Looking for a quick and savory rice dish the whole family will love? Our Creamy Chicken Pea Skillet is delicious, kid-friendly and oh so simple to make! Bonus: Make it in 28 minutes or less!
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👍 Why You'll Love This Dish
Comfort food- Our chicken pea skillet is belly-warming and the ultimate comfort food for the whole family.
Basic ingredients- You are likely to have many of the ingredients in your panty or fridge/freezer.
Quick-Like all of our recipes, this dish can be made in 28 minutes or less.
ONE pan! Our chicken pea and rice skillet can be made in four simple steps and with one pan. The trick is too cook the chicken first, and then add the broth and rice to the same pan. This allows our rice to cook while the chicken absorbs more flavor.
If you love creamy pasta and rice dishes, be sure to checkout this amazing Creamy Vegetable Pasta recipe! Or for other one-pan recipes ideas, check these awesome lazy Sunday dinner ideas!
🛒 Ingredients
Ingredient Notes:
- Chicken - cut into bite-sized pieces for faster cooking; we used breasts but you could also use thighs
- Chicken base - any broth is fine, but Better than Bouillon is our fave because it's condensed (takes up less room in fridge and lasts longer), the flavor is great and is less wasteful (just a little glass jar to recycle)
- Minute rice is the best for this!
- Peas - fresh or frozen both work
- Milk - any milk is fine, or heavy cream if you want a creamier finish
👩🏾🍳 Instructions
Step 1: Cook Onion.
🥄 Kids Step: Cut! These Curious Chef knives and Core cutting boards are perfect for little hands.
Step 2: Season & Cook Chicken.
🥄 Kids Step: Measure and pour! It will be messy, but kids really like this task!
Step 3: Cook the Rice.
🥄 Kids Step: Watch for the broth to boil. This teaches kids to pay attention to the stovetop and see what happens to water when it gets that hot.
Step 4: Add milk, peas and cheese.
🥄 Kids Step: Add cheese! A fun last step!
✔️ Expert Tips & Tricks
- Be sure to cut chicken into bite sized pieces for faster browning/cooking.
- We recommend Minute Rice to cut down on cook time. And brown rice will be more nutritious than white.
- You can totally swap the peas for a veggie of your choice, i.e. broccoli, carrots, corn, beans, etc.
- To plate...serve this chicken pea dish topped with extra parmesan cheese as desired.
🧊Storage and Reheating
In the fridge- Store leftover chicken, peas and rice in the fridge in an air-tight container for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave in 30 minute bursts OR on the stove with some added milk or broth to soften the rice and chicken.
In the freezer- Store leftovers in the freezer in an air-tight container for up to 2 months. Simply thaw in the fridge before reheating.
❓FAQ
Minute Rice (brown or white) is ideal for a quicker cooking time and the consistency is pretty comparable to regular rice. Without a time constraint, though, the world is your oyster: wild, long grain, short grain, basmati, jasmine...
We prefer skinless, boneless chicken breasts, sliced into small chunks. Darker meat or thighs would also work well, but may take a tad longer to cook.
As much as we love peas, feel free to choose a veggie that your family loves. Broccoli, carrots, or even chopped green beans would go nicely in this dish. Note: Fresh OR frozen peas can be used in this dish and should take about the same time to cook.
This recipe calls for pretty basic spices that most people have in their pantry. But you could also make this more of a curry dish, using curry powder instead of the Italian seasoning, and using coconut milk instead of regular milk. Other spices to change things up: coriander, cumin, and turmeric. Also think about fresh ginger or adding chopped tomatoes. The whole feel of the dish can change with just a few alterations.
Our chicken pea skillet truly covers most of the main food groups, so a side dish isn't totally necessary. However, you can certainly serve it with rolls, a side salad, or even sliced veggies with dip, like carrot sticks, cucumber or celery sticks.
👶🏾 Tips for Picky Eaters
🍅 Separate the parts! As far as I'm concerned, this is always a consideration. If your kids don't like their ingredients blended together, set aside some chicken before mixing in the rice and other ingredients. You can also cook the peas separately.
🍅 Skip the onions if this ingredient is a deal breaker. Or, chop them even more finely so they blend into the sauce.
🍅 Garlic Bread! My kids will eat almost any bread. Who knows why, but I remember being like that as a kid too. Their favorite is Pepperidge Farm's frozen garlic bread. It's super easy. I always try to have two loaves in the freezer at a time.
🧶 Crafts For This Recipe
Have extra rice? Invite kids to craft with it while you cook! Kids can make Rice Ghosts or color their rice and do this awesome Rainbow Rice Letters Craft!
🍽 You May Also Like...
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🥘 Chicken Pea Skillet with Rice
Ingredients
- 3 Tablespoon butter
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1-1.5 pounds chicken breast(s), cut into bite-sized pieces
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 Teaspoon paprika
- 1 Teaspoon salt
- ½ Teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup minute rice
- 1 cup frozen peas
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup parmesan cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Melt butter on medium in a large pan. Stir in chopped onion and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add chopped chicken, garlic and seasonings. Stir together and cook until chicken is golden and no longer pink on the inside.
- Add chicken broth and rice, stir together, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until rice is fully cooked.
- Stir in milk, peas and cheese. Cook for another 1-2 minutes. Enjoy!
Notes
- Be sure to cut chicken into bite sized pieces for faster browning/cooking.
- We recommend Minute Rice to cut down on cook time. And brown rice will be more nutritious than white.
- You can totally swap the peas for a veggie of your choice, i.e. broccoli, carrots, corn, beans, etc.
- To plate...serve this chicken pea dish topped with extra parmesan cheese as desired.
Nutrition
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet. While we are not certified nutritionists, we work with a Wordpress-integrated nutrition API to calculate our recipes' ingredient values.
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I made this for my family of four (I have two boys (12 and 10) - we all LOVED it. Super delicious. My husband has never eaten peas, he despises them, but ate every bite of his two helpings. I didn’t have minced garlic (was out) or Parmesan cheese - and it still was delicious!
Katherine - that's so awesome to hear! Thank you for the feedback. Next step for your husband: split pea soup! Haha. Cheers, Julie
Tried this one tonight but I added mushrooms and frozen mixed veggies. Was really easy, convenient and delicious! Thanks!!
Thanks so much Chantelle! Cheers, Julie & Marcie