One Pot Jollof Rice and Chicken

There's Rice (and Chicken) at Home: Episode 1

Hello! Welcome to There’s Rice (and Chicken) at Home–a new series where I’ll be sharing easy, flavour-packed chicken and rice recipes inspired by some of my favourite cuisines. This week, it’s my One-Pot Jollof Rice and Chicken.

As a West African woman (half Nigerian, half Cameroonian, to be precise), mastering jollof rice has been one of my biggest feats. It’s something I only nailed a year ago, after, and I say this with no exaggeration, FIVE years of developing my recipe. That’s five years on and off, not non-stop–I’m better at my job than that :) 

It took so long for lots of different reasons. For one, making consistently good jollof rice is hard. Anyone can make it taste good once; the real challenge is nailing it every single time. There are so many variables–the pan you use, the type of heat, the amount you’re making, even the ripeness of the vegetables. So many little things can throw it off. And as a recipe developer, consistency is everything. My job is to make sure you can recreate what I make and get the same results.

Second, I was taught to cook jollof rice on the stove–a method that's very, very finicky. The heat comes from the bottom of the pot, working its way up through the rice. This means you often end up with rice that’s burnt and mushy at the bottom and dry and undercooked on top (if you’re not a seasoned jollof maker, that is). Now, a little burning isn’t a bad thing as it adds smokiness to the jollof. But there’s a fine line between smoky and straight-up burnt, and staying on the right side of that line takes a lot of skill and experience. I got around this by developing a very non-traditional oven-baked method, which is the most foolproof way I’ve found for nailing jollof rice every single time–get the recipe here.

My OG oven-baked jollof rice, served with beef suya and fried plantain.

Finally, it took me so long to develop my jollof rice recipe because if I was going to put it on the internet, I had to come CORRECT. Social media can be brutal, and everyone swears they make the best jollof, so if I was going to throw mine into the ring, it had to be perfect, or as close to perfect as I could get it. 

Fast forward to now and my There’s Rice (and Chicken) at Home series. I knew I wanted to feature a one-pot jollof rice and chicken recipe, so here we are. It’s a hybrid of my oven-baked version and my mum’s stovetop version. You start by seasoning the chicken and frying it until golden on both sides. You then fry onions, lots of tomato purée and your stew base, before adding your seasonings, stock and washed rice. The chicken goes back in and the whole lot bakes until the rice is fluffy and the chicken’s perfectly tender.

I really hope you give this one a go–and if you do, please let me know what you think!

One Pot Jollof Rice and Chicken

For the chicken:

• 1kg skin-on bone-in chicken thighs

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil

• 2 tsp curry powder

• 2 tsp dried thyme

• 1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

For the stew base:

• 1 large red bell pepper, roughly chopped

• 2 medium vine tomatoes, roughly chopped

• 1 red onion, roughly chopped

• 2 red scotch bonnet chillies, quartered (use less for milder heat)

• 25g fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

• 100ml water

• 1 tsp fine sea salt

For the rice:

• 150ml vegetable oil

• 1 red onion, finely chopped

• 150g double concentrated tomato purée

• 1 tbsp curry powder

• 2 tsp dried thyme

• 3 chicken stock pot 

• 2 dried bay leaves

• 500ml water

• 600g parboiled long-grain rice (I use Ben’s Original)

1. Heat your oven to 180°C / fan 160°C.

2. Place the chicken in a large mixing bowl with the vegetable oil, curry powder, dried thyme, cayenne pepper (if using) and a generous pinch of salt. Toss to coat and leave to marinate for at least an hour or overnight if you can. If short on time, just let it sit while you prep the stew base.

3. Blitz the red bell pepper, tomatoes, red onion, scotch bonnets, ginger, water and salt in a blender until smooth. Set aside. 

4. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Working in batches, cook the chicken skin-side down until browned, 3 to 5 minutes, then flip and cook for another 3 minutes, or until browned on the other side. Transfer to a plate, leaving the oil in the pan. Note: The chicken won’t be cooked through at this stage–it’ll finish cooking with the rice.

5. Turn the heat down to medium. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and beginning to brown, 3 to 5 minutes. 

6. Add the double concentrated tomato purée and cook, stirring frequently, until it darkens, 3 to 5 minutes.

7. Pour in the blended base, stir to combine and bring to a simmer. Partially cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has reduced by about a third and the oil begins to separate, 12 to 15 minutes.

8. Stir in the curry powder, dried thyme, stock pot, bay leaves and water. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then cover and bring to a boil.

9. Meanwhile, rinse the rice under cold water until the water runs clear, then drain well. 

10. Add the rice to the sauce, stir in any resting chicken juices, then arrange the browned chicken thighs over the top. As soon as everything comes to a simmer, cover, transfer to the oven and bake for 45 minutes.

11. Remove the pot from the oven and leave covered for 10 minutes to finish steaming the rice.

12. Optional but worth it: Heat your grill to high. Transfer the chicken to a baking tray, brushing off any rice. Brush lightly with oil and grill for 5 to 10 minutes, or until browned and crisping at the edges.

13. To serve, spoon the rice onto a large platter and top with the chicken. Fried plantain and salad on the side make it a proper feast.

For more detail on this recipe–from why cooking out the tomato purée matters, to the importance of “frying” the stew, to why you need to wash your rice, to why the oven is the most foolproof method–head to the full blog post on my website.

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I’ll be back next week with the next There’s Rice (and Chicken) at Home recipe. See you then!

Big love and happy cooking, 

Zena x