Chicken in a pot with lemon and rice is the type of food Nigella (Lawson) refers to as ‘temple food’. As in, your body is a temple. This is a dish that nourishes and soothes. A whole chicken is gently simmered with vegetables, lemon and rice. This creates ultra-tender juicy meat and a wonderful richly flavoured chicken broth. This is simple comfort food that your body will thank you for. And it comes together in one pot.
This recipe takes about 2 hours to cook, but don’t let that put you off. Most of that time is hands-off simmering time in the oven. Your house will be filled with the homely smell of chicken-y goodness. Just leave the chicken to work its magic unfussed with.
Chicken in a pot is ugly-delicious. Perhaps not dinner party-worthy, but great unpretentious family dining. All you need is 15 minutes to prep and then pop it in the oven just under 2 hours.
All the major food groups in one pot – protein (chicken), veg (carrots, celery and kale) and carbs (rice). No need for side dishes or extra pots and pans.
The chicken in this dish ends up so tender, it will easily fall off the bone. When I first made this, I placed the chicken ‘naked’ in the broth. I was very happy with the flavour of the finished dish and the wonderfully soft meat. I didn’t love how tiny chicken bones can mix in with the other ingredients.
I came up with a genius idea. Place the chicken in a cheesecloth sling. Cheesecloth is a gauze-like, woven cotton cloth. Its name comes from one of its uses, to make and wrap homemade cheese. It’s also a useful for other cooking applications too. In this recipe, it keeps the chicken together but won’t stop the flavours in the pot melding.
After cooking, you can lift the chicken out of the broth and onto a plate to serve. You can either shred the meat to return to the pot without bones. Or you can portion out as best as you can and let people eat around the bones like a roast.
I love chicken. I love my carbs. I love not having to cook them separately. I have other one-pot chicken and rice recipes – paella and pilau. Both onion and garlic-free, both delicious. There will be more chicken and rice recipes coming for sure 😊
Chicken in a pot with lemon and rice is inspired by a Nigella Lawson recipe.
🥘 Ingredients
Whole Chicken – it’s important to use a good quality chicken. Always free-range. It will probably be in the range of 1.5-1.7kg.
Lemon – unwaxed/organic. Or clean the outside well before using – we use the whole lemon for this recipe.
Chilli - the amount of chilli suggested here provides very subtle heat.
Is this recipe low FODMAP?
This recipe is low FODMAP. Stick to the quantity of celery stated in the recipe – the equivalent to (only) 10g per portion. The rest of the ingredients are naturally low FODMAP. It is also gluten-free.
🔪 Instructions
We start by browning the breast side of the chicken in a pot. Browning the chicken skin is cosmetic. The skin won’t stay crisped up, but the extra colour makes the poached chicken look more appetising. The few extra minutes it takes to include this step is worth it. Simply place the chicken in hot olive oil. Leave, untouched, for around 5 minutes before lifting out carefully. Tongs are useful here – put one half inside the cavity and the other half on the top. You'll be able to lift the bird out without tearing the bronzed skin.
Place the chicken, breast side uppermost, on a sheet of cheesecloth. It needs to be large enough to encase the chicken with some excess material to make a handle of sorts. This way we'll be able to lift the chicken in and out of the pot.
We flavour the hot, schmaltzy olive oil with lemon (zest, juice and emptied halves), plus oregano, chilli and salt. Then we add chunky carrot and celery pieces.
Gather up the chicken in the cheesecloth and nestle it amongst the veg.
Pour plain cold water around the chicken until it’s almost covered. Leave the top part of the legs and breast uncovered. Put a tight-fitting lid on or cover closely in foil and put in a preheated oven for 1 ½ hours. No need to tend to it.
When the 90 minutes is up, remove the pot from the oven. Add shredded kale and rinsed rice around the outside of the chicken. Bring the broth back to a simmer on the stovetop. Put the lid back on and return to the oven for 10 minutes. This will soften the rice and wilt the kale.
Carefully lift the chicken out of the pot using the cheesecloth and transfer to a plate with sides. You can discard the lemon halves. Give everything a good stir.
Bring a bowl for bones to the table. You can either pull the chicken off the bones and return to the pot with everything else. Or joint the chicken as best as you can and let people pick their own bones out. You might want to discard the skin as it will be very soft. This is informal, family-style dining. No one said this was pretty!
📖 Recipe
Equipment
- large heavy-based lidded casserole pot the pot needs to be big enough to take the whole chicken, with space around for the other ingredients.
- (optional) cheesecloth (or muslin) large enough to create a bag for the chicken. The chicken in this dish ends up so tender, it will easily fall off the bone. The cheesecloth keeps the chicken together but won’t stop the flavours in the pot melding.
Ingredients
- 1 chicken (1.5-1.7kg)
- olive oil
- 1 lemon
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- ¼ teaspoon dried chilli flakes
- 3 medium carrots
- 40 g celery (about ¾ stick – feel free to add more if you're not following a low FODMAP diet)
- cold water
- 200 g basmati rice
- 2 big handfuls kale leaves (about 75g)
Instructions
- Preheat Oven- to 160°C
- Brown Chicken – preheat the pot on the stovetop over medium heat. Add a tablespoon of olive oil. Pat the breast side (the rounded side) of the chicken well with paper towel. Rub this side of the chicken with another tablespoon of oil and sprinkle generously with salt. Place the chicken breast side down in the pot to deeply colour the skin, around 5 minutes. Take the pot off the heat.1 chickenolive oil
- Cheesecloth Sling – lay a sheet of cheesecloth over a plate with sides. Gently lift out the chicken with tongs, being careful not to pierce the skin. Place on top of the cheesecloth with the browned breast side uppermost.
- Lemon, Oregano, Salt & Chilli – zest the lemon and add the zest to the pot. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice into the pot, followed by the juiced lemon halves. Add the oregano, salt and chilli flakes. Stir well to combine.1 lemon2 teaspoons dried oregano1 ½ teaspoons salt¼ teaspoon dried chilli flakes
- Cube Vegetables – peel and cube the carrots. Cube the celery. Add carrots and celery to the pot and stir everything through. Create space for the chicken by moving the veg to the sides of the pot.3 medium carrots40 g celery
- Add Chicken - gather up the edges of the cheesecloth to lift the chicken and lower it into the pot. Leave the cheesecloth edges piled on top of the chicken.
- Water – pour in enough water to cover all but the very top of the chicken breast and legs. This will be about 1 ½ litres but will depend on the size of your pot.cold water
- Stove then Oven - put the pot back on the stovetop over high heat and bring to a simmer. Put a sheet of foil over the top and clamp on the lid. Transfer to the oven to cook for 1 ½ hours. You can prep the rice and kale towards the end of this time and set them aside until needed.
- Prep Rice & Kale – Rinse the rice in a sieve under running water until the water runs clear. Finely shred the kale.200 g basmati rice2 big handfuls kale leaves
- Add Rice & Kale – take the pot out of the oven and set over medium heat on the stove top. Take off the lid and distribute the kale and rice around the outside of the chicken. Push them down into the liquid. Bring the liquid back to a simmer, clamp the lid back on and return to the oven for another 10 minutes. Without removing the lid, take the pot out of the oven.
- Serve – get a large shallow bowl. Use the cheesecloth sling to lift the chicken out and transfer to the bowl. Open out the cheesecloth to expose the chicken. Portion out the rice/veg from the pot with some chicken (either whole joints or shredded). You can discard the lemon halves and chicken skin.
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