Red Beans & Rice With Chicken Skillet: A One-Pot Meal

This Red Beans and Rice With Chicken recipe cooks up in a single skillet and uses Zatarain’s Red Beans & Rice Dinner Mix for no-fail flavor. We add our own cajun spices, chicken, and fresh vegetables to amp up the flavor! This filling one-skillet meal is a weeknight winner!

I have always been fascinated with the culture of New Orleans.  (Hence my Mardi Gras cookie dough ball, beaded mystery mask, statement necklace, and cinnamon roll money bread recipe, among others.)

This is one of those meals I’ve come up with that is maybe not completely authentic New Orleans Red Beans and Rice, but it’s so freakin’ good I don’t care.

I usually like to visit a place to find my favorite flavors, and then try to copycat them when I get home.  Orange Julius, KFC, Chick-fil-A, Olive Garden, Lofthouse Cookies, Taco Bell, and Carrabba’s, to name a few. 

However, that’s not the case with this one. I wanted to get those zesty cajun flavors mixed in with white meat that I know my kids will eat. This one is a mixture of my love for New Orleans and my kids’ picky eating. Honestly, it’s a total win, so whatever.

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 4-5 teaspoons cajun seasoning (store-bought or homemade recipe below)
• Zatarain’s Family Size Red Beans & Rice Dinner Mix
• 3 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup celery, chopped
• 1/2 cup green pepper, chopped
• roughly chopped parsley, optional garnish

DIY CAJUN SEASONING:

• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. onion salt
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1/2 tsp. oregano
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

INSTRUCTIONS:

For another one-pot chicken meal, I recommend my Cilantro Lime Chicken Skillet with Black Beans and Rice!

The Holy Trinity: “Cajun Holy Trinity consists of onions, bell peppers, and celery, the base for much of the cooking in the regional cuisines of Louisiana.  Typically equal measures of the three ingredients or two parts onion, with one part celery and one part green bell peppers.”  Who wouldn’t dream of tasting flavors that include “Holy” combinations?!

Chop up your onion, celery, and green pepper.  Because my children can find every single little transparent, cooked onion, I chopped mine very fine, so that they could easily be lost in the seasoned rice.

Helpful Tip: When purchasing your green bell pepper, purchase one that has only three bumps on the bottom.  I’ve learned that four bumps is a “female” bell pepper.  Female peppers are full of seeds but are sweeter (obviously!) and better for eating raw.  Three bumps on the bottom mean it is “male,” with far fewer seeds, and better flavors for cooking.

Helpful Tip: When chopping your onion, you could either wear a pair of swim goggles or hold a match (tip out) between your teeth, to reduce the tears and snail trails from leaking down your face.

Season chicken breasts on both sides with approximately 2 teaspoons of Cajun seasoning.

Drizzle a large skillet with 2 Tbsp. olive oil and cook chicken breasts for approximately 1 minute on each side, just enough to brown each side, over medium-high heat.

Transfer to a plate while you combine the remaining ingredients in a skillet.  Yes, it still looks raw, and yes, it will be fully cooked by dinner time.

Reduce heat to medium-low.  Add chicken broth, Zatarain’s Family Size Red Beans & Rice Dinner Mix, onion, celery, green pepper, and the remaining 2-3 teaspoons of your Cajun seasoning.

Helpful Tip: This is where you can customize your meal.  To control the spiciness, add more or less of the seasoning.  Because I didn’t really know how I like mine, I dumped the remainder that I hadn’t used to season my raw chicken breasts and hoped I would love it as much as I dreamed I would.

Also, if you love Cajun as much as I’m learning to, try my Cajun Chicken Caesar Salad!

I realize that the instructions for the Zatarain’s Red Beans & Rice Dinner Mix call for 4 1/2 cups of water, but the additional moisture from the chicken breasts will make this meal feel more like a gumbo if you use the 4 1/2 cups, which, honestly, would be another incredible meal! 

For this meal, however, stick with only 3 1/2 cups of chicken broth, to give the bed of rice that perfect, tender texture.

Stir to combine.

Return your browned chicken to the skillet, placing evenly spaced on top of the rice mixture.

Cover with a lid and simmer over that medium-low heat for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent rice and beans from sticking.

Just as I explained here, I checked my chicken with a thermometer to make sure they were fully cooked to 165 degrees Fahrenheit.  

While it cooked, I turned on The Princess and the Frog, inspired by the music, channeling my best Tiana while creating food for the masses, failing miserably at my accent. 

But they loved dinner, so I call it all a resounding success!

I know this meal isn’t authentic New Orleans flavor, but it’s pretty darn good. We love it, and I’ll keep making it over and over. I’m sure your family will love it too!

TRY SOME OF MY OTHER CHICKEN RECIPES

• Chicken Broccoli Divan
• Chicken Cordon Bleu
• Salsa Fresca Chicken: A 3-Step Meals
• Chicken, Broccoli, Bacon Fettuccine Alfredo
• Instant Pot Orange Chicken

~Steph