Baked Chicken Legs and Rice
Baked Chicken Legs and Rice are loaded with flavor and perfect for a cozy supper. This recipe uses simple, real food ingredients, requires just 10 minutes of prep, and bakes away. Easy clean-up, no pot-minding needed!
What busy home cook doesn’t love a dinner that effectively bakes itself? This easy baked chicken legs and rice recipe is a go-to for so many occasions: cozy weekend suppers, picnics, and any time we’re hosting, because it’s so nice to have all the work done well before dinner is served.
The concept of roasting or baking chicken alongside a grain or vegetable is one we’ve loved ever since living in Belgium several years ago, where a much-loved local food truck served rotisserie chickens with potatoes. The chicken was delicious, but the potatoes were the true star, because they were cooked under the chicken spits, thereby absorbing the delicious juices all day long.
This recipe takes that same basic concept and applies it to rice, a friendly and accessible grain if ever one was. We’ll nestle spice-rubbed chicken drumsticks right into the rice and bake everything in one pan. The end result? The best of both convenience and flavor.
Ingredients & Common Substitutions
Here are a few notes and shopping tips about the ingredients you’ll need to make baked chicken legs and rice, as well as possible substitutions:
- Chicken: This recipe is designed for bone-in, skin-on drumsticks, which cook perfectly alongside the rice.
- Uncooked rice: Use white long grain rice; this recipe is designed to cook the rice low and slow right alongside the chicken, so minute or another type of microwaveable rice will not work. Basmati rice does work well. I have not tested it yet with brown rice, but you would almost certainly need more liquid and cooking time, which may compromise the chicken.
- Olive oil and butter: For flavor, richness, and browning of the chicken.
- Onion and garlic: Aromatics are always a win! For a sweeter take, try using shallot in place of or in addition to the onion. Fresh garlic is best for mixing in with the onion, but you can substitute 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder if needed.
- Chicken broth and water: Use low-sodium broth to avoid an overly salty casserole. You can also use all water; this will simply impart less flavor into the rice.
- Seasoning: Coat the chicken with a rub of brown sugar, smoked paprika, dried thyme and oregano, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. This delivers incredible flavor! You can use fresh thyme and oregano, but dried herbs work best here for rubbing concentrated flavor into the chicken.
I don’t have drumsticks! Can I use chicken breasts or thighs?
This recipe works identically with bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs; they make a wonderful substitute for drumsticks. Unfortunately, boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs will bake more quickly, so the timing will be off — the chicken will be done considerably before the rice. I recommend drumsticks or bone-in thighs for best results.
If you must make it with boneless meat, use a meat thermometer to check the chicken periodically for doneness (it should hit 165 degrees inside) and remove it when cooked through, then allow the rice to finish cooking, fluff, and serve.
How To Make One Pan Chicken and Rice
This recipe does require a small amount of prep on the stovetop before combining everything in the baking pan. It’s well worth it for two reasons: a quick sauté yields more tender, flavorful aromatics, and pre-boiling the liquid gives the rice a head start so it can cook in a reasonable amount of time.
Begin by combining the brown sugar, spices, and olive oil into a thin paste. Rub that mixture into the drumsticks and set them aside.
Now grab a small or medium saucepan and briefly cook the onions and garlic, then scrape those out into a large rectangular baking pan.
Add uncooked rice and salt to the onions and stir.
Now, using the same saucepan in which you cooked the onions, boil 2 cups of liquid. I like to use a mix of broth and water, but you can adjust this to taste, as long as there are 2 cups total. As soon as the liquid boils, pour it over the rice in the baking dish.
Now place the spiced drumsticks on top. Place a few lemon wedges around the chicken for added flavor.
How long to bake drumsticks at 350 degrees
These will need to bake for 30 minutes covered – you can just use aluminum foil tightly wrapped over the pan – and 20 more minutes uncovered. After this, the chicken will be perfectly moist, with a slightly crisp exterior where the spice rub worked its magic, and the rice will be nice and tender and ready to fluff.
Remove the chicken to a plate, then gently stir the rice with a fork. This will loosen the grains and also incorporate the pieces of onion, which tend to rise to the top as the dish bakes.
A sprinkle of parsley and extra lemon wedges add a pop of color and freshness. Serve and enjoy!
Can you overcook drumsticks?
It is always technically possible to overcook meat, but the naturally dark meat of chicken drumsticks and thighs tends to stay tender and juicy even if you accidentally leave them on heat too long. What’s more, chicken legs are among a whole chicken’s most tender and flavorful parts, thanks to the large bone at the center, so they are particularly forgiving.
Can you cook raw chicken with rice?
Yes, absolutely! As long as the chicken reaches the recommended internal temperature of 165 degrees F, it is perfectly safe to eat both the poultry and rice that cooks in the same pan.
This is true for any other grain or vegetable you would like to cook with the chicken, as well, and is the same principle and technique used in many recipes for a whole roasted chicken cooked over a bed of potatoes and carrots. One pot dinner for the win!
What is the best ratio of rice to chicken?
For average consumers, an ideal ratio is between 6-8 drumsticks per 1 cup of uncooked rice. I have experimented with more rice, and wound up with comical amounts of rice leftover long after the delicious chicken was gobbled up!
Serving Suggestions
Pair this cozy casserole with a simple Italian or arugula salad, or veggies such as steamed or roasted green beans, roasted asparagus, or broccolini for a complete and soul-warming dinner.
Storage, Reheating, and Freezing
This chicken and rice keeps and reheats exceptionally well, so it’s terrific for meal prep or lunch planning purposes. Leftovers always disappear!
- Store individual portions or a larger amount tightly-covered in the refrigerator for 3-4 days, then reheat on 50% power in the microwave until warmed through.
- You can also freeze portions for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge if possible, then microwave until warm, again on 50% power.
More Easy Chicken Recipes
Love dark meat? Try these lemon chicken thighs or sheet-pan peanut chicken thighs next. Prefer an easy skillet with quick-cooking chicken breasts? Creamy Tuscan chicken, lemon rosemary chicken, and lemon chicken pasta are three of our favorites.
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Baked Chicken Legs and Rice
Ingredients
- 3 Tablespoons olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt divided
- 15-20 cranks fresh-ground black pepper
- 6-8 chicken drumsticks
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 1/2 medium yellow onion chopped
- 3-4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup uncooked white rice
- 1 and 1/3 cups chicken broth low-sodium preferred
- 2/3 cup water
- 1 lemon cut into wedges
- fresh parsley or thyme optional garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Combine olive oil, brown sugar, paprika, thyme, oregano, garlic powder, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and black pepper in a small bowl, and mix into a thin paste. Spoon this mixture over the drumsticks and gently rub in to coat. Set aside.
- Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook for 3-4 minutes, just until softened. Add garlic and cook for 30-60 seconds, just until fragrant, then scrape the onion and garlic mixture out into a 8”x10” or 9”x13” baking dish. Add rice and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt to the baking dish and stir well.
- Add broth and water to the same saucepan you used for the onion. Bring these to a boil, then pour the hot liquid directly over the rice and stir it in.
- Arrange drumsticks on top of the rice, along with about half of the lemon wedges. Cover the baking dish tightly with foil. Bake for 30 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for another 20 minutes, until the rice is tender and the chicken fully cooked.
- Remove from the oven and let rest for 2-3 minutes. Remove the drumsticks and lemons to a plate, then use a fork to gently fluff up the rice. Garnish with extra lemon wedges and a few sprigs of parsley or thyme, if desired, and serve.
Notes
- For Better Browning: If desired, broil for 2-3 minutes at the end of the baking time to brown the chicken more deeply, but watch carefully so that nothing blackens or burns.
I love this recipe. I have added some frozen mixed vegetables to the onion while it is cooking to make this a truly 1 pot dish. I do not add brown sugar, but I do add some artificially sweetener. I also pour the rest of the seasoning on top of the chicken before I bake it. Thanks for this recipe!
I will not be making this again, at least not with the drumsticks. I think it would be better with either chicken breast or thighs, and I would leave out the brown sugar and add some spice to the chicken seasoning, maybe some lemon pepper. The rice part turned out delicious though.
It’s a great recipe although I changed a few things. I browned the chicken on a cast iron skillet on the stove to give the skin a crisp, bbq texture before adding it to baking dish, and then mixed the broth in that and the onion as well. I added wayyyyy more seasoning and did not add any sugar. It came out great!
Wasn’t a fan of this. My rice was still crunchy, chicken easy dry inside and soggy outside, a bit too sweet, flavors didn’t blend very good, the sweetness got into the rice and mixed with the lemon wasn’t that great. Would not fix again
I made this dish tonight and it was delicious! My 1 year old grandson liked it too! Thank you so much for sharing! I also added some addition onion & red pepper to the sauté.
This is delicious I will say they only thing I would change is add a little spice to it like cayenne or red pepper flakes just to give it a little extra flavor.
Delicious! My family loved it! An excellent way to prepare drumsticks.😋