One Pan Saffron Chicken and Jewel-Inspired Rice Recipe

The beauty of this Saffron Chicken and Jewel-Inspired Rice recipe is its simplicity. With just one pan, you’ll create layers of flavor that feel indulgent yet achievable. Trust me, once you’ve tried it, this will become one of those unforgettable recipes you return to again and again. Imagine tender, golden brown chicken nestled into a bed of fragrant rice infused with saffron and studded with jewel-like bursts of dried fruits, nuts, and herbs. This dish is a feast for the senses—bold, vibrant flavors come together effortlessly to create something truly special, whether you’re hosting a gathering or just craving a show-stopping meal on a weeknight.

Oh, I love this one! This is a favorite meal of mine. It takes the idea of the incredible dish, Persian jeweled rice, and simplifies it for a weeknight.

I know it looks fancy or seems complicated because there’s a whole chicken involved, but it’s really not. Promise.

Other than a good dose of saffron, the recipe is full of simple ingredients – many of which you may already have in your pantry.

I’m going to take you through it, step by step.

Let’s get into it!

Recipe Ingredients

You’ll need the following ingredients to make this amazing saffron rice dish:

Ingredient Notes & Substitutions

The ingredients to make this chicken and rice dish are easy to find and readily available at almost any grocery store.

Here are a few ingredient notes:

Chicken: Use a whole chicken in this recipe. If you don’t want to deal with a whole chicken, you can substitute it with bone-in skin-on chicken breasts, chicken thighs, and chicken legs.

Saffron: An expensive spice that come from the Crocus sativus plant. Each flower produces only a few stigmas that are deep crimson in color and have to be harvested by hand only in the early morning. Needless to say, they are very labor intensive, which explains the high price, but the good news is that a little bit goes a long way. When rehydrated in hot water, the color becomes a rich gold, and in this recipe creates the most beautiful yellow rice with a floral, almost sweet flavor.

Other spices: A combination of garlic powder, tumeric, cinnamon, and cumin provide the rest of the warming and earthy flavor to this dish.

Dried fruit: Use dried apricots and golden raisins as garnish to the rice. Substitute with currants, regular raisins, or dried cherries.

Nuts: Pistachios are featured here, but you could easily substitute sliced almonds. Feel free to toast the nuts in a pan on the stove while the chicken and rice is cooking.

Fresh Herb: Use fresh flat-leaf parsley to garnish the rice and give it a fresh green flavor. Substitute cilantro if you don’t have parsley.

Basmati rice: A long grain white rice that is thinner than regular long grain rice and has a light nutty aroma and flavor. Rinse it before use to remove excess starch to ensure separate fluffy grains.

Orange zest: Orange zest adds a touch of brightness to this rice after it is done, which is such a nice contrast to the warming, earthy spices. Substitute with tangerines or lemon if you don’t have an orange.

Water: This recipe uses water, but you can easily substitute chicken broth, chicken stock, or vegetable broth for another layer of flavor.

Let’s Make One Pan Saffron Chicken and Jeweled Rice Together: STEP BY STEP

First, place the chicken, breast side down, on your cutting board. Then, using good quality poultry or kitchen shears, cut along the right side of the backbone until you reach the other end. Repeat the same thing on the other side of the backbone. Next, flip it over and press down on the breast to crack the breast bone so that it will lay flat.

Second, finely chop the onion.

Add the onion and rice to a large pan, and place the whole chicken (or pieces of chicken) on top.

Then, bloom the saffron by adding it to a bowl and adding a little boiling water.

Next, make the cooking liquid by combining the spices with 4 cups of boiling water and mix well to dissolve.

Pour the cooking liquid over the chicken and rice.

Cut a sheet of parchment a little larger than your pan, crumble it under water, and then spread it out over the chicken, tucking in the sides.

Cover the entire pan with aluminum foil to make a very tight lid and transfer it to the preheated oven.

While the chicken and rice are roasting, prepare the garnishes: chop the parsley, pistachios, dried apricots, zest the orange, and cut the pomegranate to remove the seeds.

Remove the foil and parchment and return the pan to oven to continue roasting.

When the chicken is done, remove the pan from the oven. Using a fork, fluff the rice, and add the garnishes and mix them in. Carve the chicken and bring the whole pan to the table.

Serving Suggestions

I say keep it simple with this fabulous dish – a simple green salad, perhaps, or some steamed green beans would be lovely. Keeping it simple is important because you don’t want anything to compete with the main attraction.

Storage & Reheating

STORAGE:
Store this in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

REHEATING:
To reheat in the oven, place everything in an oven-proof pan or dish with a splash of water and cover with aluminum foil. Place in a 375-degree oven until warmed through. Remove the foil for the last few minutes to crisp everything up. On the stovetop, place everything into a sauté pan with a splash of water and heat over medium-low heat until warmed through. And finally, you can also reheat everything in the microwave in 30 second intervals until everything is warmed through.

FREEZING:
This dish freezes well in an airtight container for up to 6 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before reheating.

Recipe Card

One Pan Saffron Chicken and Jewel-Inspired Rice

By Natalie Marble

The beauty of this Saffron Chicken and Jewel-Inspired Rice recipe is its simplicity. With just one pan, you’ll create layers of flavor that feel indulgent yet achievable. Trust me, once you’ve tried it, this will become one of those unforgettable recipes you return to again and again.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Servings 8 servings

Calories 330 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 onion
• ▢ 2 cups basmati rice
• ▢ 1 whole chicken (or a mix of bone-in chicken breasts, thighs & legs)
• ▢ 1 tbsp olive oil
• ▢ 1 tsp kosher salt
• ▢ 1/2 tsp black pepper

Cooking Liquid

• ▢ 4 cups boiling water
• ▢ 3 tsp kosher salt
• ▢ 1/2 tsp black pepper
• ▢ 1/2 tsp saffron strands
• ▢ 2 tsp garlic powder
• ▢ 1 tsp cinnamon
• ▢ 1/2 tsp tumeric
• ▢ 2 tsp cumin
• ▢ 2 tbsp olive oil
• ▢ 1 tbsp honey
• ▢ 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses

Garnish

• ▢ 1/4 cup parsley (chopped)
• ▢ 1 orange (zest only)
• ▢ 1/4 cup pistachios (chopped)
• ▢ 1/4 cup golden raisins
• ▢ 1/4 cup dried apricots (chopped)
• ▢ 1/4 cup pomegranate arils

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Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Spatchcock the chicken.
• Soak the rice. Add the rice to a fine mesh strainer and run it under cold water until the water runs clear. If you don't have a strainer, you can soak the rice in a bowl of cold water and keep changing the water until it runs clear.
• Prep the pan. Add the diced onion and rice to a 9×13 pan or roasting pan. Next, place the spatchcocked chicken on top of the rice and onions.
• Bloom the saffron. If you don't have a mortar and pestle to grind the saffron threads, rub them between your fingers to break them down into a powder and place into a bowl. Add a little boiling water to cover the saffron and let it hydrate and dissolve.
• Make the cooking liquid. In a heat-proof bowl, add 4 cups of boiling water to a bowl or measuring cup. To the water, add the other cooking liquid ingredients (kosher salt, garlic powder, tumeric, cinnamon, cumin), as well as the bloomed saffron. Whisk really well until completely combined. Pour this mixture all over the chicken and rice.
• Season the chicken. Next, drizzle one tablespoon of olive oil all over it and sprinkle it with one teaspoon of kosher salt and half a teaspoon of black pepper.
• Cover the pan. Cut a piece of parchment paper a little bigger than the pan and run it under water and crinkle it all up. Then, unwrinkle it and place it over the pan tucking in the sides. Cover all of that with aluminum foil and transfer to the preheated oven for 40 minutes.
• Prep the garnishes. While the chicken and rice is roasting, chop the parsley, pistachios, and dried apricots. Zest the orange, and cut the pomegranate to remove the seeds.
• Remove the parchment & foil. After 40 minutes, remove the foil and parchment paper and turn the oven up to 425 degrees and bake until golden brown for an additional 10-15 minutes or until the internal temperature of the thickest part of the breast is 155 degrees. Removing the cover allows the outside of the chicken and rice to crisp up and caramelize a bit. If you prefer it even more caramelized, feel free to put it under the broiler for a few minutes.
• Remove the chicken and rest. When the chicken is done, remove the pan from the oven. The chicken will need to rest for at least 10 minutes. Using a fork, fluff the rice all over the pan and stir in all of the garnishes. Bring the pan to the table and enjoy the entire dish, family-style! *For instructions on how to carve a spatchcocked chicken, see the video below.

Video

Notes

• Soak the rice for the fluffiest, most separated grains.
• Cut the parchment paper a little bigger than your pan. Run the parchment paper under your kitchen faucet as you crumple it. Tucking this wet parchment over the chicken and rice keeps moisture in the pan and ensures the juiciest chicken. This is a fun little trick to know!
• Your pan size can be anywhere from 9×13 to 10×15. The important thing is that it has sides so that it can contain the liquid. I used a metal pan because I like it when the rice gets crispy around the edges of the pan. You can also use a ceramic or glass baking dish. If you don’t have a pan like this, use a large Dutch oven or an oven-proof large skillet.

Nutrition

Calories: 330kcalCarbohydrates: 53gProtein: 11gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0.004gCholesterol: 18mgSodium: 1208mgPotassium: 377mgFiber: 3gSugar: 11gVitamin A: 374IUVitamin C: 14mgCalcium: 49mgIron: 2mg

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