Arroz Con Pollo (Rice with Chicken)

Arroz Con Pollo or as we like to call it in my house, baked chicken with rice or baked rice with chicken.

Regardless of what you call it, you must make this dish. 

The key to this dish is browning the chicken.

Grant it, I did brown the chicken in bacon grease with a little olive oil.

You don't have to use the bacon grease, just use all olive oil if you prefer. 

Just make sure you don't skip this step, and do this in batches so you want steam the chicken, we want to brown it.

Next, remove the chicken and set aside. Add the veggies to the pan greases and saute.

The next important step is slightly toasting the rice in the pan greases as well, this is all about building layers of flavor!

Transfer mixture to a greased casserole dish, top with chicken and red bell pepper, cover, and bake for about an hour.

I had to transfer the mixture because my pan was too small, otherwise this is a one pot dish!

After 1 hour it's time to eat people, garnish with a little parsley and the crispy bacon and enjoy!

Arroz Con Pollo (Rice with Chicken)

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken, cut up into pieces
4 slices bacon, diced
1 onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 tomatoes, seeded, diced
1 jalapeno, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
3 cups chicken broth
2 cups long grain rice
1 tablespoon creole seasoning
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
1/2 tablespoon paprika
1/2 tablespoon oregano, dried, crushed
Italian parsley to garnish
extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix seasoning blend and set aside. 

Rinse chicken well under cold water, pat dry, place in large bowl. Coat chicken with olive oil and sprinkle half the seasonings on chicken and rub well.

In a large pan add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and bacon over medium heat, cook until back is crispy. Remove bacon and set aside. 

Add chicken in batches to oil and brown about 4 minutes per side, until slightly golden. Remove chicken and repeat until all chicken is browned.

Add onion, green bell pepper, jalapeno, and tomato to pan, season with 1 teaspoon of seasoning blend and cook about 5 minutes. Add rice, garlic and remaining seasons and cook about 3 minutes.

Pour chicken broth to pan, scrap up any pan bits. Transfer mixture to a greased 13X9 inch casserole dish.

Top with chicken and diced red bell peppers.

Cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes, remove foil and bake 15 minutes more.

Garnish with Italian parsley and bacon.