This Green Chile Chicken and Rice is an easy, flavor-packed one-pan dinner that’s perfect for busy weeknights! Tender, juicy chicken thighs cook right on top of seasoned rice with green enchilada sauce, poblano peppers, garlic, and cumin. Everything simmers together in one skillet, giving the rice tons of flavor while keeping the chicken moist and delicious. It’s hearty, comforting, and made with simple ingredients you can find at any grocery store. You can easily adjust the spice level to suit your family’s tastes. If you want zero heat at all, just skip the poblanos all together!
Ingredients Needed
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- Chicken Thighs
- Onion
- Poblano chiles – poblanos can vary from spicy to not spicy at all. Feel free to skip if you’re nervous about it.
- Garlic
- Cumin, salt, pepper
- Green Enchilada Sauce – if you happen to only have a small can enchilada sauce, just make up the difference with some extra water
- Long-grain rice
- Fresh Cilantro
How to Make Green Chile Chicken & Rice
- Start off by searing your chicken thighs in a little oil. When they are browned, but not yet cooked through, you’ll pull them out and set them aside while you build the rest of the meal.
- Onions and peppers get a quick sauté, then you’ll add some fresh garlic and cumin. In goes some green enchilada sauce, water, rice, and the seared chicken.
- You’ll cook this for at least 20 minutes, stirring every few minutes to make sure the rice doesn’t scorch on the bottom of the pan.
- As soon as the chicken is cooked through and the rice is soft, you’ll finish it off with a little cilantro and serve!
Storing and Other Tips
- Store cooled leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge and enjoy within 3-4 days for best results.
- This meal should freeze well! Freeze individual portions for an easy meal on busy days. You may need to add a little chicken broth when you reheat it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Stick to thighs for this one! Chicken thighs are much more forgiving with the variable cooking time, plus they’re more flavorful! If you really want to use chicken breasts, I would add cooked shredded chicken breasts at the end of the cooking time, stir, and allow to heat through before serving. Another option with a similar flavor profile is this Green Chili Chicken Bake that uses chicken breasts!
Yes. Poblano peppers can vary quite a bit in heat, so start with just half a pepper or substitute a green bell pepper for a milder dish. Make sure you’re getting mild enchilada sauce as well!
Brown rice takes significantly longer to cook and requires more liquid that white rice. For best results I’d stick with white rice on this one!
Green Chile Chicken and Rice
Equipment
Ingredients
- 24 ounces boneless skinless chicken thighs trimmed of fat
- kosher salt and coarsely ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 onion, medium finely chopped
- 2 poblano chiles stemmed, seeded, and chopped (see notes)
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 14 ounces green enchilada sauce I like Herdez Mexican Cooking sauces, which is in a jar, and Frontera, which is in a pouch
- 1 cup water high elevations should add an additional ¼ cup
- 1 cup long-grain rice
- ½ cup cilantro fresh, chopped
Instructions
- Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season both sides with salt and pepper.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a 12″ skillet over medium-high heat. When very hot, add the chicken thighs and cook for about 5 minutes or until golden and crispy on one side. Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside.
- Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan and allow to heat for about a minute. Add the chopped onions and peppers and cook for about 5 minutes or until the onions are translucent.
- Add the garlic and cumin and cook for about 1 more minute. Add the enchilada sauce, water, and rice and bring to a boil. Place the chicken, brown side up, on top of the rice. Reduce heat and cover.
- Cook for at least 20 minutes, stirring about every 5 minutes to prevent the rice from scorching. When the rice and chicken are cooked through, it’s done (higher elevations will take longer, maybe even twice as long, so plan accordingly.)
- Add the cilantro and stir to combine.
Questions & Reviews
Would this freeze well? If so, would I make it to the end, then freeze?
Hi Meridee! While we haven’t tried freezing this specific recipe, similar recipes like the Creamy Green Chili Chicken Bake on the site freeze really well, so this one should behave similarly. Be aware that the rice will soak up much of the moisture as it cools and reheats, so you will likely need to add some chicken broth when reheating to restore the desired texture. Hope this helps!
– Becca
Our Best Bites Team
Just wanna drop in to say still making this in 2017 and it’s still a huge hit for my family of 7. I always double it and there are never. any. leftovers.
Yaaaaaay!! I love to hear this!!
Can you use canned diced green chilies instead of fresh poblano chilies? If so, a 4 oz. or 7 oz. can?
Would brown rice work?
Is there any reason that this can’t be finished in the oven? I’m wondering if I could do some of the steps ahead of time, and then pop it in the oven closer to dinner time. What do you think?
I made this last week, and my three-year-old said, “Mom, I really like this!” He never says that!!! I tried using quinoa instead of rice like one person suggested. It was really good.
Made this for dinner for my family last night, and it was a huge hit! My rice took a full 30 minutes to cook, FWIW. Two out of three kids gave it an immediate thumbs-up, and the addition of a dollop of sour cream won over kid number 3. Winner, winner, chicken dinner!
I made this and it was GREAT. A perfect single-serve lunch, and it froze well too! I didn’t use cilantro and subbed bulgur for the rice.
When do I add the cilantro?
My family of 5 loved this tonight! I went to what I call the “ghetto” grocery store that is closest to my house that doesn’t always have everything, and the peppers they had that looked like poblanos were marked “green frying peppers” or something similar. I went for it and put two in (I’m pretty sure they were actually poblanos). Very little heat, but the dish turned out fabulous. I added a little extra chicken (I knew my hubby would down the whole pan) by using a second pan to brown it – there wasn’t room in the first for more chicken initially. Then the chicken shrunk down enough that I could put it all in one pan for the braising/simmering part. It was so delicious and I will definitely make it again. I used the Frontera sauce pouches recommended, as that was what my grocer carried.