Chicken seared with Fajita flavours then baked with seasoned Mexican red rice. This is a flavour explosion in one pot! People love that it’s finished in the oven. No need to worry about a scorched base!
Makes more rice than you’ll need because it is difficult to make less using this method of cooking. Nobody complains, cause it’s so good!

Ingredients

Mexican Spice Mix

▢2 tsp garlic powder (or 2 garlic cloves, minced)
▢2 tsp paprika
▢2 tsp cumin powder
▢1 3/4 tsp salt
▢1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (Note 1), optional
▢Black pepper

Chicken

▢5 chicken thighs, bone-in, skin on (Notes 2 and 3)
▢2 tbsp olive oil
▢1 tbsp lime juice

Rice

▢1 small onion , peeled and diced (or 1/2 large)
▢1 garlic clove , minced
▢1 red capsicum (bell pepper), diced or sliced
▢1 cup long grain rice , uncooked (Note 4)
▢1 cup chicken stock/broth , low sodium (or vegetable stock)
▢3/4 cup tomato passata (US: tomato puree) (Note 5)
▢1 cup frozen corn kernels (or canned – drained)
▢1 can (400g/16oz) black beans , drained and rinsed (sub red kidney beans)

Garnish

▢1 lime , plus extra to serve
▢Coriander/cilantro
▢Sliced jalapeño peppers (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (160° fan).

2. Mexican spice mix – Mix the ingredients in a small bowl.

3. Rub Chicken – Place 1 1/2 tablespoons of the Mexican Spice Mix in a large bowl (reserve rest
for rice) with 1 tablespoon olive oil and lime juice. Mix to form a paste then add the chicken
and toss to coat the chicken.

4. Marinate (optional) – Marinate chicken for 1 hour, or even overnight, if you have the time.
Otherwise, it’s fine to proceed with the recipe!

5. Sear chicken – Using a large deep skillet preferably with a lid (Note 6), heat the remaining 1
tbsp olive oil over medium high heat. Sear the skin side of the chicken for 4 minutes until
light golden, then sear the flesh side for 1 1/2 minutes (will still be raw inside). Remove onto a
plate.

6. Sauté aromatics – If you’ve got a lot of burnt spices on the base, scrape off and discard some
of it. Then in the same skillet, still over medium high heat, add the onion, garlic and capsicum
(bell peppers). Sauté for 3 minutes until the onion softens.

7. Rice & liquid – Add the rice and stir. Add chicken stock, tomato passata, corn, beans and
remaining Mexican Spice Mix. Stir to combine.

8. Top with chicken – Place chicken on top of the rice, skin side up. It will be partially
submerged but most of the skin should be above the liquid.

9. Bake covered 25 min – Bring to simmer, then cover skillet with a lid or foil and place in the
oven for 25 minutes.

10. Bake uncovered 15 min – Remove the lid/foil and bake for a further 15 minutes until only
small puddles of liquid remain on the surface of the rice.

11. Rest 10 minutes – Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes (uncovered). Any
remaining liquid will evaporate in this step.

12. Serve – Squeeze the juice of 1 lime over the chicken and rice. Remove chicken or push to the
side then fluff the rice. Serve, garnished with coriander/cilantro leaves, extra lime wedges and
sliced jalapeños, if desired. Sour cream also goes well with this, or a dollop of guacamole or
avocado sauce!

Notes

1. Spiciness – This recipe isn’t very spicy, but feel free to reduce or omit the cayenne pepper as
desired.

2. Bone-in skin-on chicken works best because the meat is juicier and I love the crispy skin. This
also works really well with drumsticks.
Works pretty well with boneless chicken thighs (see below for directions). Breast will also work
using the same directions as for boneless thighs, but the flesh is not quite as juicy.

3. Boneless, skinless chicken thighs – Sear chicken per recipe so it’s mostly cooked through,.
Then just put it on top of the rice at the point you remove the lid. The last 15 minutes in the oven
is all that’s needed to finish cooking it through.

4. Rice – You can substitute the long grain rice with basmati or medium grain rice. Short grain rice,
risotto rice and paella rice are not suited to this recipe (the rice will end up mushy).

5. Tomato passata – Pureed, strained pure tomatoes, sometimes labelled “tomato puree” in the
US (here’s a photo of Mutti tomato passata sold at Walmart). Readily available in Australian
supermarkets nowadays, alongside pasta sauces. More on tomato passata here. Substitute with
canned crushed tomato (but rice colour will not be as red).

6. Cooking vessel – I use my 30cm/12″ shallow casserole pan (2.5 L / 2.5 qts) which has a lid and is
the ideal shape for stove-to-oven recipes like this. An ovenproof skillet / fry pan will also work, or a
large oven-proof pot. No lid? Just use foil!
Baking dish (ceramic, glass, metal) – Start it in a skillet then transfer it to a baking dish. To do this,
after you add the stock and tomato passata, bring it to a simmer and scrape the base clean so any
brown bits gets mixed into the stock. Then pour all the liquid into a baking pan, add corn and
black beans. Top with chicken, cover with foil then proceed with recipe.
Leftover rice will keep for 2 days, and cooked chicken will keep for 3 – 4 days.

Nutrition

Serving: 442g | Calories: 713cal | Carbohydrates: 61.2g | Protein: 40.8g | Fat: 33.9g | Saturated Fat:
1.1g | Cholesterol: 144mg | Sodium: 1612mg | Potassium: 793mg | Fiber: 7.4g | Sugar: 6.1g | Vitamin
A: 1200IU | Vitamin C: 48.7mg | Calcium: 70mg | Iron: 5mg