Chicken & Rice is such a great place to start when making homecooked meals on a Weeknight. You can go in so many directions with just a few added ingredients. This recipe gets a little spicy and smoky with the addition of pepperjack cheese and crispy bacon. Pepper Jack Chicken & Rice is a hearty and complete dinner that you and your family are going to really enjoy.
If you haven’t made “red rice” before, you are going to make to log that portion of this recipe into your culinary memory bank. It is such a great side dish if you want something more than just plain rice. You can simply enhance it with different seasonings and spices to go with different cuisines – for example add some cumin and chili powder to make it more Mexican or add some basil and oregano to go Italian.
Substitutes and Variations:
Other than variations on the rice, you can use chicken thighs (boneless or bone-in). You just need to adjust to rhe cook time to make sure the internal temp makes it to 165degF. If you need to take the heat dough you could just use Colby jack cheese in place of the pepper jack.
Suggestions for Sides:
I made a simple green salad (romaine, carrots, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, croutons) to go with this. You could do a veggie medley with simple butter, garlic, salt and pepper, as well.
Tools that may make this recipe easier:
As I always say, you should use a baking rack over parchment paper covered baking sheets when you bake any type of meat. This allows for good air flow, which results in even cooking.
Now Let’s Get Cookin’!
Pepper Jack Chicken & Rice
Ingredients
- ½ lb Bacon
- 1 lb Pepper Jack Cheese shredded or crumbled
For the Chicken
- 6 Chicken Breast
- ½ cup Oil
- 1 cup Chicken Broth
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp Onion Powder
- 1 tsp Oregano
- 1 tsp Paprika
- 1 tsp Black Pepper
- 1 tsp Parsley
For the Red Rice
- 2½ cup Long Grain Rice
- 2 tbsp Oil
- ½ cup White Onion minced
- 2 cloves Garlic minced
- 1 tbsp Paprika
- 1 tbsp Parsley
- 1 15oz can Tomato Puree
- 1 qt Chicken Broth
Instructions
- Add all chicken ingredients to a bowl or zippered plastic bag. Combine and let sit for at least 30 minutes (up to overnight).
- Preheat oven to 375degF.
- Remove chicken from marinade and place in a single layer on a baking rack over a parchment paper covered baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes.
- In a large saute pan over medium high heat, cook bacon until crispy. Remove to a paper towel covered plate to cool. Reserve grease in the pan and reduce heat to medium
- Carefully add oil to the bacon grease along with onion, garlic and rice. Toast until the rice in a golden brown. Then add remaining rice ingredients to the pan. Bring to a bubble, then cover and let cook for 20 minutes.
- Remove chicken from oven and sprinkle with cheese and bacon. Return to oven for 10 minutes more.
- Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes.
- Add a portion of rice to a plate and sprinkle with remaining cheese and bacon. Then top with a piece of chicken.
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Estelle Forrest self-published this cookbook after a lot of playing around in the kitchen. You can purchase your own copy here:
AVAILABLE IN PRINT OR KINDLE eBOOK VERSIONS
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Sounds amazing!!!
Wow – this looks and sound delicious!