A while back I discovered Jamie Oliver’s chicken baked in milk, and my entire world as it related to chicken was rocked forevermore. The tenderness! The flavor! The gorgeous, delicate sauce!
I couldn’t believe it/stop talking about/stop dreaming about it. The only teeny tiny issue was that it takes a couple of hours to prep and make, which is totally doable on a lazy Sunday afternoon, but not so much on a busy weeknight.
And so I started scheming about how to get some of the baked chicken wonderfulness, but in a quicker, weekday-friendly way. Please meet milky chicken and rice, your new weeknight chicken best friend.
The original baked chicken recipe calls for a whole chicken, and the key to this one is that you are using boneless chicken breasts, and you are simmering it on the stovetop instead of baking it in the oven.
It still calls for the lemon that makes the Jamie Oliver version so wonderful, but it adds a little sour cream to the mix to help thicken up the milk gravy just a tad.
And since I was going for weeknight simplicity, I decided to add in some veggies while I was at it, in the form of chopped carrots and a shallot. They all simmer up together in milk until the chicken and veggies are tender.
Once everything is cooked, the chicken gets scooped out and shredded into bite sized pieces – shred it rather than cutting it, so that you have nice ragged edges to catch the sauce.
And speaking of the sauce, it gets made by whisking a little sour cream and mustard into the milk to give it a little extra flavor and substance. A little cooked rice stirred into the mix and there you have it!
More tips for making Milky Chicken and Rice!
I wish I could say yes…but nope. You need the whole milk to pull off the rich silky taste.
Yep! Just make sure they are boneless.
It can…but make sure you reheat it over low heat so the sauce doesn’t break. (And if the sauce breaks, it’s still going to taste FINE!
I happened to have some fresh rosemary hanging around, so I used it as a garnish and it added a wonderful aroma to the whole thing.
The whole thing took about 30 minutes, and was a nice speedy alternative to the glorious baked chicken.
So the next time you gave a hankering for chicken comfort food extraordinaire but want it NOW, grab your carton of milk and give this a try!
OTHER CHICKEN AND RICE RECIPES WE LOVE!
Milky Chicken and Rice
This recipe for milky chicken and rice also features sweet carrots and a gentle sour cream sauce for the perfect comfort food supper.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless and skinless chicken breasts
- 2 cups peeled and sliced carrots
- 1 shallot, peeled and chopped
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 cup sour cream at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons mustard
- 2 cups cooked rice
- Zest from one lemon
Instructions
- Place chicken, carrots and shallot in a heavy deep skillet. Pour milk over the chicken. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cover and cook until the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are crisp tender, about 15 minutes.
- Place a strainer over a bowl and pour the chicken and veggies out into the strainer, keeping the milk in the bowl.
- Shred the chicken into bite sized pieces. Add back with the veggies.
- Whisk the sour cream and mustard into the milk. Stir in the lemon zest and the rice, then add in the chicken and the veggies. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed and serve it up!
Equipment We Used to Make This Recipe
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Need to add something to your kitchen equipment to make this recipe? Below are some of the items we used in the Framed Cooks kitchen to help cook this up. These are affiliate links to things we use and love, which helps to pay for all that bacon I keep buying (without any extra cost to you)! Thanks for using them to keep our kitchen cooking…xoxo!
Updated (and made even more delicious!) from a previously published Framed Cooks post!
Martha in KS says
This chicken & rice looks yummy. I’m wondering what type of mustard you used in the sauce. I’m not a fan of yellow mustard, but have dijon, whole grain & honey mustard in the refrigerator. Which one should I use? Also, I’ve been buying oat milk for my cereal due to stomach issues but have evaporated milk on hand. Do you think that will work – diluting it 1 part water to 1 part milk? Thanks
Hi Martha! I usually use Dijon mustard in the sauce, but whole grain would also be wonderful. And yes, I think the evaporated milk/water combo should work just fine. My little sister uses oat milk in her coffee and she loves it, but I’m not sure it would work for this recipe. Hope you love it as much as we do, and that you and your tummy feel much better soon!