. Fluff rice with fork, stir in cilantro and scallions, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir lime juice into remaining coconut-ginger sauce and serve with chicken and rice.
One-Pot Chicken and Rice with Coconut-Ginger Sauce
Photography by Steve Klise. Styling by Elle Simone.

One-Pot Chicken and Rice with Coconut-Ginger Sauce

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Time

1¼ hours

Yield

Serves 4

Ingredients

Coconut-Ginger Sauce

½ cup canned coconut milk
¼ cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon sriracha
1 tablespoon lime juice

Chicken, Vegetables, and Rice

8 (5- to 7-ounce) bone-in chicken thighs, trimmed
2 teaspoons table salt, divided
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1½-inch pieces
1 red onion, cut into 1½-inch pieces
1½ cups long-grain white rice, rinsed
¾ cup water
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
4 scallions, sliced thin

Ingredients

Coconut-Ginger Sauce

½ cup canned coconut milk
¼ cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon sriracha
1 tablespoon lime juice

Chicken, Vegetables, and Rice

8 (5- to 7-ounce) bone-in chicken thighs, trimmed
2 teaspoons table salt, divided
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1½-inch pieces
1 red onion, cut into 1½-inch pieces
1½ cups long-grain white rice, rinsed
¾ cup water
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
4 scallions, sliced thin

Ingredients

Coconut-Ginger Sauce

½ cup canned coconut milk
¼ cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon sriracha
1 tablespoon lime juice

Chicken, Vegetables, and Rice

8 (5- to 7-ounce) bone-in chicken thighs, trimmed
2 teaspoons table salt, divided
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1½-inch pieces
1 red onion, cut into 1½-inch pieces
1½ cups long-grain white rice, rinsed
¾ cup water
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
4 scallions, sliced thin

Why This Recipe Works

UPDATE: This recipe has been slightly reformulated to be more failproof since its initial publication. The revision you see here was published in September of 2022. This one-pot recipe (aka an easy, satisfying weeknight dinner) features simple ingredients seasoned with a powerful stir-together coconut-ginger sauce inspired by Malaysian flavors. Cooking the chicken thighs skin side down browned the skin and built a foundation of flavor. We used thighs here, because they didn't dry out as much as breasts did when baked with the rice. Cooking the vegetables in some of the rendered chicken fat helped jump-start their cooking and carried the chicken flavor into the rice. To prevent mushy rice, we used a ratio of rice to cooking liquid that took into account the juices that were released from the chicken as it cooked. We added ¾ cup of the sauce to the rice to cook those flavors into it. Resting the parcooked thighs on a platter before combining them with the rice prevented the juices they exuded during resting from soaking into the rice and making it mushy. Fluffing the cilantro and scallions into the rice (versus just scattering them over the finished dish) allowed their flavors to penetrate the dish. Adding fresh lime juice to the sauce at the end brightened up the sauce for a finishing touch.

Before You Begin

Be sure to rinse the rice before cooking it to remove excess starch.

Instructions

    for the coconut-ginger sauce

  1. Combine coconut milk, sugar, fish sauce, ginger, garlic, and sriracha in bowl. Set aside.
  2. and rice

  3. FOR THE CHICKEN, VEGETABLES, Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Pat chicken dry with paper towels and sprinkle all over with 1 teaspoon salt. Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add half of chicken, skin side down, and cook until skin is well-browned, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to plate skin side up. Repeat with remaining chicken.
  4.  Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from pot and heat over medium heat until shimmering. Add bell pepper and onion and cook until vegetables are spotty brown, about 3 minutes. Stir in rice, water, ¾ cup coconut-ginger sauce, and remaining 1 teaspoon salt, scraping up any browned bits, and bring to boil. Nestle chicken into rice mixture skin side up. Cover; transfer to oven; and bake until chicken registers at least 185 degrees, about 25 minutes.
  5.  Transfer pot to wire rack and let stand, covered, for 15 minutes. Transfer chicken to serving platter. Fluff rice with fork, stir in cilantro and scallions, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir lime juice into remaining coconut-ginger sauce and serve with chicken and rice.

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