Chicken with Garlic Parmesan Rice is the perfect dish for easy weeknight dinners. This quick chicken and rice recipe is not only tasty but it uses ingredients you likely have on hand!
Serve it with the healthy addition of Cranberry, Walnut and Spinach Salad, or delicious Avocado Salad.
Chicken and rice recipe is one of my all time favorite foods and the thing I search out the most on restaurant menus. But when I’m home I make it from scratch because the recipe is so easy! Chicken and rice is a terrific way to stretch your meal budget. For a family of four or five, you can get by with just a pound, or a pound and a half of chicken and several cups of rice. You can also use this as a meal prep by dividing the entire meal into four equal portions and storing them in ziplock bags frozen or refrigerated.
How to Make Chicken with Garlic Parmesan Rice
Garlic parmesan rice with chicken is super simple, especially if you prepare all your ingredients in advance. It’s literally as easy as 1,2,3!!
Cook chicken:
Make saucy rice by preparing flavor rich saucy rice liquid first:
Cook rice in the amazing sauce:
- Cook Chicken: Season the chicken with salt and pepper and cook over medium-high heat (I cook about 5 minutes per side until nicely browned). I like to use a lean chicken tenderloins or chicken tenders. You can also use skinless and boneless chicken thighs here. Remove and set aside
- Make Saucy Rice: Add garlic, wine, chicken broth and RICE to the pan. Wine and garlic will flavor and coat every morsel of rice as they slowly cook together.
- Add Parmesan: Parmesan should go once the rice is ready and after you add the chicken back to the pan.
WHAT KIND OF WINE TO USE
First things first, I do not recommend using a cooking wine not only because it will not add a rich taste to the dish, but also because it’s full of sodium and will make your food way too salty!
What I do use is a regular drinking wine here. I love Pinot Grigio because it’s a crisp, lemony-lime, dry white wine.
BEST NON-ALCOHOLIC SUBSTITUTES FOR WINE IN COOKING
- White Wine Vinegar is an ideal substitute for dry white wine. Made from white wine, it has many of the same flavor characteristics. Minus the alcohol. In this recipe you should start with 1/4 cup vinegar + 2/3 cup chicken stock. Thank you, Emily, for providing this tip!
- Rice Vinegar – do not use it! A brave reader attempted it and the result was simply miserable. Trashcan! Thank you Evangelina for reporting back.
- I do not recommend Apple Cider Vinegar. Because it an be too strong as a substitute. A reader recommended to add ONLY a splash of it. You should start with 1 tablespoon. Add more only you desire a stronger flavor.
- Chicken or vegetable stock. Substitute stock for white wine entirely if not a fan of vinegar.
- For extra flavor, try mixing a tablespoon of lemon juice per cup of stock
Enjoy!
Chicken with Garlic Parmesan Rice
Ingredients
- 1 lb. chicken tenders
- Salt and pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoons salt divided
- 1/2 cup dry white wine (such as Pinot Grigio)
- 1 1/2 cups white rice (uncooked)
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (grated or shredded)
Instructions
- Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Season chicken with salt and pepper and garlic powder. Sauté chicken tenders until nicely browned and just cooked through. Remove from skillet and set aside.
- Add butter, garlic, pepper flakes and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the empty skillet and sauté garlic for a couple of minutes on medium heat.
- Turn heat to medium high and add white wine. Cook and stir for about 5 minutes. Remove and set aside 3 tablespoons of pan sauce to use later.
- Add uncooked rice to skillet with remaining butter sauce. Stir well - make sure it's completely covered. Add chicken broth and remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Bring mixture to a low boil then reduce heat to medium-low, cover pan and simmer for 20 minutes or until rice is tender. Stir several times while it's cooking
- Sprinkle parmesan over rice then arrange chicken tenders in skillet over rice. Cover, remove from heat then let stand for 5 minutes.
- Drizzle reserved 2 tablespoons of pan sauce over chicken tenders when serving and garnish with parsley.
Good but WAY too much salt. With the full stick of butter and then an additional teaspoon of salt , its just excessive for our taste. Maybe cutting the salt in half, or even removing completely, would be sufficient as the salt from the butter should be enough .
Probably. Salt can be very tricky to manage (butter, parmesan cheese, etc.). I use unsalted butter.
Have you ever tried to freeze the leftovers? I am wondering f if it freezes well
Yes – it’s freezer friendly!
I made this last week for my INCREDIBLY picky husband and he loved it – especially the rice! (I let the chicken get a little cold…) Thanks for the recipe!
Yes! The rice is the best part:) – chicken is there to just flavor things.
This sounds great! Is there a substitute for the white wine though? Can’t wait to make this!
you can simply omit it and add a bit more chicken broth (if necessary).
Can brown rice be used?
Unfortunately, because brown rice takes longer to cook and is different in texture, it won’t work in this recipe.
Recipe was a family hit! Wonder if could mix it up and use pork chops?
Pork chops might not be great here due to the cooking time. Pork chops are best when baked or seared.
Could you use less butter to make it heart healthy?
Yes, absolutely!