One-Pot Wonders

One-Skillet Chicken With Tomato and Turmeric Rice

Name: One-Skillet Chicken With Tomato and Turmeric Rice
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: Serves 4 to 6
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 6 thighs); 4 teaspoons kosher salt, divided; 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; 1 teaspoon ground coriander; 1 teaspoon ground cumin; 1 teaspoon smoked paprika; 1/4 cup olive oil; 2 cups long-grain rice; 4 garlic cloves, minced; 1 medium onion, small dice (chopped); 1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric powder; 1/4 cup (2 ounces) Pomì Double-Concentrated Tomato Paste; 2 cups (16 ounces) Pomì Chopped Tomatoes; 2 cups chicken stock; 1 bunch cilantro, roughly chopped (optional)

by: Briana Riddock

November 15, 2019

26 Ratings

One-Skillet Chicken With Tomato and Turmeric Rice

Photo by Rocky Luten

Prep time 15 minutes
Cook time 45 minutes
Serves 4 to 6

Jump to Recipe

Test Kitchen Notes

For a dish to land on Briana Riddock's weeknight dinner all-stars list, there are two key elements it must have: It must be low maintenance (read: dirty very few dishes) and filled with flavor (but not necessarily a ton of ingredients). This one-skillet chicken with tomato turmeric rice hits both of those marks with ease. It’s loaded with snappy pantry staples—like chopped tomatoes, double-concentrated tomato paste, and a medley of spices—that work together like a dream. —The Editors

Test Kitchen-Approved

What You'll Need

Ingredients

2 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 6 thighs)
4 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
¹/₄ cup olive oil
2 cups long-grain rice
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, small dice (chopped)
1 ¹/₂ teaspoons turmeric powder
¹/₄ cup (2 ounces) Pomì Double-Concentrated Tomato Paste
2 cups (16 ounces) Pomì Chopped Tomatoes
2 cups chicken stock
1 bunch cilantro, roughly chopped (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
In a large bowl, season chicken thighs with 2 teaspoons salt, freshly ground black pepper, ground coriander, ground cumin, and smoked paprika.
In a large ovenproof skillet (such as a cast-iron skillet or Dutch oven), heat olive oil to medium-high heat. Place chicken thighs skin side down in the skillet. Sear for 5 minutes or until golden brown, flip and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Remove chicken from heat and set aside.
Reduce heat to medium and sauté onions and garlic for 2 minutes. Add the long grain rice and turmeric powder to the skillet and gently toast for 3 minutes, or until slightly translucent. Add the tomato paste, breaking up the clumps with the back of a spoon. Add the chopped tomatoes, chicken stock, 2 teaspoons salt, and bring to a rolling simmer.
Place rested chicken thighs directly over rice and turn off the heat. Cover the skillet with aluminum foil or lid and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the rice is fully cooked and fluffy. Finish with fresh cilantro.

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23 Reviews

Bob B. March 13, 2024

Bone in thighs with skin on are definitely the way to go!

Briana R. March 13, 2024

Absolutely!!!

hilary22 February 23, 2024

This looks delicious. What do you think about substituting chicken breasts for thighs?

Briana R. February 23, 2024

Ooh yea that’s perfect! The cook time on the chicken breasts may be a little more or less depending on the thickness. Other than that you are good to go.

hilary22 February 23, 2024

Thank you Briana!

Sdanea February 1, 2021

This was amazing and soooooo easy to make! I’m going to keep this in mind for future meals in the future.

mac January 31, 2021

This is a great dish, so easy and quick. Gives you that Indian flavor palette without being too heavy. If you use brown rice, just let it soak in some water after you rinse it while you are prepping everything else. Drain it while you brown the chicken and aromatics and that should cut down the cooking time for the rice considerably. You might just leave it set in the oven with the heat off for another 10 minutes after your initial 35. Because of Covid there is a smoked paprika shortage where I live so I substituted with equal amount of chili powder. I opted for a can of fire roasted tomatoes and added a bay leaf and some frozen peas to make it a tad heartier. You end up with some nice deep flavors that make it taste like it had been cooking all day.

Leila November 3, 2020

Holy freaking YUM! Turned out perfectly. We could only fit 4 thighs in the cast iron, but it turned out perfect. Adding this to our rotation!

Leila November 3, 2020

Holy freaking YUM! Turned out perfectly. We could only fit 4 thighs in the cast iron, but it turned out perfect. Adding this to our rotation

SophieL July 19, 2020

This was SO good! And so easy. I made the dish in my cast iron skillet and everything cooked up beautifully. I subbed a bunch of green onions for the white onion b/c that's what I had. After 35 minutes of baking, the dish was still a tad too liquidy so I took off the foil and baked it an additional 10 minutes. Perfect! The spices on the chicken went so well wirh the tomato turmeric rice. And the aroma was wonderful. Loved it!

SalientOne July 15, 2020

This was excellent but I would advise doubling the baking time for the chicken if you like it well roasted and "falling off the bone. 350° is a pretty low temperature for roasting chicken.

Christine January 17, 2020

You need this skillet chicken and turmeric rice recipe in your life (and your kitchen)! I made a harissa-roasted butternut squash salad to go with this and the whole plate was bursting with flavors. Everyone especially loved the rice (it reminded everyone of our Mexican abuela's tomato rice) and went back for seconds. Will make this again for sure!

Nancy December 23, 2019

Briana - great recipe! I made it with a whole chicken (which weighed about 2x the original thighs) because it was on sale. And used Hawaidj (Yemenit spice blend not unlike Garam Masaala) for all the seasoning except salt because the blend had them all in it. Last, left out rice and it's broth (no rice on hand that night), but it give me options to use rice, bread, or potato when I serve. Thank you!

Nancy December 23, 2019

Very good recipe. Made a few changes because of circumstanc and choice. Used a whole chicken and made a double recipe. Omitted the rice and broth, because I didn't have any rice around and wanted flexibility to serve with choice of bread, rice, potato. Last, had some (Yemenite) Hawaidj blend on hand and used that instead of the pepper, coriander, cumin, paprika & turmeric because it had all those in it. Similar with Garam Masala or Curry powder blend. I will make this again.

Nancy January 19, 2023

Have now made as written and it's terrific, both or either way! Have passed the recipe on to friends by word of mouth or email, and it's fast becoming a favorite dish!

Sasha F. December 21, 2019

The recipe should specify that it requires white rice. I made the mistake of using long-grain brown rice, and cooking time double (still delicious though!)

Gituma N. December 11, 2019

I had some thighs waiting to be cooked and wanted to try another recipe then this one popped up on my feed yesterday and I said to myself that I must try it out.
It is delicious and the spice mix bursts with flavour on the tongue and had the house smelling like heaven. Feels a lot like the jollof rice from West Africa.
Fun to do it all in one dish!

melissafite December 9, 2019

Thank you for such a perfect, tasty weeknight dinner!

Briana R. December 9, 2019

Thank you! I’m a rice girl so I knew this recipe would be a hit.

Cody U. December 17, 2019

Hi Briana! I’m planning on cooking this tonight, but I have one question 😅 should the rice already be boiled when you add it to the skillet? Thanks for your help, and I look forward to making this dish!

Briana R. December 17, 2019

Hey Cody! Once you cook the chicken, you add the dry rice straight to the skillet. It absorbs the chicken stock when it’s baked in the oven! Happy cooking.

Lauren B. December 9, 2019

I mean come on. You had me at one skillet! It can’t get much better than that. And placing the thighs back into the rice?! That is a recipe for tender, juicy chicken and flavor filled rice. I can’t wait to introduce my Dutch oven to this meal. I can see it paired with some roasted brussel sprouts or a nice kale salad. Yum. Thank you for this delicious content !!