Rice, lightly spiced chicken, sweet sauteed onion, creamy queso and
zesty hot sauce are mixed together to form something both insanely
easy and surprisingly tasty. It’ll be your new weeknight favorite.
inspiration
I’ve seen arroz con pollo on every Tex-Mex restaurant menu but somehow I never tried it until recently. I became obsessed with a place near my apartment and I’m slowly working my way through every dish on the menu, which is how I finally tried this particular classic. (I’d say I don’t know how I never tried this, but the truth is I always passed it over for my favorite dish, chile rellenos.) To say I’ve been missing out is an understatement.
There are two versions of arroz con pollo: the Mexican version and the Tex-Mex version. We’re talking about the latter today. It’s a combination of red rice, chicken, and white queso all mixed together into a homely-but-tasty dinner. Different versions have different twists—the one from my obsession place has strips of roasted poblano pepper—but my version has sweet onions and hot sauce for an extra kick of flavor.
why i love this recipe
Whole foods and meals made from scratch are awesome, but they’re not always realistic. It’s important that we have easy shortcut recipes in our back pockets. This one has made it into my regular rotation: red rice, lightly spiced chicken, sweet sauteed onion, creamy queso and zesty hot sauce are mixed to form something both insanely easy and surprisingly satisfying. It’ll be your new weeknight favorite.
While you can make every ingredient from scratch if you want a project, I’ve opted for a version that is full of time-saving shortcuts that’s still satisfying. Most of the ingredients are already cooked—chicken, queso, hot sauce, tortillas. All you have to do is sauté an onion and heat up the chicken with some spices. And there are even more opportunities for shortcuts. Don’t want to chop an onion? Buy a tub of already-chopped onion. Hate cooking rice? Same. You can use the microwave packets from the store. This recipe can be as easy as you want it to be and it will still taste good, and therein lies the beauty of it.
It takes half an hour at most. There is basically zero room for messing it up. It keeps well and makes great leftovers. It also freezes beautifully—I usually make a double batch and freeze half of it for later.
Fried tortillas for serving are optional, but I highly recommend them. Something about using the warm tortillas to scoop up the creamy rice, chicken and cheese mixture is unmatched when it comes to easy winter meals.
details
First things first is to get your rice started if you’re using the boxed stuff. Just cook it according to the directions and you’re golden. If you’re using the microwave packets, hold off on that until the last minute so it’s nice and hot. While the water is boiling for rice, peel and slice the sweet onion into round and then cut those in half to make half-moons. How thick or thin is up to you, but keep in mind that the thicker they are, the longer they take to cook. Rotisserie chicken makes this super easy—just shred or cut it into bite-sized pieces and call it good.
Sauté the onion until it’s soft and brown and sweet. You might need to add some extra oil if the pan gets dry. Next you’ll add chicken and mild taco seasoning with the same pan. I usually remove the onion first, though, because I don’t want the flavor of it to be muddled by the seasoning.
Then, once the rice is done, you add the chicken and onions and (gently!) stir it all together. This is when I’d make the tortillas, if you choose to. Wipe out the onion and chicken pan with a paper towel, add more oil, and then fry the tortillas on medium heat on both sides.
I like to let people add queso and hot sauce themselves—everyone has different tastes and heat tolerances. Personally, I like a lot of both—I want my arroz con pollo to be creamy and spicy but some people prefer it milder and drier. It’s important to heat up the queso before you serve it or will be a block and won’t mix well.
notes
sweet onion: Sweet is absolutely best here. If you must use a different one, go for yellow or white.
mild taco seasoning: it may come as a surprise, but I tried mild and original and liked mild the best. It just adds some flavor while not drowning any of the other flavors out.
queso blanco: I haven’t tried this with regular orange queso, so I don’t know how it would turn out. I strongly recommend white queso, and preferably from the refrigerated section rather than the shelf-stable stuff, though that works, too. Don’t use anything that doesn’t have “queso” in the name. Cheese dip? No. Queso cheese dip? Yes.
hot sauce: I like Cholula for Mexican-ish food!
tortillas: Flour and corn are both good, so use whatever you like best. Keep in mind that corn tortillas do not fry in oil like flour tortillas do, so if you use them, simply warm them up. I like to use street taco sized tortillas.
I hope you love arroz con pollo! Don’t forget to leave a review! If you’re looking for more easy weeknight dinners, try vegetable night, bean & cheese burrito bowls, or a simple, perfect baked potato.
weeknight arroz con pollo
Ingredients
- 1 package Riceroni Mexican rice or Spanish rice
- 1 sweet onion
- 2 cups rotisserie chicken
- ½ tbsp mild taco seasoning
- queso blanco for serving
- hot sauce for serving
- tortillas for serving
Instructions
- Prep: Get the rice started according to the directions on the box. Peel and slice the sweet onion into rounds, then cut those in half to make half-moons. If the rotisserie chicken is not already chopped into bite-sized pieces, do that now.
- Cook: While the rice is cooking, heat a tablespoon of oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and browning in some places, about 10 minutes. Remove onions and set aside. Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan and add the chicken and taco seasoning, tossing to combine. Cook, stirring frequently, until chicken is warmed through, about 5-7 minutes.
- (Optional) Fry tortillas. Wipe out the onion and chicken pan with a paper towel (be careful not to burn yourself). Add a drizzle of olive oil and tilt the pan so it covers the bottom. Working one at a time, fry the tortillas on medium heat until golden-brown and bubbly on one side, then flip and do the same on the other side. This does not take very long at all—less than a minute per tortilla. Set tortillas on a paper-towel lined plate to drain.
- Assemble: Combine cooked rice, chicken, and onions. Toss gently to combine. Divide between plates and let each person top with queso blanco and hot sauce to taste. Serve with tortillas.