Skillet Chicken With Homemade Rice-A-Roni and Green Beans Recipe

Skip the box, add chicken, and get ready for this spot-on homemade version of that famous San Francisco treat.

By
Yvonne Ruperti
A photo of Yvonne Ruperti, a contributing writer at Serious Eats.
Yvonne Ruperti
Yvonne Ruperti is a food writer, recipe developer, former bakery owner, and cookbook author. She is also an adjust professor of baking at the Culinary Institute of America in Singapore.
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Updated November 25, 2023
Closeup of skillet chicken with homemade Rice-A-Roni and green beans, served on a white plate.

Serious Eats / Yvonne Ruperti

Why It Works

  • Browning chicken thighs and then adding them back to the pan as the pilaf finishes cooking cuts down on the number of pans and flavors the rice with the chicken's fond and juices.
  • Toasting the broken spaghetti adds depth to the pilaf.
  • A simple green bean sauté is easy to whip up as the pilaf and chicken thighs cook.

If you're as old as I am, I'm sure you can sing the catchy jingle "Rice-A-Roni, the San Fransisco treat," but I'll bet you've never thought about the history of this tasty convenience food that's been sold in a box since 1958. It all started back in 1940s San Francisco when an Armenian woman, Pailadzo Captanian, rented a room to a couple (Lois and Tom DeDomenico) whose husband's family owned a pasta company, called Golden Grain Pasta. Mrs. Captanian taught Lois how to make her Armenian rice pilaf, using tiny broken bits of pasta brought back from the pasta company. One night, in the midst of the growing demand for convenience foods in the '50s, Lois cooked up the rice pilaf for her Italian husband. Being the smart businessman that he was, he took the idea for the pilaf to his company's test kitchen so that it could be developed to be put in a box (ultimately creating a mixture of rice, macaroni, and dehydrated chicken stock). Once they decided on a name, a sort of shortening of rice and macaroni, the rest is history.

While my mom wasn't really into buying convenience foods when we were younger (we never did the Shake 'n Bake thing, or Hamburger Helper), she gave in when it came to the original chicken Rice-a-Roni, which my sister and I loved. Even though it's a box mix, it's fun to make. And it still makes you feel like you're cooking because you get to toast the macaroni in the pan before adding, well, the flavor packet and all.

Believe it or not, this homemade version came about not because I was trying to recreate Rice-a-Roni, but because I wanted to make a rice pilaf that I'd had some time ago at a Middle Eastern restaurant. Without any orzo on hand, I broke up some spaghetti, toasted it with rice, threw in chicken stock and spices, and voila! I realized I'd whipped up one of my favorite box guilty pleasures. To be honest, I have no idea if my spices are the ones that actually go into that packet, but I'll bet it's damn close.

From there, the chicken dinner came into place. Just crisp up chicken parts in a pan, get the homemade Rice-a-Roni going, and finish cooking the chicken in the rice—all done in one skillet. Add a tasty side veggie of sautéed green beans with garlic, and you've got a flavorful complete meal that you've got nothing to guilt over.

September 2012

Recipe Details

Skillet Chicken With Homemade Rice-A-Roni and Green Beans Recipe

Prep 5 mins
Cook 65 mins
Active 60 mins
Total 70 mins
Serves 4 to 6 servings
Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

Ingredients

For the Chicken Rice-a-Roni:

  • 8 pieces chicken thighs and/or drumsticks (about 2 pounds)

  • 2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

  • 2 1/2 ounces (about 1/3 of a box) uncooked thin spaghetti, broken into 1/2-inch pieces (see note)

  • 1 3/4 cups long-grain rice

  • 1 large bay leaf

  • 4 cups low-sodium store-bought or homemade chicken broth

  • 1/8 teaspoon saffron threads

  • 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Green Beans:

  • 4 medium cloves garlic, minced (about 4 teaspoons)

  • 1 pound green beans, trimmed and halved crosswise

Directions

  1. Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season both sides with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Working in batches, add half of the chicken skin side down. Cook until well browned, about 8 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to plate, leave oil in pan, and repeat with second batch of chicken.

  2. Pour off all but 1 teaspoon fat in pan. Add pasta pieces to pan and toast until dark golden brown, stirring frequently. Add rice, bay leaf, half tablespoon oil, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

  3. Stir in chicken broth, saffron, turmeric, and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Bring to simmer, cover, reduce heat to low, and cook, without stirring, for 12 minutes. Adjust heat as necessary to keep mixture at low simmer.

  4. Remove lid and nestle chicken pieces into rice. Cover and continue to cook until rice is cooked through and chicken registers between 170 to 175°F (77 to 79°C) on an instant-read thermometer, about 10 to 15 minutes longer.

  5. While the chicken and rice is cooking, make the green beans. In a 10-inch skillet, heat remaining tablespoon oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add green beans and 1/2 teaspoon salt, and cook until just tender, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

  6. Season rice-a-roni to taste with more salt and pepper and serve.

Special Equipment

12-inch skillet with lid, 10-inch skillet, instant-read thermometer

Notes

I found the best way to break the spaghetti into pieces was to hold 4 or 5 strands at once and use my fingers to break off 1/2-inch sections.

Read More

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
323Calories
14gFat
25gCarbs
27gProtein
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4 to 6
Amount per serving
Calories323
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 14g17%
Saturated Fat 3g16%
Cholesterol 104mg35%
Sodium 567mg25%
Total Carbohydrate 25g9%
Dietary Fiber 3g10%
Total Sugars 3g
Protein 27g
Vitamin C 8mg40%
Calcium 58mg4%
Iron 2mg11%
Potassium 508mg11%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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