This Spanish rice with chicken and sausage is a stick-to-your-ribs kind of dinner. It’s not fancy but it’s filling and delicious!
In this recipe, chicken thighs and andouille sausage are cooked with onions, lots of garlic and a combination of spices. The rice is cooked in the same pot, we even add a beer, arroz con pollo-style, to steam the rice.
In the end you get a flavorful chicken and rice dish that the family will really enjoy.
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To make this Spanish rice with chicken and sausage you will need
1½ pounds Chicken Thighs, boneless, skinless
2 teaspoons Salt, divided
½ teaspoons Dried Oregano
½ teaspoon Paprika
¼ teaspoon Turmeric
¼ teaspoon Cumin
¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
8 ounces Andouille Sausage, sliced into bite sized pieces, or use another fully-cooked smoked sausage variety if you don’t like spicy
1 Medium Onion, finely diced
3-4 Garlic Cloves, minced
2 tablespoons Tomato Paste
¼ cup White Wine
2 cups Long Grain White Rice
2 cups Chicken Broth
2 cups Water
1 Bay Leaf
12 ounces Light Beer, room temperature
Chopped Parsley, for garnish
Prep Work
The prep work on this dish is super easy, but things do move quickly in the beginning so have everything ready to go before you start.
I like to use glass nesting bowls to organize all the ingredients. This keeps me organized and really takes the stress out of cooking.
Remove any excess fat from the chicken. Chicken thighs especially are sold with a lot of fat on the underside. Then, season them with 1 teaspoon of salt.
Next, make the seasoning mix. Add the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt, dried oregano, paprika, turmeric, cumin and black pepper to a small bowl. Stir well to combine.
Lastly, cut the sausage into bite sized rounds, dice the onions, mince the garlic and measure out the rest of the ingredients.
Brown the chicken thighs
Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy pot over medium heat. We used a large, enameled Dutch oven.
When the oil is hot, but not smoking, add the chicken thighs. Cook the chicken for 2-3 minutes. Then turn each piece and cook for another 2-3 minutes to brown on both sides.
While the chicken thighs brown, it’s possible they’ll start to break apart. Then, with the cooking time and stirring they may break apart some more.
That’s perfectly fine, that way there will be chicken pieces throughout the rice. So good!
Let’s add some flavor
Add the sausage and onions to the pot and cook them for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Next, add the garlic and cook 1-2 minutes, stirring almost constantly.
Add the tomato paste and the prepared seasoning mix to the pot and stir well to combine.
Now, deglaze the pot with the white wine. Stir the chicken and sausage while gently scraping any bits off the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. Continue cooking for 1 minute, or until most of the wine evaporates.
Time for the rice
Add the rice, chicken broth, water, and the bay leaf to the pot and stir well to combine.
Raise the heat to high and bring the liquid to a boil. Then lower heat to medium and simmer for about 8-10 minutes.
We want most of the liquid to cook out. The rice should be seen on the surface and when you stir, it does not sink to the bottom.
During this process, stir the occasionally to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Once the liquid has cooked out, lower the heat to low, cover the pot and cook for 15 minutes. Give the rice one good stir halfway through the cooking time.
Finish the Spanish rice with chicken and sausage
Taste a little bit of the rice. If it needs a salt, this is the time to add it. Our rice needed a couple of pinches of salt.
Now, raise the heat to medium-low and slowly add the beer while stirring.
Cover the pot and cook the chicken, sausage and rice for another 20 minutes. Give everything a good stir halfway through the cooking time.
Check the rice, if it’s not done, lower the heat to low and let it steam another 10 minutes and check it again.
Serve and garnish with a little chopped parsley.
Need more chicken recipe ideas? Here are a few to check out:
- Fried chicken thighs
- Chicken fricassee
- Chicken Francaise
- Chicken and mushrooms
- Spicy baked chicken
- Braised chicken thighs
Spanish Rice with Chicken and Sausage Recipe
Ingredients
- 1½ pounds Chicken Thighs boneless and skinless
- 2 teaspoons Salt divided
- ½ teaspoon Dried Oregano
- ½ teaspoon Paprika
- ¼ teaspoon Turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon Cumin
- ¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
- 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 8 ounces Andouille Sausage (or other fully-cooked smoked sausage) sliced into bite sized pieces
- 1 Medium Onion finely diced
- 3-4 Garlic Cloves minced
- 2 tablespoons Tomato Paste
- ¼ cup White Wine
- 2 cups Long Grain White Rice
- 2 cups Chicken Broth
- 2 cups Water
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 12 ounces Light Beer room temperature
- Chopped Parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Season the chicken with 1 teaspoon of salt.
- Add the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt, oregano, paprika, turmeric, cumin and black pepper to a small bowl. Stir to combine.
- Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy pot over medium heat. When the oil is hot, but not smoking, add the chicken.
- Cook the chicken for 2-3 minutes. Then turn each piece and cook for another 2-3
minutes to brown on both sides. - Next, add the sausage and onions. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the garlic and cook 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the tomato paste and the prepared seasoning mix to the pot, stir well to combine.
- Next, add the white wine and stir, scraping any bits off the bottom of the pan. Cook for 1 minute or until most of the liquid evaporates.
- Add the rice, chicken broth, water, and the bay leaf to the pot. Stir well to combine. Raise the heat to high, bring the liquid to a boil, lower heat to medium and simmer for about 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- We want most of the liquid to cook out. The rice should be seen on the surface and when you stir, it does not sink to the bottom. Lower the heat to low, cover and cook approximately 15 minutes. Give the rice one good stir halfway through the cooking time.
- Taste a little bit of the rice. Add salt, if needed. As a reference, we added a couple of pinches of salt to ours.
- Raise the heat to medium-low and slowly add the beer, while stirring..
- Cover the and cook for 20 minutes. Stir about halfway through the cooking time. Taste the rice, if it’s still not done, lower the heat to low, stir and let it steam another 15 minutes or until done.
- Garnish the Spanish rice with parsley and serve.