Middle Eastern Chicken and Rice

This Middle Eastern chicken and rice is an easy skillet dinner with a deliciously unique taste. Using a tasty rub of aromatic spices on chicken thighs and caramelized onions you can cook the whole dish in one skillet along with the rice. It’s the perfect weeknight meal.

You might also like this low carb cajun stir fry skillet dinner.

Growing up my mom used to make a delicious Lebanese dish called moghrabieh which involved pearl couscous, chicken, caramelized onions and such tasty warm spices as cinnamon, paprika and caraway. It’s really quite good but a little complicated to make.

However I really loved it so I made an easier version and made a soup of it which you can check out here. I think what makes these dishes so good is the blend of spices. It goes great with chicken and starches. So in my quest to use the flavors of these great Lebanese dishes family grew up with, I came up with this Middle Eastern chicken and rice skillet dinner.

This Lebanese chicken dish combines chicken thighs, caramelized onions, rice and all those unique and tasty spices. It’s a delicious one pan dinner.

Recipe ingredients I used and substitutions.

The simple ingredients you need for this recipe are boneless, skinless chicken thighs, yellow onion, olive oil, butter, white long grain rice, salt, black pepper, ground cinnamon, caraway seeds, paprika and Better than Bouillon chicken base.

Chicken Thighs
I like to use boneless skinless thighs so you can eat the whole thing and mess around with the bones and skin. However you can use bone-in, skin on or both if you want. Just make sure to get that skin nice crispy when you brown it. You could also use chicken breast if you prefer though the thighs have more flavor for a rice dish like this.

White Rice and Onion
I use regular long grain white rice. You could use also use brown rice or basmati rice if you prefer. You may have to different cooking times though. Also I use regular yellow onion and again white onions would work and even Vidalia onions.

Spices
To me the spice blend is what gives this dish so much flavor. Most people have the salt, pepper, cinnamon and paprika in the pantry. However the caraway seed really adds the special flavor. The cinnamon also gives it that Middle Eastern flavor but if you can go out and by the caraway seed.

Better that Bouillon Chicken Base
I love this stuff because it adds more flavor than just plain chicken broth or stock. However if you don’t have it, you can substitute chicken broth or chicken stock. If you use that use the same amount of broth that you do water and eliminate the BTB base.

How to make this Middle Eastern chicken and rice skillet dinner.

Step 1: Get out a small bowl and mix all the Middle Eastern spices together. Rub half of the spice mix on both sides of the chicken thighs. Keep the rest of spices for later.

Step 2: Get out a large skillet or pan and heat to medium high heat. Add the olive oil and when it’s hot turn down the heat to medium heat. Add the chicken pieces and brown about 3-4 minutes on both sides. Take the thighs out and place on a plate.

Step 3: Next add the butter and onions and saute until nice and caramelized. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of the remaining spice mix over the onions and mix to combine.

Step 4: Mix the Better than Bouillon with hot water and pour into pan with the rice and remaining spices. Mix well and bring to a boil. Then nestle the thighs back in the pan with the broth and rice mixture.

Step 5: Place a lid on to cover and turn the heat down to medium low and cook for 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the grains of rice are cooked as well. The internal temperature should be 165°F when using a meat thermometer.

Store leftovers in an airtight container. Please scroll down to view the printable recipe card.

When done, let rest for a few minutes and serve. You can add fresh parsley for garnish for color if you want. Serve with a simple green salad or green vegetable to make it more of a complete meal. We didn’t bother to be honest.

Another thing you can do is add chick peas or garbanzo beans. It’s what they put in moghrabieh. Just add them to the dish right before you cover and cook the rice.

When I originally made this I forgot the the chick peas and thought the chicken and rice was enough for me and beans sometimes bother my stomach. But they are good so if you are a fan give them a try.

More easy dishes with Middle Eastern flavors to try.

While my mom learned to make all those delicious Middle Eastern recipes for my father, I have not perfected them yet. However I do have a few recipes on this blog which are my easier versions of hers. They still have all the flavor but I take a few short cuts. Here are a few family favorites.

• low carb meatballs (which have the flavor of kibbeh)
• low carb salad with seasoned chicken pieces (similar to fattoush)
• low carb Middle Eastern cauliflower rice pilaf with pine nuts
• chicken and couscous soup (tastes like moghrabieh)
• roasted cauliflower and rice (tastes like top rice)
• easy spinach pies and meat pies using naan bread
• cauliflower rice tabbouleh

So that is my recipe renovation of my mom’s moghrabieh. It’s very easy and the delicious flavors of the spice combination (IMO) makes this dish. If you like Middle Eastern food and those kinds of flavors, I’m sure you are going to love this Middle Eastern chicken and rice skillet dinner. Enjoy!