Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Stevie Stewart, Prop Styling by Gerri Williams
Slather Greek yogurt and your favorite chili crisp on chicken thighs, roast in a hot oven, and you’ll be rewarded with juicy, tender meat with a delightful orange-tinged exterior. But the best part of this sheet-pan dinner comes after the chicken is cooked: Spread cooked rice into the pan’s juices, then slide the baking sheet back into the oven. As the rice soaks up the deeply savory sauce, it will crisp in spots, creating a texture that’s somewhere between chewy-fluffy steamed grains and a freshly toasted pita chip. And when it comes to chili crisp, we love the iconic and easy-to-source Lao Gan Ma, but specialty brands like Fly By Jing are great too—just make sure the one you use is not too spicy, which will overpower the dish.
More great chicken and rice recipes this way: One-Pot Chicken Thighs With Cilantro Rice and Beans; Spiced Coconut Chicken Rice; Nana’s Chicken and Rice Stew.
Recipe information
Total Time
50 minutes
Yield
4 servings
Ingredients
6–8
skinless, boneless chicken thighs (1½–2 lb.)
1¼
tsp. Diamond Crystal or ¾ tsp. Morton kosher salt, divided, plus more
1
cup plain whole-milk Greek yogurt, divided
¼
cup plus 2 Tbsp. well-stirred chili crisp
3
cups cooked jasmine or short-grain rice
1
Tbsp. finely grated lime zest
¼
cup fresh lime juice
½
tsp. sugar
½
medium head of green cabbage (about 1 lb.), very thinly sliced
1
small red onion, thinly sliced
1
cup finely chopped cilantro
Need to make a substitution?
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat oven to 425°. Season 6–8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (1½–2 lb.) with 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt.
Step 2
Whisk together ¾ cup plain whole-milk Greek yogurt and ¼ cup plus 2 Tbsp. well-stirred chili crisp in a large bowl. Add chicken thighs and toss to coat.
Step 3
Arrange chicken on a rimmed baking sheet and top with any yogurt mixture left in bowl. Bake chicken until deeply browned and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of a thigh registers 165°, 25–30 minutes. Transfer chicken to a cutting board or plate.
Step 4
Spread 3 cups cooked jasmine or short-grain rice over baking sheet with chicken juices and bake until most of the juices have been absorbed and rice is starting to crisp in spots, 12–15 minutes.
Step 5
Meanwhile, whisk together 1 Tbsp. finely grated lime zest, ¼ cup fresh lime juice, ½ tsp. sugar, ¼ tsp. Diamond Crystal or Morton kosher salt, and remaining ¼ cup plain whole-milk Greek yogurt in a small bowl.
Step 6
Combine ½ medium head of green cabbage (about 1 lb.), very thinly sliced, and a big pinch of Diamond Crystal or Morton kosher salt in a large bowl. Using your hands, scrunch cabbage gently to soften. Add 1 small red onion, thinly sliced, 1 cup finely chopped cilantro, and yogurt dressing and toss to combine. Taste cabbage slaw and season with more salt if needed.
Step 7
Slice chicken as desired and serve with crisped rice and cabbage slaw.