Name: One Pan Chicken and Turmeric Rice
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 3 people
Ingredients: 1.5 lbs bone-in chicken thighs; 1 1/2 teaspoons salt; 1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce; 1 tablespoon lime juice; 2 garlic cloves, grated; 1/2 teaspoon five spice powder; 3/4 cup rice; 1 shallot, minced; 2 garlic cloves, minced; 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 3/4 cup water; 3/4 cup chicken stock ((low sodium)); 4-5 kaffir lime leaves; black pepper; cilantro, roughly chopped ((for garnishing)); olive oil

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This One Pan Chicken and Turmeric Rice is made using classic Asian flavors. The chicken is tender and the rice is so fragrant with beautiful yellow color thanks to turmeric and a secret ingredient. Incredibly delicious and healthy!

A One Pan Chicken and Rice recipe with Asian flair

We can easily find a lot of one pan chicken and rice recipes on the internet, but I haven’t seen one with Southeast Asian flavors. That’s why I decided to create one featuring classic Asian ingredients and flavors. The chicken and rice are cooked together in one pan in the oven, making this dish ideal for busy weeknights.

I love how moist and tender the chicken turns out, but really the star of the dish is the turmeric rice! Cooked in chicken stock, the rice also absorbs juice from the chicken on top. Rice cooked with turmeric in chicken stock is actually a component of the famous Com Ga Hoi An (Vietnamese Chicken Rice).

The turmeric powder adds beautiful yellow color and subtle earthiness to the rice. Turmeric also has a lot of health benefits, and Vietnamese people love to use it in cooking. The turmeric rice is unbelievably fragrant thanks to just a few kaffir lime leaves added to the cooking liquid. Yes, kaffir lime leaves is the secret ingredient :).

How to Make One Pan Chicken and Turmeric Rice

Ingredients

For this dish, I recommend using chicken thighs and white jasmine rice (long-grain) for best results. You will also need five spice powder, turmeric powder and kaffir lime leaves to make this dish a flavor bomb.

Kaffir lime leaves are usually in the frozen section at Asian grocery stores. You can also buy five spice powder and turmeric powder there or at Western grocery stores or on Amazon. Here are the five spice powder brand and turmeric powder brand I like and use.

You will need a fairly large heavy-bottomed pan like a cast iron to cook this dish. I use my Staub universal pan to cook it and I’m sure a well-seasoned Lodge cast iron pan (or Le Creuset) will work too.

Cooking One Pan Chicken and Turmeric Rice

The cooking process starts with searing the chicken in the pan until golden. Then we add the ingredients to make the turmeric rice, place the chicken on top and put the pan in the oven to let them cook and develop the flavors. It’s very easy and straightforward.

The trickiest part is, perhaps, getting the ratio of rice and liquid right. The ratio in my recipe works perfectly for me, but if you use a different type of rice, you may need to experiment with it :). Again, I recommend using white jasmine rice or at least try to stick with long grain rice.

Another one pan chicken recipe you may like is Pan Roasted Chicken Thighs.

I’d love to hear what you think about this dish, so please feel free to leave a comment. New recipes are added every week so let’s connect on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for the latest updates. You can find my collection of Vietnamese recipes here.