When I was a sophomore in college, I was going through a chicken and rice phase. I still am but not as much! When I would cook this dish, my roommates would always comment on how amazing it smelled. It has amazing smell and a flavor I could have never imagined could come from Italian Dressing. The secret is in making sure it has been cooked down and caramelized. This helps get rid of the tangy flavor and changes it to a savory flavor.
Italian Chicken and Rice
Ingredients
Rice
- 1 c rice
- 2 c water
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp garlic powder
Chicken
- 1 ¼ c lite Italian Dressing divided, see notes
- 2 chicken breasts cubed
Instructions
- Cook rice with water, salt, and garlic powder. Set aside when done.
- Add chicken and 1 c Italian dressing to a pan. Cook on medium heat until the dressing has become caramelized and chicken is completely cooked. Set aside for later.
- Add the remaining ¼ c of Italian dressing to your pan. Cook until it has caramelized and then add ½ of your prepared rice to the pan. Stir together until rice is coated.
- To plate, place ½ of the plain rice and ½ of the Italian dressing rice onto your dish and top with ½ of the prepared chicken. Repeat this for the second bowl and enjoy!
Video
@cooking4two Italian Chicken & Rice Bowl for 2🍚 #fyp #simple #easy #savory #cooking4two #ricebowl #foryoupage #winnerwinnerchickendinner #ricelover #savory
♬ original sound – Lauren Phipps Gomez
Notes
Cooking the rice: I use an instant pot to cook my rice. It is the easiest way for me since it has a rice setting on it. You can make the rice however you know how to though. I use long grain rice but before I learned how to use an instant pot, I would just use instant rice and it works just as well.
Cooking the chicken: If your chicken cooks all the way before your dressing has caramelized, you can take it out of the pan and continue to cook the dressing until it has caramelized, then put the chicken back in and coat it before moving to the next steps.
Flavor: If you want more flavor to the rice, use 1/3 of a cup of dressing instead of 1/4
Dressing: I use lite Wishbone or Kraft and they work well. I have tried using Olive Garden’s dressing but unfortunately, it doesn’t work for this recipe.
Cooking the chicken: If your chicken cooks all the way before your dressing has caramelized, you can take it out of the pan and continue to cook the dressing until it has caramelized, then put the chicken back in and coat it before moving to the next steps.
Flavor: If you want more flavor to the rice, use 1/3 of a cup of dressing instead of 1/4
Dressing: I use lite Wishbone or Kraft and they work well. I have tried using Olive Garden’s dressing but unfortunately, it doesn’t work for this recipe.