Chicken and Rice, One Pot
An oven bake rebuilt for a stove: instant rice, pouch chicken, and dried spinach in a single pot.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 6 oz
- cal / oz
- 120
- protein
- 42 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 8 min
- total time
- 10 min
- water
- 420 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Backpacking
- Basecamp
- Car camping
- Canoe / raft
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Instant white rice | 1 cup dry | the parcooked kind that rehydrates in five minutes |
|---|---|---|
| Chicken in a foil pouch | 5 oz | replaces the bone-in thighs |
| Chicken bouillon | 1 tsp | stands in for the broth |
| Dried spinach or kale flakes | 2 tbsp | |
| Dried minced onion | 1 tbsp | |
| Smoked paprika | 1/2 tsp | |
| Dried thyme | 1/2 tsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1/4 tsp | |
| Onion powder | 1/4 tsp | |
| Salt and black pepper | 1/4 tsp salt, pepper to taste | |
| Olive oil or ghee | 1 tbsp |
Method
- Boil 420 ml of water. Stir in the bouillon, dried onion, spinach, and the spice mix.
- Let the greens and onion sit in the boiling water for one minute so they start to soften.
- Dump in the rice, stir once, and pull the pot off the flame.
- Lid it and wait five minutes. Do not stir during this part.
- Open the chicken pouch and fold it in with the oil. Season again if it needs it.
The original bakes raw rice under bone-in thighs for an hour, and the bones and skin are doing most of the work: fat renders down into the grain while it absorbs broth. None of that survives a backpacking stove. So the fat comes from a tablespoon of oil, the broth comes from bouillon, and the chicken arrives already cooked in a pouch and gets stirred in at the end instead of roasting on top.
Instant rice is the other required swap. Regular white rice wants twenty minutes of simmering and a lot of fuel; the parcooked kind finishes off the heat under a lid, which is the whole reason this is one boil. Rehydrate the dried onion and greens in the water first, before the rice goes in, or they stay chewy and the rice goes soft around them.
Packing
Rice, bouillon, dried vegetables, and spices go in one bag at home. The chicken pouch and the oil bottle ride separately. Nothing here needs a cooler.
Variations
- Swap the chicken pouch for a foil packet of salmon.
- A spoonful of powdered cheese turns it into something closer to a casserole.
- Cayenne or chili flakes in the spice mix if the thyme-and-paprika version reads flat.
https://mealswithmaria.site/baked-chicken-thighs-and-rice