As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
If you’re not doing a traditional Thanksgiving this year, you can still be festive with this chicken with rice and butternut squash!
Festive Chicken And Rice With Butternut Squash
Since there’s been so much upheaval all year, many people are not doing their usual Thanksgiving feast with friends and family.
A lot of us will be either by ourselves or in very small groups. Because of this, I’m sure that many of us will forego the traditional turkey feast for something more modest. However, that doesn’t mean it can’t be festive and delicious!
This superb chicken skillet dinner may be just what you’re looking for! You’ve got the poultry, some rice that’s delicious and very seasonal butternut squash.
And this is so good, you just may want to add it to your dinner rotation year round!
Brown Jasmine Rice
Remember when I said to take the plunge and buy that bag of brown jasmine rice in my stuffed acorn squash recipe?
Well here’s where you can use it too. Frankly, I was so impressed with the taste that I am now adding it onto my regular grocery order.
I highly recommend the brown jasmine, but if you don’t have any and don’t want to buy it, just make sure you use a very flavorful rice. For me, that would be either basmati or regular white jasmine rice.
Flavorful rices add so much to this dish. It’s the subtle flavor that does it.
The Squash
Right now, you’ll find good prices for butternut squash due to the season. It’s always available fresh in the produce section.
Butternut is, however, a tough nut to prep for this since it’s quite dense. You may want to take advantage of the already prepped version that’s sold in the produce department. The squash is already peeled and cubed which makes it an excellent choice for this recipe.
And not to be forgotten, butternut squash is always available cube and frozen in a pinch. I wouldn’t recommend it for this recipe as it may become too mushy in the cooking.
The Recipe
Chicken with Rice and Butternut Squash
Ingredients
- 4 large chicken thighs bone in skin on
- 4 tbs olive oil divided
- 4 cups butternut squash cut in 1-inch cubes
- 3/4 cup brown jasmine rice
- 14 oz chicken stock
- pinch of thyme
Chicken Rub:
- 1 tsp chipotle chili powder
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/8 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Mix rub ingredients. Rub into both sides of chicken thighs; set aside
- Heat a large (preferably 12-in or larger) skillet over medium high heat. Add 2 tbs of the oil. When the oil shimmers, add the squash and cook until it begins to brown. Remove the squash from the pan.
- In the same skillet, add the remaining 2 tbs of oil and add the chicken, skin side down. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until it's nicely brown; turn.
- Add the rice, chicken stock and thyme. Stir to mix then add the squash back to the pan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and cook for approximately 30 minutes. If the rice is a bit hard, add an additional 4 oz/118 ml of stock.
- If there's too much liquid, uncover and reduce for about 5 minutes.
