This curry chicken rice bake is delicious, comforting, and easy! Curry seasonings coat tender boneless chicken thighs that bake on top of a bed of rice and vegetables that have been cooked in coconut milk. All baked it one pan, this meal means easy prep, easy cooking, and easy clean-up! You're going to love this oven-to-table meal that is perfect any night of the week!

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Ingredients
Instructions
Serving Suggestions
Variations and Substitutions
Other Recipes You Might Like
Recipe
Comments and Reviews

Ingredients

Boneless skin-on chicken thighs
Long-grain rice
Cauliflower and broccoli
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Salt
Black pepper
Paprika

Chicken broth
Coconut milk
Fish sauce
Garlic
Ginger
Butter

Instructions

Preheat oven 350F/180C. Combine chicken broth, coconut milk, and fish sauce in a large measuring cup and mix. Set aside.

Preparing the rice and vegetables layer

Minced yellow garlic and ginger in a square metal grey pan.

In an 8x8 baking dish, add the oil, ginger, and garlic. Stir together and bake for 3 minutes.

Uncooked rice in a square metal grey pan.

Add the rice to the pan and mix with the ginger-garlic-oil. Spread the rice in the pan and level it out.

White liquid being poured into a square metal gray baking pan containing raw broccoli and cauliflower and uncooked rice.

Layer the cauliflower and broccoli on top of the rice in a single layer. Pour the coconut milk mixture over the rice and broccoli. Cover pan with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

A square metal gray baking pan containing white rice, cauliflower, broccoli in a white liquid.

Once rice and cauliflower have baked for 30 minutes, remove from the oven and discard the foil. Increase oven temperature to 400F/200C.

Seasoning the Chicken

A hand sprinkling brown spices on raw pieces of chicken.

While the rice and vegetables are baking: In a small bowl, mix together the curry powder, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, paprika, and black pepper. Sprinkle half the seasoning on the underside of the chicken thighs. Set the remaining seasoning aside to sprinkle on the chicken after it is in the pan.

A hand sprinkling brown spices over chicken in a square baking pan.

Arrange the chicken thighs, seasoned side down, on top of the parbaked vegetables and rice. Sprinkle the rest of the dry seasonings on top of the chicken and the rice.

Four uncooked pieces of chicken sprinkled with brown spices sitting on top of a bed of rice and vegetables in a square metal gray pan.

Return to oven and bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Let the chicken rice bake rest 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with chopped scallions, sliced almonds, sesame seeds, if desired.

Pro Tip: If you want the rice along the edge of the pan to get nice and crisp, you can increase the temperature to 425F/220C for the last 10-15 minutes of baking time.

Serving Suggestions

Close-up of a baked piece of chicken on broccoli and rice, topped with chopped green onion.

The curry chicken rice bake is a meal all in itself and needs nothing else! That being said, if you want to add a side that is refreshing and tangy, I suggest Cold Spicy Cucumber Bites as a tasty option. Chunky Daikon and Cucumber or Pickled Daikon and Carrots would also be nice!

You could also make a side salad and drizzle Sweet and Tangy Balsamic Vinaigrette, Orange Poppyseed Dressing, or Orange Honey Mustard Dressing on top, or make a simple Korean Lettuce Salad.

Variations and Substitutions

A white round dish containing a piece of cooked chicken coated with spices, white rice, broccoli, and cucumber slices.

Rice: I use long-grain jasmine rice for this recipe. You can use basmati, but it will be less moist than if you use other long-grain rice varieties. You can also use brown rice, but I would soak it overnight before using it.

Coconut milk: Omit the coconut milk and use all chicken broth or a different ratio of chicken broth to coconut milk, as long as you have 3 cups total for the recipe.

Chicken: Use skinless chicken thighs instead of skin-on, or chicken breasts, if preferred.

For bone-in chicken pieces: Season the underside of the chicken as per instructions and place the chicken in the baking dish with the uncooked rice and raw vegetables at the start of baking. Sprinkle the rest of the seasonings over the chicken and cover the baking dish with foil. Follow the remaining instructions as stated, removing the foil after 30 minutes of baking, increasing the oven temperature to 400F/200C, and roasting for another 30 minutes.

Vegetables: Substitute the broccoli and cauliflower with other vegetables like bell peppers, carrots, green beans,

Crispy edges: If you want the rice along the edge of the pan to get nice and crisp, you can increase the temperature to 425F/220C for the last 10-15 minutes of baking time.