This is the dinner for evenings when you want something warm and properly satisfying but have absolutely no desire to create a sink full of washing-up. Chicken, spiced tomato rice, beans and sweetcorn all cook together in one dish, with melted mature Cheddar added at the end.
Most of the ingredients come straight from the cupboard, and the beans are deliberately flexible. Kidney beans give the dish a more familiar chilli-style feel, while baked beans make it especially comforting and child-friendly. It may not be a formal dinner-party plate, but it is flavourful, economical and very likely to produce requests for seconds.
Serves
3 generously
Preparation
10 minutes
Baking
55–65 minutes
Ingredients
For the one-pan chicken and rice
- 3 skinless chicken breasts, approximately 160–190g each
- 200g basmati rice, rinsed and well drained
- 1 × 400g tin chopped tomatoes
- 1 × 400g tin baked beans, or 1 × 400g tin kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 × 198g tin sweetcorn, drained
- 3 tbsp dried onion, or 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 5 small garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 100ml boiling water when using baked beans, or 200ml when using drained kidney beans
Spices and finishing touches
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- ¼–½ tsp cayenne pepper, to taste
- ½ tsp chilli flakes (optional)
- 1 tsp Cajun seasoning (optional)
- 50g extra-mature Cheddar, grated
- 2 spring onions, finely sliced
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
- Sour cream, to serve
- Fresh coriander, avocado, salad or nachos (all optional)
Method
- Heat the oven. Preheat to 190°C, 170°C fan or gas mark 5. Choose a medium-deep baking dish that can be covered tightly with foil.
- Build the rice base. Add the olive oil, rinsed rice, chopped tomatoes, baked beans or kidney beans, sweetcorn, dried or fresh onion, garlic, cumin, smoked paprika, cayenne, chilli flakes and Cajun seasoning to the dish. Pour in the correct quantity of boiling water for your chosen beans and stir thoroughly, making sure the rice is evenly submerged.
- Add the chicken. Nestle the chicken breasts into the mixture so their lower halves sit in the liquid but the tops remain visible. Cover the dish very tightly with foil; trapping the steam is what cooks the rice evenly.
- Bake covered. Bake for 40–45 minutes without repeatedly lifting the foil. Carefully uncover and check the rice. If it is still firm and the dish looks dry, pour 50ml boiling water around the edges, cover again and return to the oven for 5–10 minutes.
- Add the cheese. Once the rice is almost tender, remove the foil and scatter the grated Cheddar over the chicken. Bake uncovered for another 10–15 minutes until the cheese has melted, the rice is tender and the thickest part of each chicken breast has reached 75°C.
- Rest and finish. Leave the dish to rest for 5 minutes. Slice the chicken if you wish, then scatter over the spring onions and coriander. Serve with lime wedges and sour cream, adding avocado, salad or nachos if they happen to be available.
Cook with what you have
Baked beans or kidney beans?
Baked beans bring their own tomato sauce, so they need less additional water and make the finished dish softer and slightly sweeter. Drained kidney beans need a little more water but give a firmer texture and a more savoury result. Black beans, mixed beans or borlotti beans can replace them too—use the kidney-bean quantity of water when the beans have been drained.
Leftovers
Because this dish contains cooked rice, cool any leftovers quickly—ideally within one hour—and refrigerate immediately. Keep for no more than one day, reheat only once and make sure both the rice and chicken are piping hot throughout.
Catherine’s tip
Use boiling water and seal the foil firmly around the dish—the trapped steam matters more than constant checking. Different rice brands and baking dishes absorb liquid differently, so keep a little extra boiling water ready and add only a small splash if the rice needs longer.
For another easy chicken dinner with warming flavours, try my slow-cooker Mexican chicken stew.
Allergy note: Contains milk when served with Cheddar or sour cream. Cajun blends and other seasoning mixes vary, so check labels for celery, mustard, wheat or gluten.
Foodwizardry 