One-skillet meals are great when serving a family and this skillet dinner has flavorful peach and salsa-flavored rice and tender chicken that is sure to please. Another great thing about this recipe is that the chicken can be shredded and mixed with the rice and served in taco shells. Our favorite way is to serve any leftovers in delicious stone ground tortilla shells such as those made by The Vermont Tortilla Company located right here in Vermont. I try to use as many locally grown and produced products as possible in my recipes. Here’s how to make it:
Start by heating 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large nonstick skillet with a lid over medium-high heat.
Take 2 lbs. of boneless skinless chicken thighs and season both sides with chili powder, sea salt, and black pepper. Place in the heated skillet and brown quickly about 3 minutes on both sides and remove to a plate and set aside, the chicken will finish cooking later.
After chicken has been browned and removed to a plate, rinse and drain 2 cups of white rice in a sieve and add to the skillet along with 1- 16 oz. jar of chunky salsa, 1- 16 oz. bag of frozen peaches or mangos, 1 cup of chopped cilantro, and 3 1/2 cups of water. If using brown rice, see note at the bottom of
Mix all of the ingredients into the rice and bring to a boil.
Add the chicken on top, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 20-25 minutes until water is absorbed and rice is cooked.
When rice has finished cooking, sprinkle chopped cilantro over the top and serve in the skillet at the table or as individual servings.
An alternative is to shred the chicken into the rice and serve in taco shells such as stone ground corn tortillas from The Vermont Tortilla Company in Vermont. Tacos are a great way to use up leftovers if there are any. This dish is so delicious sometimes there are no leftovers. Enjoy and happy cooking!
Prep Time: 20 min.
Cooking Time: 30 min. total (if using brown rice, cooking time is longer)
Difficulty: Easy
Servings: 4-6
Ingredients:
2 lbs. of boneless skinless chicken thighs
2 Tbl. chili powder
Sea Salt & Black pepper
2 cups of white rice (see instructions at bottom if using brown rice)
1 cup cilantro, chopped, plus more for garnish
1 16 oz. bag of frozen peaches (or mangos)
1 16 oz. jar of chunky salsa
3 1/2 cups water
Note* If using brown rice, rinse and drain the rice and add to the skillet with all of the ingredients except the chicken and the peaches. Cover and cook the rice according to package time. During the last twenty minutes of cooking, add the mangos and the chicken, return cover and continue cooking until rice is tender and chicken is cooked through. Adding the peaches and chicken later keeps the peaches from disintegrating and the chicken from drying out due to prolonged cooking.