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We went to Spain and as soon as we got back I had to create some Spanish recipes. My Spanish Chicken and Rice is so flavorful and so easy to make.
Jump to RecipeMy wife and I both fell in love with Spain, and of course, I fell in love with the food. What I didn’t expect to love was the olives. I generally do not like olives. But the Spanish olives, bring them on. They are fairly mild. What is cool about tapas bars is that many of them bring out small plates when you order a drink. A very common small plate is Spanish olives. I tried one and could not stop eating them. I watched a lot of Youtube videos to get food ideas before we went. One guy I found that had great information was james of SPAIN REVEALED.
Rice is such a good base for so many dishes. Rice can be flavored and it can pick up the flavor of the protein or the main spice of the dish. I use it a lot to create comfort food dishes. Some examples of my favorite rice dishes include:
ONE POT CAJUN CHICKEN AND RICE
TRINIDADIAN BROWN SUGAR CHICKEN FRIED RICE
I think you get the idea. The variety is amazing. The above is only a brief trip around the world. The commonality amongst these dishes is the rice is used to pick up the spices from whatever region the dish hails from. In this Spanish dish, The Spanish paprika and Spanish olive oil enhance the flavors. The onions and peppers add sweetness and texture to the dish. The last Spanish influence in this recipe is the olives. My Spanish Chicken and Rice is total comfort food and brings back memories of our trip to Spain.
The cast of characters.
Building the chicken and rice.
The Spanish Chicken and Rice plated.
Spanish Chicken and Rice
This one pot meal and rice based dish is total comfort food. The rice picks up all the flavors in this Spanish Chicken and Rice.
Ingredients
- 12 Whole Bone in skin on Chicken thighs
- 2 Cups Basmati rice washed until the water runs clear
- 2 Whole Red bell peppers diced
- 2 Whole Medium yellow onions diced
- 3 Cloves Garlic minced
- 4 Whole Vine tomatoes diced
- 1 Tbsp Spanish olive oil
- 1 Tbsp Spanish paprika
- 2 Tsp Kosher salt
- 2 Tsp Ground black pepper
- 2 Cups Homemade chicken stock
- 1/2 Bottle Spanish olives
Instructions
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Begin by adding the red bell peppers and onions to a blender. Blend until coarsely ground. Add a little olive oil if it needs help blending.
Now heat the oil in a cast iron skillet on medium high heat. One the oil is shimmering, add the chicken skin side down. Cook 3 – 4 minutes getting good color and cooking out the fat. Flip and cook another 3 – 4 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Remove all of the fat in the pan save for 1 tbsp. Add the bell pepper and onion mixture and cook until the liquid is cooked out. Add the diced tomatoes and again cook out the liquid. Next, add the chicken stock followed by the rice. Mix well and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the chicken back into the pan. Continue cooking for another 10 minutes or so. Check the rice for doneness. Finish by adding the olives and simmer for a few more minutes.
Serve and enjoy!
This one looks delicious! I rarely make Spanish cuisine at home, but your recipe looks fairly simple and I would love to give it a try. Thanks!
You are so right. It is so simple and so good. Got inspired by my trip to Spain with my wife. There was so much good food there! Plese let me know if you try to make it. Thanks for stopping by!
Have you considered including metric measurements in your recipe since the rest of the world, including Spain, uses it? That would be so great. Thanks for this recipe!
Thx for the good suggestion. I will look into that and get that figured out and added to the recipes.