This recipe for coconut chicken and rice with green beans is a busy midweek dinner saver! Creamy, aromatic and ready in no time!
For another delicious Indonesian recipe, take a look at my fried rice Nasi Goreng.
This recipe for Indonesian coconut chicken and rice almost didn’t make it onto the website. Don’t get me wrong, it absolutely belongs on your dinner table but it’s not exactly the most beautiful food I’ve posted here!
I pulled it out of the oven and my heart fell because it just looked so… well BROWN and beige. But it didn’t matter when we sat down to have a taste.
Behind that brown colour lied the most tantalising aroma and layers upon layers of flavour! To make a good thing even better, it is a comfort food without tons of fat or cheese!
Coconut chicken recipe
The idea behind this one pot dinner is to take Indonesian-inspired chicken curry and rice and simplify it for an everyday cook. It’s also been combined into one pot for convenience.
I’ve also added some green beans to make a complete one-panner. You can use any vegetables you like. Broccoli, cauliflower, snow peas will all be just as great!
I have used skinless and boneless chicken thighs as they don’t dry out as much as the breasts. You can definitely use breasts if it is your preference.
The best part of this meal though is rice as it gets infused with all the aromatic spices in the cooking process. It is also cooked in coconut milk, which gives the rice the most luscious texture and beautiful flavour.
Recipe tips and notes
- The timings in the recipe are based on the dish cooked at 350F/180C in a cast iron pan covered with a lid. Oven temperatures vary, so for more accurate results I recommend buying a small oven thermometer to ensure your temperature is always accurate! If your rice is not cooked all the way through at the end of cooking time, continue cooking for 10 more minutes.
- There are a lot of options for replacing the beans, including broccoli, asparagus and snow peas.
- I prefer chicken thighs for a recipe like this as they do not dry out as much as chicken breasts. Breasts can be used if you prefer.
- It might seem like there are many spices used in this recipe but the end result is well worth it! The rice is actually the tastiest part of this meal. Rich and creamy from the coconut milk and well flavoured from all the spices.
More Asian chicken recipes
- Chicken Katsu Curry (Air Fryer Recipe)
- Sticky Asian Chicken
- Chicken Yaki Udon
- Filipino Chicken Adobo
Indonesian Coconut Chicken and Rice with Green Beans
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp vegetable or coconut oil
- 6-8 skinless and boneless chicken thighs
- salt and pepper
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 tbsp ginger minced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tbsp cumin
- 3 cardamom pods slightly crushed (optional)
- 1 tsp chipotle paste or smoked paprika
- 1 ½ tsp fish sauce
- 270g/1 ½ cups rice I used basmati rice
- 1 ½ to 2 tsp salt
- 400ml/1 ¾ cup water
- 400ml/14 oz can coconut milk
- 200g/1 cup green beans cut in half
- 1 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro/coriander or spring/green onions for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F/180C.
- Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper. In a large pan heat the oil and brown the chicken thighs on high heat on each side until golden but not cooked all the way through, then remove to a plate.
- Lower the heat and add onion and ginger, cook for 5 minutes, then add garlic, cumin, slightly crushed cardamom pods and chipotle paste, cook while scraping the bottom of the pan and stirring the whole time for 1 minute.
- Add rice and cook while stirring for 1 minute, then add water, coconut milk, fish sauce and salt, stir to combine, turn up the heat and bring to a boil.
- Return the chicken to the pot, add the green beans, cover with a lid and put in the oven for 30 minutes or until the rice is done. By the end of the cooking time the liquid should be completely absorbed, producing light and fluffy rice. (If there is still remaining liquid after 30 minutes, cook for 10 minutes longer.
- Serve sprinkled with chopped cilantro/coriander and green onions
