Tender, silky chicken thighs cooked over a bed of savory rice. This quick and easy one-pot Hainan chicken rice is ready in 25 minutes with simple ingredients. This popular Chinese dish is great as a meal on busy weeknights!
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What is Hainan Chicken Rice?
Hainan Chicken Rice is a delicious chicken dish known for it's clean taste and simple ingredients. It features tender chicken meat with savory rice and the best part is the chicken skin!
My easy one-pot version features chicken cooked over rice, which is simultaneously simmered in chicken broth, ginger, garlic, green onion and soy sauce. Cooking it in one-pot simplifies the process and makes for easy clean up!
My version also tastes close to the traditional cooking method, which usually takes a lot of preparation and time due to the lengthy process of boiling and chilling the chicken for that bouncy skin.
When I was a young girl, I remember watching my mother make it using the traditional method and thankfully I found a faster way to make this dish that yields a similar taste profile (sorry Mom!)
The chicken and rice is usually served as main dish at many Chinese restaurants with a couple sauces, like sweet chili sauce and a Chinese Green Onion Sauce. Sometimes, it comes with fresh cucumbers and tomatoes and other fresh vegetables.
This Chinese chicken dish is famous and originates from the Hainan province of China and has become popular in Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. It's a favourite among locals and certainly a favourite of mine.
Ingredients & Substitutes
Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.
- Boneless chicken thighs with skin on: or source bone-in skin-on chicken thighs and debone the chicken thighs yourself using a sharp paring knife gliding the knife around the bone until it comes out. Avoid using chicken breast as it'll be too dry.
- Jasmine rice: or substitute with a white long-grain rice. Avoid using brown rice or short-grain rice.
- Chicken broth: ideally low-sodium chicken stock. Avoid using vegetable or beef broth.
- Fresh garlic cloves
- Fresh ginger
- Green onions
- Neutral oil: like avocado oil, sunflower oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil or canola oil with a high smoke point. Avoid olive oil or any heavy scented oils with a low smoke point.
- Regular soy sauce: or substitute with low sodium soy sauce or light soy sauce. If you’re gluten-free, substitute with tamari sauce, coconut aminos or a gluten-free soy sauce.
- Salt: to clean the chicken skin to make it shiny and bouncy. This makes a big difference to the texture and a common technique used for Hainan chicken rice.
- Store-bought Sweet Chili Sauce: to serve with chicken and rice.
- Homemade Chinese Green Onion Sauce: to serve with chicken and rice.
Note: Most Asian grocery stores will carry most of the Asian specific ingredients or check Amazon.
Expert Tips
- Use fresh chicken thighs! I always do a smell test on the chicken before purchasing it. If there's a heavy odor, put it back and get a fresher one.
- Make sure to rub the chicken skin with salt to create a bouncy skin. The skin should feel very "clean" and smooth.
- Rinse rice a few times until the water runs clear before transferring it to your wok or pan. The excess starch causes for rice to become overly sticky.
- Do not submerge the chicken into the rice. Just lay it over top of the rice otherwise it can overcook.
- Do not constantly check the rice by lifting off the cover. The cover helps to cook and steam the rice properly. You can monitor the process after the 12 minute mark but it's best to keep the lid on to help evaporate the liquids.
Instructions
Below are step-by-step instructions on how to make one-pot hainan chicken rice:
- Rub 1.5 teaspoon of salt on the skin of your chicken thighs until they're shiny and smooth. Pat them dry with a paper towel. Set aside.
- Rinse jasmine rice with cold water a few times until water runs clear. Pour out the water. Transfer strained rice to a large non-stick wok or large pan.
- Add chicken broth, vegetable oil, soy sauce, chopped ginger, garlic cloves, and remaining salt to the rice. Mix well.
- Place the chicken skin-side down on top of the rice and broth mixture and do not submerge it. Then place the green onion over top. Cover with a lid.
- Bring the chicken and rice to boil on high heat. Once it comes to a boil, immediately reduce to low heat and cook for 12 minutes.
- After the 12 minute mark, shut off the heat (do not remove off the burner) and keep covered with a lid so the steam can evaporate the residual broth, about 3-5 minutes.
- Once there's no more liquids in the base of the pan, remove the green onion, ginger and garlic cloves.
- Remove and slice cooked chicken on a cutting board with a sharp knife. Serve with cooked rice, sweet chili sauce, green onion sauce and enjoy!
Storage
- Leftovers will last up to 4 days stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. To reheat, microwave for 2-3 minutes until hot or reheat in a pan on medium heat.
- Freezer-friendly? I don't recommend freezing Hainan chicken rice because the rice will turn hard even after reheating.
Pairing Suggestions
Hainan chicken rice serves well with:
- starters like egg rolls, crab rangoons, egg drop soup, hot and sour soup
- fried rice, chow mein, lo mein, soup noodles
- cooked vegetables like bok choy, spicy garlic bok choy, choy sum, gai lan, garlic green beans or stir fried snow pea leaves.
- protein dishes like Soy Sauce Chicken, Oven-Roasted Char Siu or Air Fryer Char Siu, or Chinese Roasted Pork Belly.
FAQ
This can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. To enjoy, reheat it in the microwave for 2-3 minutes or in a non-stick pan on medium heat on the stovetop.
Yes, feel free to substitute with pork shoulder. But I don't recommend substituting with other types of protein for this recipe.
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📖 Recipe
Quick & Easy One-Pot Hainan Chicken Rice
Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless chicken thighs skin on
- 1 cup uncooked jasmine rice
- 1.5 cups chicken broth low sodium
- 2 cloves garlic peeled
- 2 inches ginger peeled & thinly sliced
- 1 green onion chopped in half
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or any neutral oil
- 2 teaspoon regular soy sauce
- 2 teaspoon salt
Optional Serving Sauces:
- sweet chili sauce as needed
- green onion sauce as needed
Instructions
- Rub 1.5 teaspoon of salt on the skin of your chicken thighs until they're shiny and smooth. Pat them dry with a paper towel. Set aside.
- Rinse jasmine rice with cold water a few times until water runs clear. Pour out the water. Transfer strained rice to a large non-stick wok or large pan.
- Add chicken broth, vegetable oil, soy sauce, chopped ginger, garlic cloves, and remaining salt to the rice. Mix well.
- Place the chicken skin-side down on top of the rice and broth mixture and do not submerge it. Then place the green onion over top. Cover with a lid.
- Bring the chicken and rice to boil on high heat. Once it comes to a boil, immediately reduce to low heat and cook for 12 minutes.
- After the 12 minute mark, shut off the heat (do not remove off the burner) and keep covered with a lid so the steam can evaporate the residual broth, about 3-5 minutes.
- Once there's no more liquids in the base of the pan, remove the green onion, ginger and garlic cloves.
- Remove and slice cooked chicken on a cutting board with a sharp knife. Serve with cooked rice, sweet chili sauce, green onion sauce and enjoy!
Jean
My rice ended up with too much water, but the flavor is good. I would suggest decreasing the chicken broth, because the onion leeks and the chicken tend to express some fluid when cooked.
Christie Lai
Thanks so much for sharing your experience here so others can take note! Appreciate you making my recipe and hopefully next time, the rice will turn out better for you!
Kim
So simple and yummy! A lot of other recipes call for 20+ ingredients. Thanks for sharing 🙂
christieathome
Thank you so much for your kind review and for making my recipe, Kim! So glad you enjoyed my recipe!
Sandy
Can we make this in an instant pot on rice mode?
christieathome
Hi there, I haven't personally tried that for myself so I can't confirm that. But feel free to try and let me know the results 🙂
Patty
Thanks for sharing this simple recipe. It’s now part of my weekly rotation. I only got confused when you said to remove the ginger when in you list of ingredients you started to peel and chop it. I actually like the chopped ginger in the rice. You got THUMBS UP from my family!!!
christieathome
Thanks so much Patty for making my recipe! So glad you enjoy it on a weekly rotation! Yes feel free to keep the aromatics in your rice. Glad the whole family enjoys it!
Sandy
Just made this for my boyfriend and I and we both loved it! Very flavorful. I am a vegetarian, so I just ate the rice while my boyfriend enjoyed the juicy chicken and the rice, but I am not complaining at all! It was delicious.
christieathome
Thank you so much for making m recipe Sandy! I am so glad to hear that you enjoyed it with your boyfriend.
Linda
Totally delicious! So easy to make and tastes very similar to authentic version.
Molly
This hainan chicken rice was really yummy! So quick and easy to make. Thanks for sharing!
VL
This was so delicious! Quick and easy to make and super flavourful. Thanks for the recipe!