Arroz Con Pollo
This Arroz Con Pollo Recipe from the 8×8 Cookbook is easy to make, and a great dish to serve for weeknight dinners.
I love meals where you make the main protein and side, all in one dish.
Not only does it make for easier preparation, but all the flavors give and take from each other.
The rice gets flavor from the bone-in chicken. And the chicken cooks in the same saffron tomato beer broth that the rice cooks in. It’s one big flavor party.
Serve this with a big salad or vegetable side dish and you’ll really have the whole meal covered.
This recipe is from my friend Kathy’s 8×8 cookbook, which is entirely full of dishes that are baked in a square pan, ready to serve from oven to table.
This recipe in particular starts out on the stove, but finishes baking in the oven, so there’s some hands off time where you can clean up or prepare something else like a side salad.
How to Make Arroz Con Pollo:
Start by prepping green bell pepper, onion, garlic, and cumin:
Heat a skillet over medium high heat, and brown chicken thighs on both sides:
When the chicken is sufficiently browned, you should be left with these brown bits on the bottom of the pan:
Add the vegetables directly to the pan, and cook the vegetables until they’re slightly softened. Then add a pinch of saffron (a little goes a long way):
Add short-grain rice to the veggies:
Toast the rice for a minute, then add it to an 8×8 pan. Pour a mixture of beer, chicken broth, tomato sauce, and water right on top of the rice:
Note: if you have a larger skillet that can accommodate all the chicken and broth, you could just keep it in there and cover that with foil or a lid. My skillet is a 10″ and isn’t quite deep enough, so I just transfer it, per the recipe.
Add the chicken back on top of the rice:
Cover with foil, and place the pan on a sheet pan. You don’t want juices to bubble over and make a mess in your oven:
Bake for 30 minutes, until the rice is done, and the chicken is 180F inside.
You can serve the baker right at the table, but I find it looks a little nicer to re-plate it. This gives you a chance to fluff the rice as well.
40 Clove Garlic Chicken, Chicken Cacciatore, and Chicken Pot Pie are a few more of my favorite hearty chicken dishes. Enjoy!

Arroz Con Pollo
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- 1.5 lbs chicken thighs and/or drumsticks I used bone-in, skin-on
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup chopped yellow onion
- 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 cup beer such as a pilsner
- 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 1/2 cup canned tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt
- Pinch saffron
- 1 cup short-grain rice
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 375°F.
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with the 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Brown the chicken on both sides, then transfer the chicken to a plate.
- Add the onion, bell pepper, garlic, and cumin to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring the beer, chicken broth, tomato sauce, salt, and 1 cup of water to a simmer.
- Stir a good pinch of saffron into the vegetable mixture and cook for another minute. Add the rice and stir until all of the rice is coated in oil. Transfer the rice mixture to an 8×8-inch glass or ceramic baking dish, spreading it in an even layer. Carefully pour the broth mixture over the rice. Arrange the chicken on top. Cover the dish tightly with foil.
- Bake, covered, for 30 minutes. Taste the rice for doneness, and check that the chicken is at least 180F inside—set the dish back in the oven for a few more minutes if necessary. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
Post updated in December 2019. Originally published October 2015.
8 Comments on “Arroz Con Pollo”
I have never made arroz con pollo with beer before, and apparently, that’s what was missing all along! It gave the dish a little je ne sais quoi. This is my new go-to recipe! After 30 minutes, my rice was still a bit crunchy, so another 10 minutes made it perfect. Thanks for yet another hit, Joanne!
Hi Jennifer, always nice to see you here 🙂 I’m glad you enjoyed this one and were able to adjust the cook time. Happy cooking!
The beer here was a nice touch!
Could you use brown rice?
Looks really good. Thanks so much.
This looks fantastic and I’m sending the link to my mom to make. Just kidding, I’ll try to make myself. I too am learning the power of beer in a dish, especially soups and stuff but I’m not too good at it yet, have lots of learning to do! Looks fantastic.
Oh my goodness, Joanne — this looks incredible! This is one of my favorite chicken recipes in the book. Thank you so much for supporting my project!