One Pan Garlic and Sage Chicken Thighs and Rice
If you’re looking for an easy way to get a budget-friendly dinner on the table, try these garlic and sage chicken thighs. Everything comes together in one pan, making dinner time (and clean-up time) so easy, but still producing a delicious, flavorful meal. This recipe is originally from my August 2024 grocery series where I turned a $55 grocery haul into five meals. Here’s a link to the long-form video of the recipe with detailed instructions.
Ingredient Notes
Chicken Thighs: Bone-in, skin-on thighs bring deep flavor and stay juicy throughout the cooking process. Their crispy seared skin adds texture while rendering flavorful fat into the pan. They’re budget-friendly and ideal for one-pan meals.
Garlic & Shallot: These aromatics provide a flavorful foundation for the rice. Garlic adds punchy intensity, while shallots lend a mellow, slightly sweet richness. Together, they enhance the overall depth of the dish.
Fresh Sage: Chopped sage leaves echo the seasoning on the chicken and boost the dish’s comforting, fall-inspired flavor. Used fresh, sage adds a fragrant, woodsy quality that complements the richness of the coconut milk and broth.
Jasmine or Basmati Rice: Long-grain rice varieties like jasmine or basmati cook up fluffy and aromatic, absorbing the seasoned broth and coconut milk. Toasting the grains beforehand intensifies their flavor. They act as a hearty base for the chicken and greens.
One Pan Garlic and Sage Chicken Thighs and Rice
4
servings15
minutes45
minutesIf you’re looking for an easy way to get a budget-friendly dinner on the table, try these garlic and sage chicken thighs. Everything comes together in one pan, making dinner time (and clean-up time) so easy, but still producing a delicious, flavorful meal. This recipe is originally from my August 2024 grocery series where I turned a grocery haul into five meals. Here’s a link to the long-form video of the recipe with detailed instructions.
Keep the screen of your device on
Ingredients
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus additional to taste
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon ground sage
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (7 to 8 thighs)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 large shallot, finely chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
2 tablespoons finely chopped sage leaves
1 cup dry jasmine or basmati rice, rinsed
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 cups shredded kale, packed
1.5 cups chicken or veggie broth
3/4 cup full-fat canned coconut milk (1/2 can)
1/2 cup water, plus additional as needed
sage leaves, for garnish (optional)
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 375F.
- In a small bowl, combine the thyme, salt, paprika, sage, and ground black pepper. Pat the chicken thighs dry with a paper towel, then sprinkle with the spice mix and coat all sides. Set aside on a plate.
- Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large, deep skillet that’s large enough to hold all 7-8 thighs. If your skillet is not large enough, cook the chicken in two batches. Once shimmering, add the chicken thighs, one at a time, avoiding overlapping. Cook until browned and crispy, 4 to 5 minutes, then flip and cook for another 4 to 5 minutes. The chicken will be partially cooked at this point. Remove and set aside.
- In the same skillet, add the shallot and cook, stirring constantly, for 30 seconds. Mix in the garlic and chopped sage and cook for another minute, stirring continuously.
- Add the nutritional yeast and rice and stir to coat in the shallot mixture. Season with a few pinches of salt. Let the rice toast for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring often, then add the kale, broth, coconut milk, and water. Stir to combine.
- Place the chicken thighs on top of the rice, then carefully place the skillet on the middle rack in the oven. Bake until the rice is fluffy and has absorbed almost all of the liquid, and the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165F, 14 to 20 minutes. (Note: I don’t recommend covering the skillet in the oven, but if you don’t want your rice crispy on top, cover it.) If your rice takes longer to absorb the liquid, just continue cooking and the thighs will not overcook.
- Optional: while the rice cooks, prepare crispy sage leaves for topping by heating a few tablespoons of oil to a small pan over medium heat, then carefully placing in leftover sage leaves to crisp up, 2 to 3 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and set aside to serve on top as a garnish.
- Remove the skillet from the oven and cool for about 5 minutes. Serve with even servings of rice and chicken thighs and garnish with crispy sage leaves.
Notes
- Chicken thighs: Cook time will vary if your chicken thighs are bigger. You may need to increase the sear time to 5 to 7 minutes on each side, and ensure your chicken reaches 165F before removing from the oven. The recipe calls for bone in and skin on as it’s the most budget friendly cut, however, you can swap for boneless, skinless if preferred, you may find the chicken cooks up in less time, keep an eye after about 15 minutes in step 6.
- Storage: Refrigerate in a sealed container for up to 4 days. Freeze for up to 3 months.
- Reheating: From refrigerator, microwave until warm, about 2 minutes or heat in a saucepan over medium heat until warm, about 10 minutes. From frozen, thaw in the fridge for at least 8 hours or overnight, then heat as instructed.
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Made this last night! It was really pretty easy. Prep was the most time consuming but didn’t even take long. Once everything was prepped it came together so simply and the flavors were so good-chicken was perfectly cooked and I will definitely make this again!!!
Made this last night! I thought it was great, only thing I would change is I would put a top on the skillet when you put it in the oven for softer rice!
Subbed 2 cans chickpeas for chicken as suggested. Cooked the rice on the stovetop and chickpeas in the oven. It was a hit!
Another hit recipe fron Jenn! This was super simple to make and really delicious. Nice introduction to fall flavors & meals! I think it would also be tasty with pasta! Reheated nicely for lunch the next day too.
One of the best chicken dishes I’ve ever tasted, seriously! Will be making this regularly ❤️
What a super flavorful recipe! Chicken cooked well and had great flavor. The rice was tender and punched up the dish with amazing flavor. I would definitely make this again!
This was so amazing and flavorful! I made it for meal prep, but let my wife taste and she told me I had to fix it for dinner one night! This will definitely be a staple!
Yay! So glad you and your wife enjoyed this one, it’s the perfect cozy dinner ❤️
This was so good I could not stop eating it. I so looked forward to leftovers for lunch. My chicken thigh skins didn’t get crisp but rendered a lot of fat which made the rice a bit greasy so I would go with skinless next time. Fantastic flavours!!
Made this tonight for my meal prep for the next few days. I grow my own sage, so nice to use it.
This was really flavourful! Thanks do much for posting.
This was the best new recipe I’ve made in over 5 years. The entire family gobbled it up.
Omg wow I’m so happy to hear that!!
After 30 minutes in the oven at 375 and totally uncooked jasmine rice, I gave up and finished the dish on the stove top.
In the end, it was a great meal — my boyfriend and I loved it — I just don’t know how anyone could have finished the rice in the oven without boiling on the stove.
Hi Amanda! I’m not sure what went wrong here. If your rice was covered in liquid in the hot skillet then immediately placed in the oven for 30 minutes, you should not end up with uncooked rice. The heat + liquid is what cooks it just like the stovetop does. I’m glad you were able to make it on the stovetop and sorry for the trouble!
Try checking your oven temperature with an oven thermometer. Your oven temp may be off.
Made this tonight and it was so delicious! I made a conscious effort to mise-en-place this one and it made the recipe come together so quickly. My main hiccup was a slightly too small pan, so I did the chicken in two batches, which in turn heated/crisped the spices left behind a bit much. One pot meals don’t always work for me, usually the rice is too firm. This time just a few extra minutes was all it needed.
It made SO MANY servings! Do you think the leftovers would freeze okay?
Can you do without the nutritional yeast? Or sub for something? If rather not buy just for this recipe.
hey there-i stumbled upon your content when i was doing a search for recipes and grocery lists that are $100 and less. I am trying very hard to bring our grocery bills down. Your recipes are fantastic. I made this the other night and my kids loved it! I still cannot believe all that I’m able to make with your grocery list and am so grateful! Thank you!!!
I made this last night and it was great, would definitely make again! Have long grain rice, spinach and boneless chicken thighs on hand and just added the chicken back about 5 minutes after I started cooking. Also added the whole can of coconut milk instead of water and that also turned out well.
So flavorful! Will definitely be making this again!
The chicken DID NOT cook “nearly through” at 4-5 minutes per side. I eventually turned the stove up to med high and after 25 to 30 minutes they were still at 120 degrees F. Now I’m extending the oven cook time because the chicken is still not to temp.
Hi Beth, I’m sorry the cook time didn’t work for you. While the searing does not cook the chicken fully, the oven bake time gets it to that 165F. Depending on the thickness and size of your chicken thighs, the timing may differ.
I’m sorry for the trouble and hope you may try it again!
I followed all the directions except instead of chicken I used tofu and it was amazing! Such an easy delicious recipe.
Seriously SO good! You have outdone yourself with this one! I did leave the lid on in the oven for 15 minutes then off for 10 because I have picky eaters, still amazing, thank you so much for what you do 💜💜
My two year old is an extremely picky eater, to the point of going to feeding therapy, and this meal is a WIN! She asks for at least three servings of it each time. It’s now in our rotation!
This is yummy! My husband loves each time I make it. I used boneless chicken breasts instead of thighs & they turned out great!
This was fantastic! Made it exactly as written. Husband had seconds and thirds. This never happens. Thanks for a great recipe!!!
Made this for dinner tonight and it was fantastic! Thank you so much!!! <3
Same problem here, the recipe doesn’t say to bring the rice to a boil, which I’m thinking might be the missing step?
I used brown basmati rice which I know takes longer even in my fancy rice cooker. I boiled it before putting in the oven and still wasn’t long enough. I ended up finishing it on the stovetop. It was still worth the extra steps because of how good it tasted. Next time I’ll probably cook the rice on the stove for a while before adding the chicken and popping it in the oven.
I used skinless boneless thighs which we prefer. I also used brown basmati rice and it took a lot longer to cook than the recipe stated. I used too much salt so I will cut that next time. Otherwise it was soooo yummy. Will definitely make it again.
I also didn’t have fresh sage leaves so I used about a tsp of dried rubbed sage and it was still very good. (Note: I brought the rice to a boil for a few mins before adding the chicken and putting it in the oven. Still didn’t cook the rice enough so after pulling it out of the oven I removed the chicken and finished the rice on the stovetop then added it back in. Even with the added steps it was soooo worth it.
I’m late to the party making this, but finally made it last night. Amazing flavor, love how the rice tastes like risotto. Next time, adding mushrooms to this.
Such a great, flexible recipe! I’ve made it several times. This time, I used what I had on hand – chicken breasts, a bag of frozen broccoli (Costco) instead of kale, and mushrooms. I used brown basmati rice so had to adjust the cooking time to 40 minutes. I didn’t have any sage but it still tasted delicious!
Amazing dinner! My kids loved it which is saying something! The rice took a lot longer to cook than instructed but otherwise followed the recipe and would highly recommend it!
This was a hit with my family!! They asked to keep the recipe on rotation. I’m was so happy to use sage as I have a big sage plant, and unless it’s fall, I didn’t have any ideas as to how else to use it. Thank you for your amazing recipes, not one has disappointed!!! <3
I think this is my favorite recipe of yours. So flavorful! I had to stop making it so I could try some others. I love the one- pan-ness. I double the kale because I’m that way!!!
My husband asks for this recipe over and over again. It’s a huge hit! Love how the rice soaks in the all of the spices. This dish is packed with yummy flavors.
It was wonderful! It would be nice to know the nutritional values.
This recipe is phenomenal!! Me and my boyfriend make this all the time and I have never gotten sick of it! It is simple and tastes amazing. This is genuinely my favorite thing to cook right now.