Easy whole chicken and rice recipe that’s comforting, filling, and made in one pot—perfect for cozy fall dinners!

Whole roast chicken is a weekly staple on our food menu. We make one at least once per week, it on it for several days and use the bones for bone broth. I love that it’s easy to make, and such a crowd-pleaser! My favorite trick is to add the starch together with the chicken and have a whole meal ready in one pot while I’m out doing other things. In this post, I share with you my easy whole chicken and rice recipe, the ultimate comfort food for the whole family perfect for fall.

As I write this post, I am getting ready to go pick up a new animal addition to our farm. By the time this post goes live, I will have most probably announced what this new addition is..but for now, let me just say this: It will make this whole chicken and rice recipe a lot better! If you’ve been following along my Free to Flower journey for some time, you will know that one of my big goals is not to need a grocery store for..well anything, but at least very few things. This new addition to our farm is going to get us so much closer to reaching this goal, and bring many more chicken recipes to the blog!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Easy recipe – you simply just add all ingredients into a baking dish and come back to a finished main course. Here’s another easy recipe you can try at home.
Delicious flavor – when the rice cooks together with chicken & broth, it absorbs amazing flavor. The result is a flavorful chicken and fluffy rice
Budget friendly – this is a recipe with simple ingredients that won’t break the bank
Complete meal – in one pot, you have protein, starch, fat, and a vegetable. A delicious dinner all in one!
Very few dishes – you only get one roasting pan dirty! No need to get out your rice cooker or any other gadgets. Cleanup from this meal is as simple as it gets.

What You’ll Need

1 whole chicken
4 cups chicken stock ( I used broth from chicken soup I made the previous day)
2 cups of rice (I used long grain rice)
vegetables of choice – carrots, zucchini, summer squash, or celery all work well
fresh herbs of choice – I used bay leaves, oregano, thyme & parsley. You can substitute dry herbs.
butter
salt & black pepper for seasoning

Tools

roasting dish/casserole dish with a lid (a Dutch oven or similar will work great)
instant-read thermometer – optional but helpful, especially if you’re new to roasting a whole chicken
Measuring cups/kitchen scale

Instructions

Place uncooked rice at the bottom of your roasting dish.
Grate your vegetable of choice and sprinkle over the rice.
Cover rice & vegetables with chicken broth, so that it’s just submerged under the surface. Add herbs & stir the mixture together.
Wash whole chicken & pat dry with paper towels. Season with a teaspoon of salt and a little bit of pepper.
Place whole chicken on top of rice & broth mixture.
Loosen some of the skin on top of the chicken and stuff with cubes of butter. You can’t ever go wrong with butter, place as many cubes under the skin as you can fit.
Pre-heat your oven to 420 degrees F (220C)
Place the uncovered roasting dish in the preheated oven & cook for 20mins.
After 30mins, place the lid back on and continue cooking for another 30mins.
Check the internal temperature of the chicken. When it reaches 156-175F, uncover and roast for another 10mins or so until golden brown. If you want crispy skin, broil for a couple of minutes at the very end, being careful not to burn the chicken.
Your rice should be fully cooked and fluffy by now, if not, cover it back up and cook for another 10mins.
Take your roasting dish out of the oven. Cut up the chicken and serve over fluffy rice.

piece of chicken with fresh herbs on a bed of rice

Tips for making whole chicken and rice

Adjust cooking time based on the type of rice you’re using. Long grain & brown rice will need to cook for longer than white rice.
If you’re using chicken from the grocery store, they’re mostly similar in size. However, if you’re using homegrown chicken, you might have to adjust the cooking time based on the size of your bird.
If the chicken cooks before the rice is fully done, you can always remove it from the pot, set it aside under tin foil, cover the baking dish, and continue cooking the rice in the oven until fully cooked & fluffy.
You can get creative with the seasonings! I list the fresh herbs I used below, but you can season with other things like garlic cloves, garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, etc.

chicken in a roasting pan and rice in a roasting pan with fresh herbs

Whole Chicken and Rice Recipe FAQ

This is up to personal preference. The only thing to note is that white rice (such as jasmine rice) will cook a lot faster than brown rice or long grain rice. You might have to adjust the cooking time accordingly, to avoid having undercooked or overcooked rice.

Chicken breasts, or boneless chicken thighs will work well. You will probably have to adjust cook times though. A whole chicken will work best for this recipe.

You can use 4 cups of water instead of the broth, however, you will lose out on some of the flavor and healthy fat content.

I always prefer butter for pretty much everything. And that’s perhaps why I run out quite often. If you’re out of butter, just coat the top of the chicken with a tablespoon of olive oil before seasoning with salt and pepper.

A cast iron skillet or another large skillet will work. You will have to cover it with tin foil though, which takes a little extra work.

I very often make this recipe with potatoes or sweet potatoes, but I feel like that needs a whole post of its own! The cooking times are very different as are some of the steps. However you can definitely lay the chicken in the roasting dish, place potatoes or large pieces of sweet potato around it and roast for about an hour. Skip the broth. Uncover at the very end for a golden brown chicken skin.

You certainly can make a rice stuffing part of this recipe, although I haven’t yet tried it! You will probably have to adjust the cooking time to accommodate the extra rice inside the bird.

Always wait for both the chicken & rice to fully cool. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Whole Chicken and Rice

Super simple whole chicken and rice made in a single pot.

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 1 10

Total Time 1 15

Serving Size 4

Ingredients

1 whole chicken
4 cups chicken stock I used broth from chicken soup I made the previous day
2 cups of rice I used long grain rice
vegetables of choice – carrots zucchini, summer squash, or celery all work well
fresh herbs of choice – I used bay leaves oregano, thyme & parsley. You can substitute dry herbs.
butter
salt & black pepper for seasoning

Instructions

Place uncooked rice at the bottom of your roasting dish.
Grate your vegetable of choice and sprinkle over the rice.
Cover rice & vegetables with chicken broth, so that it’s just submerged under the surface. Add herbs & stir the mixture together.
Wash whole chicken & pat dry with paper towels. Season with a teaspoon of salt and a little bit of pepper.
Place whole chicken on top of rice & broth mixture.
Loosen some of the skin on top of the chicken and stuff with cubes of butter. You can’t ever go wrong with butter, place as many cubes under the skin as you can fit.
Pre-heat your oven to 420 degrees F (220C)
Place the uncovered roasting dish in the preheated oven & cook for 20mins.
After 30mins, place the lid back on and continue cooking for another 30mins.
Check the internal temperature of the chicken. When it reaches 156-175F, uncover and roast for another 10mins or so until golden brown. If you want crispy skin, broil for a couple of minutes at the very end, being careful not to burn the chicken.
Your rice should be fully cooked and fluffy by now, if not, cover it back up and cook for another 10mins.
Take your roasting dish out of the oven. Cut up the chicken and serve over fluffy rice.

Notes

Tips for making whole chicken and rice

Adjust cooking time based on the type of rice you’re using. Long grain & brown rice will need to cook for longer than white rice.

If you’re using chicken from the grocery store, they’re mostly similar in size. However, if you’re using homegrown chicken, you might have to adjust the cooking time based on the size of your bird.

If the chicken cooks before the rice is fully done, you can always remove it from the pot, set it aside under tin foil, cover the baking dish, and continue cooking the rice in the oven until fully cooked & fluffy.

You can get creative with the seasonings! I list the fresh herbs I used below, but you can season with other things like garlic cloves, garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, etc.

This article may contain affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. You can read the full disclosure policy.