Quick, simple and packed with flavor, Easy Spanish Chicken and Rice is a perfect weeknight dinner or make-ahead lunch. Rice seasoned with Sazon, topped with sauteed chicken, peppers and onions.
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutesminutes
Cook Time 20 minutesminutes
Servings 4servings
Ingredients
Rice
1packetGoya Sazon cilantro y achiote seasoning*
4CPerfect Basmati Rice**
Chicken/Veggies
4boneless skinless chicken breastthin cut
1red bell pepper
1jalapenooptional
4large green onionsdivided
1tspground cumin
1tspgarlic powder
1tspsmoked paprika
1tspkosher salt
½tspground black pepper
olive oil
Garnish
slivered almonds
raisins
cilantroroughly chopped
green onions
1lemon
Instructions
Prepare Perfect Basmati Rice. Be sure to use Cilantro y Achiote Sazon to season the rice. While rice is cooking, make the chicken and vegetables.
Mix together the cumin, garlic powder, paprika, salt, and pepper. Season the chicken breasts liberally on both sides with spice mix.
Core the bell pepper and jalapeno and slice both into thin strips.
Slice the green onion on an angle into ¼-inch strips, separating the green ends from the light green and white. Reserve the green ends to be used as garnish.
Heat a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Add enough olive oil to lightly coat the bottom of the pan. Once the pan is hot, place the chicken breasts in the pan.
Cook on the first side for 3-4 minutes until well browned. Turn the chicken breasts over and cover the pan with a lid or a piece of foil. Cook covered for another 3-4 minutes or until the second side is browned.
Depending on the thickness of the breast, you may need to turn over once more time and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Chicken breasts will be firm to the touch when cooked through or you can take the temperature. 165 degrees is what you're looking for.
Once the chicken has cooked, remove from the pan and set aside. Add on more tablespoon of olive oil to the same pan and add the sliced peppers and white/light green portion of the green onions. Sautee the veggies for about 5 minutes until softened and browned on the edges. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
To serve, fill a bowl with 1 C of rice, slice the chicken breasts and lay on top of the rice. Add cooked peppers and onions and then garnish with chopped cilantro, reserved green onions, slivered almonds, raisins and a squeeze of lemon juice.
Notes
* Sazon can be found in the grocery store with specialty Mexican ingredients.** Check out my Perfect Basmati Rice recipe for a foolproof method. Use Sazon Cilantro y Achiote in place of the Con Azafran variety.