This One Pan Mexican Chicken and Rice is an easy dinner ready in under 30 minutes!
This One Pan Mexican Chicken and Rice has enchilada sauce, green chiles, rice, and all the toppings (hello avocado, sour cream, and tomato)!
One Pan Mexican Chicken and Rice
My husband bought me a two-pound box of chocolates for Valentine’s Day and by the end of the day I had killed a pound already. Which is why I’m craving all things savory to try to balance it out.
We are a religious Taco Tuesday family. I mean to a point where the kids get off the bus on Tuesdays and say, “It’s Taco Tuesday mom, right?”
As much as I love tradition, I equally enjoy shaking things up because I’m a non-conformist. When I sprung this One Pan Mexican Chicken and Rice on my family on Taco Tuesday I was expecting complete and utter mutiny.
Ya’ll they loved it. Clean-the-pan loved it. So then we made it again, and again, and again. Because one pan meals are pretty much gold in a house with five kids running wild.
We cook the chicken and rice all in one pan. For our liquid we are using Old El Paso enchilada sauce and diced tomatoes.
I would say the level of spiciness is about a 6. My littles ate a bite and then took a drink. Ate a bite, took a drink.
Add whatever toppings you love but some sour cream, avocado, tomato, and cilantro compliment it fabulously! Mentally I can’t not put something green in my meal so that I feel good about serving it for dinner.
We decided that this feeds about six children or four adults. It keeps well too if you happen to have leftovers.
HOW TO MAKE ONE-PAN MEXICAN CHICKEN AND RICE
- In a large skillet (about 12-inch) or pan, sautée onions in two tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper.
- Once onions soften, increase the heat to medium high and add chicken to the pan.
- Brown the chicken pieces and add the garlic. Cook for about 1 more minute.
- Push chicken to one side of the pan and add additional tablespoon of olive oil to other side.
- Add the uncooked rice in the olive oil and saute it for a couple of minutes.
- Add the enchilada sauce, diced tomatoes, water and cumin. Stir to combine. Bring mixture to a boil then lower the heat to a simmer and cover the pan with a tight fitting lid.
- Cook chicken and rice mixture covered for about 15 minutes or until rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed making sure to stir every once in a while.
- Sprinkle cheese on top and cover with a lid, letting it sit for 1-2 minutes or until cheese has melted.
- Top with desired toppings and eat!
ONE-PAN DINNERS
If you love this One-pan Mexican Chicken and Rice, you’ll love these other one-pan recipes:
One-Pan Chicken Enchilada Skillet
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ½ white onion , diced finely
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts , cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 teaspoon of kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- 2 cloves of garlic , minced
- 1 cup uncooked long grain white rice
- 1 (10 oz) can Old El Paso red enchilada sauce
- 1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes and green chilies, undrained
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese or Mexican-blend cheese
- (optional) Toppings: sour cream, tomatoes, diced avocado, cilantro
-
In a large skillet (about 12-inch) or pan, sautée onions in two tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper.
-
Once onions soften, increase the heat to medium high and add chicken to the pan.
-
Brown the chicken pieces and add the garlic. Cook for about 1 more minute.
-
Push chicken to one side of the pan and add additional tablespoon of olive oil to other side.
-
Add the uncooked rice in the olive oil and saute it for a couple of minutes.
-
Add the enchilada sauce, diced tomatoes, water and cumin. Stir to combine. Bring mixture to a boil then lower the heat to a simmer and cover the pan with a tight fitting lid.
-
Cook chicken and rice mixture covered for about 15 minutes or until rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed making sure to stir every once in a while.
-
Sprinkle cheese on top and cover with a lid, letting it sit for 1-2 minutes or until cheese has melted.
-
Top with desired toppings and eat!
Update: Many of you have made this and some have had their rice not cook. You can definitely add 1/2 to 1 cup of water to the mixture as needed to make sure your rice cooks.
This post was sponsored by Old El Paso. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I'm Christy Denney, The Girl Who Ate Everything. I can't be left alone with a warm cinnamon roll or chocolate chip cookie. 
Why does recipe call for broccoli but it’s not listed in ingredients.
Sorry. It was a misprint.
Broccoli?
Sorry. It was a misprint.
Made this recipe tonite. It was very good. No broccoli. It most definitely was a misprint.
Haha.Yes. Sorry about that. The broccoli was a misprint in the instructions.
This looks so good! I have a sensitive tummy though – How can I make it less spicy? Use regular diced tomatoes instead of with chilis? Thanks!
Yes. Use regular diced tomatoes and mild enchilada sauce for sure. You could even add some cream to mellow it out.
Just use the mild rotel or the store brand. It’s really not spicy unless you add to it.
This looks so yummy! My kids would love this!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
Thanks Paige!
I did exactly how the recipe said and my rice wasn’t tender , there really wasn’t any juice from the enchilada sauce and tomatoes to bring it to a boil so I had to add another can of enchilada sauce and water brought it to a boil and covered and let simmer I hope it works I was wondering why the rice didn’t get tender I let it sat the first time for 15 to 20 mins covered
This looks delicious! Can’t wait to try it!!
Thanks.
hey girl- this looks so good! I love stuff like this! Have a great weekend!
Thank you!
A pound of chocolate in one day huh? Impressive. I’m watching my friends kids for the week so the total number of children age 6 and under is 7. My husband buys me a new ice cream ever night on the way home. Not saying how much I eat.
I should make them this!! Love one pan meals!! Love el paso sauce. good stuff.
K you just had a baby! you are superwoman!! Oh my gosh, I can’t even imagine.
This looks delicious! Can’t wait to try it!!
Thank you!
Made this for supper tonight. It was good, but we thought it was missing something so I heated up some hard shell tacos and put the chicken and rice mixture on the shells and it was really good! My rice did need more time and water than what the recipe said.
I came across this recipe and decided to try it out tonight. It’s simmering now and let me just say, it smells wonderful. The only thing I changed was I used up the rest of my rotisserie chicken. I’m also making extra rice to spoon it on to. Don’t know why, just sounded good. I have Avocado to top it with and salsa.
Ooh yum!
Wow! I can remember use some of these…wishing I had some of each right now!
THank you!
It looks delicious and I’m sure it tastes the same, BUT you better be thinking in changing the name of the dish. Before writing to you I looked everywhere and asked to all my friends all around in México, and I can asure you that your dish have never been prepared down here, not even in the mexican border states.
Maria,
Yes, it’s definitely a Tex Mex version. I try to make dishes that are easy for the busy mom.
Love this recipe. Super delicious. I added black beans and instead of water, I used chicken stock. Thank you!
You’re welcome!
Should the rice be quick cooking, like Minute rice? Or can I use regular rice?
You can just use long grain (regular) rice.
DeeeeLISH! Substituted quinoa for the rice. Wasn’t able to add the cumin because it wasn’t in the pantry. Oops. No biggie, because even without, the flavors were still amazing. So quick and easy! Will DEFINITELY be adding this to the rotation. Many thanks for the recipe!
So glad to hear that. I have to try quinoa!
This looks so good!
Before I get started I wanted to ask, does this transfer to vegetarian easily? If I simply don’t add chicken, do you happen to know if I should tweak any other parts of the recipe to make this go smoothly? Thank you!
To make this vegetarian, I would add black beans to replace the chicken. I think I might add them anyway.
That’s should be all. It’s easy!
I have made this several times! My husband loves it. Definitely don’t skimp on the liquids and sauté your rice to ensure cooking. We top it with all sorts of Mexican style toppings. It’s so good! Thanks for the recipe!
You’re welcome!
Absolutely yummy. Great for a crowd. Recommend.
Easy, quick and tasty. Made according to the recipe and will make again.
How would cook time be affected if using brown rice?
TIA
Brown rice takes about 40 minutes so you would have to cook for 20 minutes longer.
Got some premade brown rice from the coop and cut a precooked chicken. Yes. I am lazy. Added habaneros and jalapenos. Made a black bean salad as a side dish. It was hugely popular with my guests. Thanks!
Not lazy. Efficient!!
Long grain rice can often take longer than 15 mins. to cook — so be sure to check the back of the rice package for cooking times. If your rice takes longer, here are a couple of suggestions for shortening the cooking time. You can soak your rice in double the amount of water for 20 mins, and then drain before using. OR Par cook the rice in the microwave in a covered bowl with 1 cup of water and 1/2 tsp. of salt for 6 mins, or until the liquid is absorbed. You should then find the 15 min . cooking time in the recipe is perfect for nicely cooked rice.
I made this following given instructions tonight and the rice turned out tender. The clue for the rice is to always rinse the starch off of your rice before cooking and it will turn out perfectly each time. We never buy “two minute rice”, there’s no telling what is done to that rice in order for rice to be done in two minutes. We only buy rice in a bag and follow given instructions on the bag. I’ve never had rice completely cooked in under ten minutes, nor has it not been tender when following instructions. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for your feedback Kristian.
I just posted your recipe to FB, because it was that good. I was out of cumin,so, I used Old El Paso taco seasoning. Also, if you have kids, I think skipping the chili’s might be prudent; my nephew thought it was too spicy. I think diced tomatoes would work for the kids. Also, had flour tortillas to go with it.
So glad you enjoyed it!
This is very good 👌. I will make this again.
Thank you!
I am going to try this it looks so good
Thank you!
Just made this for our family dinner & it was absolutely DELICIOUS!! I had to use taco sauce instead of enchilada, but it still turned out perfectly!
Ooh I bet that was good!
Made this tonight… husband loved it! Refried beans on the side…delish!
It was my very first time cooking a main meal. My mum absolutely loved it. It was very,very good. Thank you for such an awesome and easy recipe, Christy!
Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
Did anyone try freezing this ?
It was delicious! I added a little diced green pepper and a little leftover refried beans. Thanks for sharing.
I made this for Cinco de Mayo and my husband LOVED it. Instead of using the rice and cumin I just dumped in a package of Knorr Mexican Rice, which contains long grain white rice and cumin. Super easy and delicious! Muchas Gracias!
De nada! I’m so glad you liked it!
This was absolutely delicious! I had some yellow and orange peppers and broccoli that I added leftover from dinner yesterday. Really turned out good! I also cooked it an additional 5 minutes to cook the rice. Thank you so much for something different.!
I made this in the Crock-Pot tonight for supper. Added black beans and corn. We had it as a bowl type meal. Topped it with lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, cheese and avocado. Yummy!!!