One Pot Caribbean Jerk Chicken & Rice for a true flavor explosion! Chicken thighs baked to crispy perfection on a bed of fragrant rice and beans come together in a dash for an easy weeknight meal.
Who doesn’t love a good one-pot meal? Less prep, less cleaning, and it’s on your table in about an hour. Plus, the way the chicken juice seeps into the rice and flavors it is heavenly. 😇
I cook this jerk chicken and rice recipe in an oven-proof skillet because it can go from stovetop to oven without messing up an extra pan. That said, you could easily use a Dutch oven.
The Secret to Insanely Good One-Pot Jerk Chicken and Rice
I’m all for saving time in the kitchen, but one ingredient is worth spending a little time making at home: homemade jerk spice. Most store-bought blends don’t even come close to the flavor of this homemade version, and you can customize it to your preferences. 😋
What You Need
- Chicken – Any cut of chicken will work here, but chicken thighs are the juiciest and most flavorful.
- Rice – Any long-grain rice, basic white rice, jasmine, and basmati will do. Even brown rice works, though you may need to adjust the cooking time.
- Beans – Kidney beans add flavor and extra protein to this dish, making it extra satisfying.
- Broth – For extra flavor, I cook the rice in chicken broth instead of water.
- Coconut Milk adds creaminess and a tropical undertone.
- Seasonings – Garlic, onion, thyme, bay leaves, white pepper, Creole seasoning, chicken bouillon, paprika, scotch bonnet pepper, and green onion to garnish are fantastic.
How to Make One-Pot Caribbean Jerk Chicken & Rice
Chicken Thighs
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ (177℃).
- Rinse the chicken thighs and pat them dry—season with salt (about 1½ teaspoons) and bouillon powder.
- Season – Then, rub both sides of each piece with a generous amount of jerk seasoning.
- Sear – Add about 2 tablespoons of oil to a skillet, Dutch oven, or oven-safe pot. Then add chicken thighs skin side up, and brown for about 3 minutes on each side, being careful not to burn it. Take the chicken out of the pan and set aside.
Vegetables, Rice, and Beans
- Clean Pan – Wipe the pan with a paper towel or napkin to remove any burned bits from the pan.
- Saute – Add another 2 tablespoons of oil, followed by onions, thyme, garlic, and bay leaf, and sauté until soft but not golden, 2-3 minutes.
- Assemble – Then, add the rice and beans. Next, add all the remaining ingredients: chicken stock, coconut milk, paprika, white pepper, jerk seasoning, salt, and bouillon. Add the chicken back to the pot and bring everything to a boil.
- Bake – Place the pan in the oven and cook, uncovered, for 30-35 minutes or until the chicken is done.
- Serve – Remove from oven, allow to rest a minute, garnish with chopped green onions if desired, and serve.
Recipe Variations
- Try a different protein. Instead of chicken, try it with pork or shrimp. You can also swap out kidney beans for a different kind of bean if you’d like. 🫘
- Turn the heat up (or down). If you don’t enjoy spicy food, leave the hot pepper out. But if you’re a heat seeker, dice the scotch bonnet and prepare for the burn. For somewhere in the middle, add the scotch bonnet whole.
- Add more veggies. Chopped bell peppers, peas, carrots, or other veggies are delicious and nutritious.
Tips and Tricks
- For faster cooking, make a ½-inch slit in the chicken thigh meat on both sides before searing.
- Rinse the rice to remove excess starch for fluffier results. ☁️
- An instant-read meat thermometer ensures the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165℉ (75℃). 🌡️
Make-Ahead Instructions
To make this dish ahead of time, let it cool and refrigerate it in an airtight container for 1-2 days. Or freeze it for up to 3 months. Then, thaw, reheat, and enjoy!
Serving and Storage Instructions
Serve one-pot jerk chicken and rice piping hot, fresh out of the oven, and garnished with chopped green onions.
Refrigerate leftover chicken and rice in an airtight container for 3-5 days. To reheat this dish, pop it back in the oven set to 350℉ (180℃) for 10-15 minutes or until heated through. Add a couple of tablespoons of water or broth to prevent drying. Or pop individual portions in the microwave.
What Goes With One Pot Caribbean Jerk Chicken & Rice
This dish goes beautifully with fried plantains and Caribbean coleslaw. A sorrel drink might cool down the heat from the scotch bonnet. Or, if you are feeling like an adult beverage, a pina colada works just as well. 😉
More Caribbean-Inspired Recipes to Try
Watch How to Make It
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”jTCYDYNO” upload-date=”Tue Aug 07 2018 11:48:32 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)” name=”One Pot Caribbean Jerk Chicken & Rice” description=”One Pot Caribbean Jerk Chicken & Rice – A flavor explosion in a pot! Comes together quickly- chicken thighs baked to crispy perfection on a bed of fragrant rice and beans.”]
This blog post was originally published in June 2015 and has been updated with additional tips, new photos, and a video
One Pot Caribbean Jerk Chicken & Rice
Ingredients
Jerk Chicken Thighs
- 2½-3 pounds (1-1.5k) chicken thighs (about 5-6)
- 1½ teaspoons (8g) salt
- ½ teaspoon (2g) chicken bouillon (optional)
- 1-2 tablespoons (12-24g) jerk seasoning
One Pot Jerk Chicken and Rice
- 4 tablespoons (60ml) canola oil
- ½ medium onion, diced
- 1 sprig fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 small bay leaves
- 2 cups (360g) uncooked long grain rice
- 1 13.5-ounce can coconut milk (1¾ cups)
- 1 15.5-ounce can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 teaspoon (5g) white pepper
- 1½-2 teaspoons (8-10g) Creole seasoning (or jerk seasoning)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2-2¼ cups (470-530ml) chicken broth (or water) If using 6 chicken thighs, I use 2 cups of water
- 1 teaspoon (4g) chicken bouillon (optional)
- 1 whole scotch bonnet pepper (optional)
- 1 teaspoon (6g) paprika (optional)
- 1 green onion for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉/177℃.
- Wash chicken thighs. For faster cooking, make a ½-inch slit into the meat on either side of the bone and pat dry with a paper towel—season with salt (about 1½ teaspoons) and bouillon powder.
- Rub both sides of the thighs with a generous amount of jerk seasoning.
- Add about 2 tablespoons of oil to a skillet, Dutch oven, or oven-safe pot. Then add chicken thighs skin side up, and brown for about 3 minutes on each side, being careful not to burn it. Take the chicken out of the pan and set aside.
- Wipe the pan with a paper towel or napkin to remove any burned bits from the pan.
- Add another 2 tablespoons of oil, followed by onions, thyme, garlic, and bay leaf, and sauté until soft but not golden, 2-3 minutes.
- Then, add the rice and beans. Next, add all the remaining ingredients: chicken stock, coconut milk, paprika, white pepper, jerk seasoning, salt, and bouillon. Add the chicken back to the pot and bring everything to a boil.
- Place the pan in the oven and cook, uncovered, for 30-35 minutes or until the chicken is done.
- Remove from oven, allow to rest a minute, garnish with chopped green onions if desired, and serve.
Tips & Notes:
- Feel free to replace the jerk seasoning with Creole, taco, or your favorite spice mix.
- For faster cooking, make a ½-inch slit in the chicken thigh meat on both sides before searing.
- Rinse the rice to remove excess starch for fluffier results. ☁️
- An instant-read meat thermometer ensures the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165℉ (75℃).
- Please remember that the nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used in the recipe.
Magdalena says
Hi lovely,
My friend told me about this recipe that she makes in slow cooker but she couldn’t find it..
I found yours and it looks almost the same,except for in yours there is no peas (but it’s fine as I’m not fan of them anyway) I’m so happy to found it! I’m gonna make it for my Nigerian boyfriend who loves chicken and spicy food so I hope it turns out nicely…
One question,can I make it in the pot on hob on a low cooking burner instead of making it it the oven? I don’t have a ovenproof skillet unless I make it in a glass dish
Thank you for sharing this recipe
Stay blessed
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Magdalena! You sure can with some alterations. However, the skin is not going to crisp up and you care going to have to cook the chicken for an extra 15 minutes or so.Then add it to the rice.Also shorten the rice cooking time to about 20 minutes or until the rice is tender .Be sure to cover it. Hope this helps out.
Magdalena says
Hi
I made it ,it is yummy, although I didn’t add scotch bonnet and didn’t have that creole spice so it wasn’t very spicy. Chicken didn’t crispen but I think it’s because I have it without skin.
I managed to do it in the oven and my skillet with (silicone I think) handle survived 🙂
And my boyfriend loved it 🙂 had seconds
Next time it will be only better
Thank you
Lani Sarem says
Can I use a mixture of chicken breasts and chicken thighs?
ImmaculateBites says
I don’t see why not. The only drawback is the chicken breast might be a little dry- compared to the thighs.
SEEMA MINHAS says
This was a delicious recepie loved by the whole family. I used a tagine base to cook on the hob and then straight into the oven, turned out great.
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Seema! Glad to hear it was a success . Thanks for taking the time to share your additions with us. Happy Sunday!!!
Helena says
This looks so delicious. I have Jerk chicken marinating in the oven for tomorrow. Can’t wait to do the rice like this with it! Looks amazing!
ImmaculateBites says
You’re in good company. Many love this cookie recipe too! Thanks Helena!
Lana Petricevic says
Hi, I rubbed chicken thighs and chicken legs in your homemade jerk seasoning and it’s in the fridge for the next 2-3 hours. I only have a 10 inch iron cast skillet so I might have to do these in batches, but I want to cook the rice completely separate from the chicken. My toddler loves rice but I think the chicken seasoning might be too spicy for his taste. How do I cook the rice by itself? Do I simply follow the directions for rice as listed about without adding the chicken?! Can I just cook it in a medium size pot? And how long do you suggest I cook the thighs and legs in the skillet and then oven?! I’m looking forward to dinner tonight 🙂
ImmaculateBites says
You can follow this rice recipe here. Leave out the Scotch bonnet pepper. For the chicken brown it in the skillet , then finish it off in the oven. Check out this chicken thigh recipe here . Hope this helps
Marguerite says
I made this tonight after marinating the chicken in your jerk marinade overnight and all day today. IT’S AMAZING!
Thank you for making my jerk chicken wishes come true!
ImmaculateBites says
High Five!!! So glad it worked out well for you Marguerite. Thanks for letting me know.
Brenda P. says
Hi Imma! Thanks for the recipe. I made this tonight and couldn’t figure out when to add the creole seasoning from the recipe. It was really tasty but I could taste too much of the thyme. I didn’t have fresh so used dried. Next time I’ll use a lot less or buy fresh. Very good otherwise.
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Brenda!
I use the creole seasoning to seasoning the chicken and to flavor in place of salt. Add it when you add liquid.
Thanks for the feedback!!!
Zubby says
Thank u so much for sharing this! I wanted something different for dinner using chicken, and came upon ur recipe… it’s fantastic! I made changes that wouldn’t affect the flavors, I had to make do with what I had. I used 3 pcs chicken breasts cut into half (browned them first), used jasmine brown rice, black beans and light coconut milk. And I omitted the scotch bonnet pepper. I made jamaican jerk seasoning per ur recipe. Love it. The liquids were sufficient to cook the brown rice, but it took a lot longer than 30 mins. I ended up taking out the chicken breasts at abt 30 mins and put the pot back in the oven to let the rice finish cooking.
I’m thinking next time I might make this with some big chunks of beef instead of the chicken, bcos in my mind that sounds like it would be delicious too!
ImmaculateBites says
Awesome! Yes to chunks of beef . Thanks for sharing this with us. Glad you enjoyed it
Kee Kee says
This post was great because I had ingredients I didn’t know what to do with. I had chicken thighs, Sazone packets, Rice and kidney beans. This recipe showed me what to do with what I had. It turned out great! This Caribbean Jerk chicken ingredients are definitely on my Grocery list this week!
ImmaculateBites says
Awesome!!!Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with us.
Jamie says
I made this last night and my whole family LOVED it! Even my picky child! This is definitely getting added to our rotation! Thank you!
ImmaculateBites says
YESS! My Pleasure ! Thank you for taking the time to let me know.
Happy Holidays!!!!
Robert says
Hi there,
Made this tonight for my wife, daughter, and son.
Delicious. Thanks so much for the recipe. Going to try out a bunch more of your recipes.
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Robert! Glad the whole family enjoyed it. Thanks for taking the time to let me know.
Jean Herreman says
This was delicious! I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs and followed the recipe exactly. Wouldn’t change a thing!
ImmaculateBites says
Awesome!!! Thanks for the feedback!
Chris says
I am new to your website, but subscribed after I made this wonderful dish. Made this last week and my picky kids loved this! Thank you so much! Will definitely make this again. I used wild/brown rice mixed and decreased to 1& 1/2 cups of rice with the same volume and it turned out perfect. Also used light coconut milk. Looking forward to making another dish from your site.
ImmaculateBites says
Awesome! Thank you so much for taking the time to share your thoughts to me. So happy to hear when it’s a win with the kids. They are hard to please.
Tc says
Awesome dish. Followed directions exactly with all the optional ingredients. Super delicious and would not change a thing. What a
Great recipe for the cast iron skillet.
This one is a keeper. JAH LOVE
ImmaculateBites says
Awesome! Thank you so much for taking the time to share your thoughts
Jacy says
Thank you for the amazing recipe. Easy and delicious!!!!! Entire family loved it!
ImmaculateBites says
Awesome! Glad it worked out well for your entire family.