One-Pan Chicken and Rice Skillet is made with tender rotisserie chicken, fresh broccoli, creamy Gruyère cheese, and flavorful chicken stock. It's everything I love about comfort food without feeling heavy: simple, satisfying, and full of flavor.
Finished in a single skillet, this recipe is perfect for busy weeknights yet elegant enough to serve when friends stop by for dinner.
One of the biggest surprises during recipe testing wasn't just how creamy the finished dish became. It was how well the rotisserie chicken worked. Because it's gently warmed at the very end rather than cooked twice, it stays remarkably tender while blending beautifully with the creamy rice and cheese.
Quick Look at the Recipe
- Ready In: About 35 minutes
- Serves: 2 to 4
- Difficulty: Easy
- Flavor: Creamy, comforting, and subtly rich with Gruyère
- Perfect For: Weeknight dinners, small households, and using leftover rotisserie chicken
- Leftover Friendly: Yes - reheats beautifully with a splash of chicken stock or milk
Jump to:
You'll Love This Recipe Because
- One-Pan Convenience: Everything cooks in one pan for easy cleanup.
- Tender Chicken: Unlike recipes that use fresh chicken that can sometimes be tough, this recipe uses rotisserie chicken that is consistently tender.
- Understated Elegance: Gruyère adds an elegant, nutty flavor without overpowering the dish.
- Fresh Broccoli: Adds color, texture, and freshness.
- Small-Batch: Perfectly sized for two with delicious leftovers.
Ingredients - Here's What You'll Need
How to Make One-Pan Chicken and Rice Skillet
- Sauté the aromatics: Heat butter and olive oil in a small Le Creuset braiser or skillet with a lid over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Then, add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Finally, stir in the Dijon mustard and cook for another 30 seconds.
- Toast the rice: Add rinsed and well-drained rice to the braiser. Cook, stirring frequently for 2 to 3 minutes, until the grains look slightly translucent around the edges.
- Cook the rice: Stir in the chicken stock, Kosher salt, black pepper, and thyme. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil. Then reduce the heat to low, cover the pan, and cook the rice for 12 minutes.
- Steam the broccoli: Uncover the pan and scatter the broccoli evenly over the rice. Do not stir. Cover again and cook for 5 to 6 minutes, or until the broccoli is crisp-tender.
- Finish the skillet: Uncover the pan and gently fold in the rotisserie chicken. Then stir in the heavy cream. Cook for about a minute, just until the chicken is heated through. Stir in about half of the Gruyère until it's nicely melted. Sprinkle the remaining Gruyère over the top, and cover for about a minute to let the cheese soften.
If desired, sprinkle with minced chives or parsley, and serve with mini focaccia loaves.
PudgeFactor's Test Kitchen Tips
- One of the biggest discoveries while developing this recipe was how well rotisserie chicken performs in creamy skillet meals. Because the chicken is already cooked, it's added during the final minutes simply to warm through. The result is exceptionally tender chicken that blends naturally into the finished dish. In addition, the chicken doesn't have that leftover taste.
- For the best texture, I always grate my own Gruyère instead of using pre-shredded cheese. Pre-shredded cheese contains an anti-caking coating that can interfere with its melting.
- When I purchase rotisserie chicken, I often make a rich chicken stock from the scraps - zero waste! For this, I add the scraps to my Instant Pot along with a quartered onion, two stalks of celery, a medium-to-large peeled carrot, and a cup of water. I program the Instant Pot to high pressure for 60 minutes. The result is a luxurious chicken broth that gels as it cools.
- If using homemade chicken stock, don't be surprised if the leftovers thicken as they cool. That's the natural gelatin in the stock doing its job.
In Case You're Wondering
Yes. However, with my repeated experiments, I find that rotisserie chicken remains especially tender because it only needs to be gently warmed before serving. In fact, I often equate its tenderness to that of Chick-fil-A's chicken - in terms of tenderness, not taste.
Yes. However, the flavor will be different. I find that Gruyère adds a more delicate richness, while Cheddar creates a sharper, more traditional casserole-style flavor.
Yes. However, you'll likely find that it becomes somewhat drier. Therefore, you need to add some additional broth or cream when reheating the dish.
Leftovers are delicious. Cover and refrigerate for up to three days. Freshen the dish with a tablespoon or two of chicken broth and reheat gently in the microwave or on the stovetop.
Final Thoughts
Sometimes the simplest recipes teach us the most. During testing, I discovered that gently warming rotisserie chicken in the finished dish creates incredibly tender bites while allowing the flavors of the homemade stock, fresh broccoli, creamy rice, and Gruyère to really shine.
One-Pot Chicken and Rice Skillet with Broccoli and Gruyère is one of those recipes that's comforting enough for a weeknight but refined enough to feel just a little special. Best of all, it comes together in a single pan, making it the kind of meal you'll find yourself returning to again and again. Yum!
Other One-Pan Meals
One-pan meals are easy to put together and quite versatile. Here are some of our favorites.
- One-Pot Chicken Parmesan Pasta
- Quick and Easy One-Pot Macaroni and Cheese
- Easy One-Pan Tuscan Chicken Thighs with Orzo
- One-Pot Chicken Broccoli Alfredo Pasta
- Quick and Easy One Pan Cheesy Skillet Lasagna
- Quick and Easy One-Pot Cheesy Buffalo Chicken Pasta
- Creamy One-Pot Tuscan Italian Sausage Pasta
- One-Pot Chicken Fajita Pasta - Where Tex-Mex Meets Italian
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One-Pan Chicken and Rice Skillet with Broccoli and Gruyère: Small-Batch
Equipment
- Small Le Creuset Braiser or skillet with lid
- Silicone or wooden spoon
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon (0.5 ounces, 14 grams) unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon (0.5 ounces, 15 ml) olive oil
- ½ cup (2.65 ounces, 75 g) Diced onion (About ½ medium)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon (0.18 ounces, 5 grams) Dijon mustard
- ¾ cup (5.3 ounces, 150 grams) long-grain white rice, rinsed and well drained
- 2 cups (16 ounces, 474 ml) Homemade rotisserie chicken stock (See Tips 1 and 2)
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt, or to taste (See Tip 3)
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 cups (5.3 ounces, 150 grams) Fresh broccoli florets, cut into ¾- to 1-inch pieces (about 1 medium to large crown)
- 1 ½ cups (6 ounces, 170 grams) Rotisserie chicken, torn into bite-size pieces (See Tip 4)
- ¼ cup (2 ounces, 60 ml) heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon (0.18 ounces, 5 ml) lemon juice
- ¾ cup (3 ounces, 85 grams) Gruyère cheese, freshly shredded
Instructions
- Heat the butter and olive oil in a small Le Creuset braiser or skillet with a lid over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Stir in the Dijon mustard and cook another 20 to 30 seconds.
- Add the rinsed, well-drained rice. Cook, stirring frequently, for 2 to 3 minutes, until the grains look slightly translucent around the edges.
- Stir in the chicken stock, salt, pepper, and thyme. Bring to a gentle boil; reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for 12 minutes.
- Scatter the broccoli evenly over the rice. Do not stir. Cover again and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, until the broccoli is crisp-tender.
- Gently fold in the rotisserie chicken. Stir in the cream and lemon juice. Cook for 1 minute, just until the chicken is heated through. Stir in half of the Gruyère until melted. (See Tip 5)
- Sprinkle the remaining Gruyère over the top. Cover for 1 minute to let the cheese soften.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning. If desired, garnish with minced chives or chopped fresh parsley.
- Yield: 4 servings. (See Tip 6)
Video
Tips/Notes
- When I purchase a rotisserie chicken, I generally make chicken broth from the scraps. To do this, add the scraps, a quartered medium onion, 2 stalks of celery, a medium to large carrot that has been peeled, and 4 cups of water to an Instant Pot. Do not add any salt, pepper, or other seasonings. Program on high for 60 minutes. De-grease and store in the refrigerator. I generally get about 5 cups of broth.
- If you don't have homemade broth, feel free to use store-bought chicken broth.
- If using store-bought chicken broth, you will likely need to reduce the amount of added salt.
- I used 4 ounces of white meat and 2 ounces of dark meat in this recipe. However, feel free to adjust the proportions to match what you have on hand and your preferences.
- If the rice seems a little firm or dry, add 2 to 4 tablespoons of hot stock, cover, and cook another minute or two.
- Store leftovers, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat gently in the microwave or on the stovetop. If necessary, freshen with a tablespoon or two of chicken broth or cream.
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