Skillet Chicken and Rice That Gets Asked For By Name

Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs run about $2 a pound at most grocery stores, which means this whole pan feeds six people for less than what two drive-thru combos cost. That's the first reason to make it. The second is that the rice cooks in the rendered chicken fat and the browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pan, which is a flavor you can't buy in a jar.

You need one 12-inch oven-safe skillet with a lid, or a 5-quart Dutch oven. Cast iron works. Stainless works. A nonstick skillet works if the handle is oven-safe to 375°F, and most aren't, so check before you commit.

Servings: 4 to 6 Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 50 minutes Rest: 10 minutes Total time: 1 hour 15 minutes

What you need

• 6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 2 1/2 pounds)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced (about 1 1/4 cups)
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 cups long-grain white rice, rinsed
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (skip it if the kids are sensitive)
• 2 1/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about half a lemon)
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley

Rinse the rice. Put it in a fine mesh strainer, run cold water over it for 30 seconds, and shake it dry. That rinse is the difference between separate grains and a pan of paste.

How it's done

1. Heat the oven to 375°F with a rack in the middle.

1. Dry the chicken. Pat every thigh with paper towels, top and bottom, until the skin feels tacky instead of slick. Wet skin steams. Dry skin browns. Mix 1 teaspoon of the salt with the paprika, garlic powder, and black pepper, then season the thighs all over.

1. Sear skin side down. Put the skillet over medium heat, add the olive oil, and lay the thighs in skin side down without crowding them. Leave them alone for 8 to 9 minutes. Don't poke, don't peek for the first six. You want the skin deep golden and releasing on its own. If it sticks when you nudge it, it isn't ready. Flip, sear 2 minutes on the bone side, then move the thighs to a plate.

1. Pour off the fat, but not all of it. You want about 2 tablespoons left in the pan. Six thighs usually render closer to 4. Tip the excess into a heatproof cup and save it for eggs in the morning.

1. Build the base. Add the onion and bell pepper with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook 5 minutes over medium, scraping the browned bits loose as the vegetables give up moisture. Add the garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes and stir for 30 seconds until you can smell the garlic.

1. Toast the rice. Add the drained rice and stir for 2 minutes. The grains will turn chalky white at the edges and smell faintly like popcorn. That's your cue.

1. Add the broth and scrape the bottom of the pan one more time, hard, with a wooden spoon. Everything stuck down there's flavor and it needs to come up. Bring it to a simmer.

1. Nestle the chicken back in, skin side up, along with any juice on the plate. Push the thighs down so the meat sits in the liquid but the skin stays above it. Pour in nothing else.

1. Cover and bake 25 minutes. Lid on tight. No stirring, no lifting the lid to check. Every time you open it you lose the steam that's cooking the rice.

1. Uncover and bake 10 to 12 more minutes to dry the top of the rice and re-crisp the skin. The chicken is done at 175°F in the thickest part of the thigh, not touching bone. Yes, 165°F is the safe minimum for poultry, but thighs are connective tissue and they're better at 175°F to 180°F. They won't dry out.

1. Scatter the frozen peas over the top, put the lid back on, and pull the pan from the oven. Rest 10 minutes. The peas thaw and heat through in the residual steam, the rice finishes absorbing, and the chicken juices settle.

1. Finish. Squeeze the lemon juice over everything, add the parsley, and fluff the rice with a fork around the thighs. Serve out of the pan.

What usually goes wrong

Crowded pan, no sear. Six thighs in a 10-inch skillet will steam instead of brown, and you'll get pale skin and no fond. Sear in two batches if your pan's small. It costs five extra minutes and it's worth it.

Mushy rice. Almost always a lid problem. If your lid rocks or the pan warped years ago, lay a sheet of foil over the skillet and press the lid down on top of it. A sealed pan is the entire mechanism.

Crunchy rice on top, soupy underneath. You stirred it, or you opened the lid at minute 12. Don't. If you uncover at the 25-minute mark and the rice still looks wet, that's normal. The last 10 uncovered minutes fix it.

Bland. Low-sodium broth plus unsalted chicken equals a pan that tastes like nothing. Season the chicken properly and salt the vegetables when they hit the pan, not at the end.

Swaps, and the one that doesn't work

Boneless skinless thighs are fine. Sear them 3 minutes a side, add them back for only the last 20 minutes of baking, and pull at 175°F. Chicken breasts work too, but add them at the 15-minute mark and take them out at 165°F or they'll turn to chalk.

Swap the bell pepper for a diced carrot and a rib of celery if that's what's in the drawer. Swap the peas for frozen corn or a couple handfuls of spinach stirred in at the rest. Jasmine rice works with the same liquid. Basmati works with 2 cups instead of 2 1/4.

Brown rice does not work here. It needs 45 minutes and more liquid, and by then the chicken is ruined. If brown rice is non-negotiable, cook it separately and spoon the seared chicken and vegetables over it.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Season the chicken and dice the onion and pepper the night before. Keep them in separate containers in the fridge and this becomes a 50-minute weeknight.

Leftovers keep 4 days in the refrigerator in a sealed container. Rice dries out cold, so when you reheat, add a tablespoon of broth or water per cup, cover the bowl, and microwave in 60-second bursts. The skin won't be crisp again. Accept it and move on, or pull the meat off the bone and reheat it in a skillet with a little of that saved chicken fat.

It freezes for 2 months, though the peas go a little soft. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.

If you want another dozen ways to put a chicken thigh to work, our sister site delicious.com has thousands of recipes worth an evening of scrolling.

Make it on a Tuesday. Somebody at the table will ask when you're making it again before they've finished the first plate, and that's the whole point of cooking for people you love.