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Don’t ask me why this is called Cowboy BBQ Chicken and Rice, because I do not know the answer to that question. I do know, however, that this meal is so dang delicious. Cowboy BBQ Chicken and Rice is an interesting addition to your weekly rotation. Yummy barbecue chicken nestles in a pan of rice, corn, and black beans and is topped with melted cheese and your favorite Mexican toppings on top. If you’re sick of your same old recipes, this is a fun and different one to throw into the mix.
Ingredients for Cowboy BBQ Chicken and Rice
- Chicken breast
- Salt and pepper
- Barbecue sauce (use your favorite)
- Olive oil
- Yellow onion
- Minced garlic
- Uncooked Jasmine or regular white rice
- Canned corn (you can use frozen or fresh off the cob if you like as well)
- Canned black beans
- chicken broth (you can use chicken bullion cubes canned chicken broth or chicken base)
- Mexican-style cheese (you could also use cheddar or whatever you have on hand)
How to Make Cowboy BBQ Chicken and Rice
This meal is made in a skillet so you don’t have to dirty a million dishes. That in and of itself is a win for me.
To make this dish, you’ll start by seasoning, the chicken breast with salt and pepper and brushing 1/4 cup of barbecue sauce on both sides of the chicken. This will add a lot of delicious flavor to your dish. Add some olive oil to a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the chicken breast to the pan and sear for 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Don’t worry if the chicken is not cooked through at this point. It will continue to cook later on. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
To the pan where you cooked the chicken, add the chopped onion (use this nifty vegetable chopper from Amazon to chop things so quickly and easily) and garlic. Cook for a few minutes to soften the onion.
Next, add in the uncooked rice, corn, and black beans and stir everything well. Add in the remaining barbecue sauce and the chicken broth. Give that all a good stir and bring up to a simmer. Add the chicken back into the pan and cover. Let that all simmer for about half an hour or until the rice is tender and the chicken cooks all the way through.
Now, back to the recipe. Once everything is cooked, remove the chicken breast and cut it into small pieces. Add it back into the pan and sprinkle the cheese on top. Stir it all up and let everything mix together until the cheese melts. Ladle into bowls and serve with some of your favorite Mexican toppings like diced tomatoes, diced avocado, cilantro, green onions, or more cheese.
Julia’s Tip
Pro tip: always measure the internal temperature of your chicken to make sure that it’s not under or overcooked. Chicken is cooked once it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. If you don’t have a meat thermometer, you need to get one.
One-Pot Mexican-Inspired Meals
Southwestern Black Bean Orzo Skillet
Cowboy BBQ Chicken and Rice
4-5
servings10
minutes40
minutesKeep the screen of your device on
Ingredients
1 large chicken breast
Dash salt and pepper
1/2 cup barbecue sauce, divided
1 tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
1 tbs minced garlic
3/4 cup uncooked jasmine or regular white rice
14 oz can corn, drained
15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
3 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup Mexican style cheese
- Toppings
diced tomatoes
avocado
cilantro
green onions
Directions
- Season the chicken breast on each side with a dash of salt and pepper, then brush 1/4 cup of barbecue sauce on both sides of the chicken breast.
- To a large deep skillet, add the olive oil over medium high heat, once hot add the chicken breast into the pan and sear for 2-3 minutes on each side. It does not need to be cooked through.
- Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
- To the same pan, add the diced onion and minced garlic. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes to soften the onion. Add in the rice, corn, and black beans. Stir well. Add in the remaining fourth a cup of barbecue sauce and the broth. Stir well and bring up to a simmer. Add the chicken breast back into the pan and cover with a lid. Let that simmer for about 30 minutes or until the rice is tender, and the chicken is cooked through.
- Remove the chicken breast and cut it into small bite-size pieces. Add it back into the pan with the cheese. Stir to let the cheese melt down, and then serve with some of your favorite toppings like sliced cherry tomatoes, diced avocado, cilantro, green onions, or more cheese
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Fun variation for one pot chicken & rice. Next time I’ll use only 1.5 – 2 C broth with the 3/4 C. rice, and make it in my Dutch oven not my 10-inch skillet. The BBQ flavor was tasty but I’d like it stronger and less broth should help with that. And although all ingredients fit, the excess liquid overflowed a bit as it simmered — I’d been needing to clean around that burner/stovetop anyway (Grin).
Cooking just for 2, and expecting to reheat leftovers, I chose to not stir in the cheese but instead topped with cheese at the table. We enjoyed about 1/3rd of this for supper, with a side salad of lettuce/tomato/avocado. Some of the extra will be reheated for lunches with the last third frozen for a future meal.