One-Pan Harissa Chicken & Rice

The key to creating deeply delicious one-pan meals is building layers of flavor. While it might be tempting to throw everything in at once, taking a few extra minutes to add ingredients in stages gives you so much more depth – it’s the difference between a good meal and a great one. Here, you season chicken with harissa and warm spices, then give it a quick sear. This creates a flavorful fond to cook the onion and garlic, which in turn forms a rich, savory base for toasting the rice. The latter then soaks up the saffron and broth, cooking alongside the spiced chicken. Finish with a spoonful of lemony yogurt to cool everything down and you’ve got a deeply satisfying one-pan dinner.

Dinner Time: Deeply Delicious Meals in 15, 30, 45 and 60 minutes Zena Kamgaing

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

• ¼ tsp saffron threads

• 1 tbsp hot water

• 1½ lbs boneless chicken thighs (skin on or off)

• 2 tbsp harissa paste

• 1 tsp ground cumin

• 1 tsp ground coriander

• 1¾ cups basmati rice

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

• 1 onion, thinly sliced

• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

• 2 cups chicken broth

To serve

• 7 tbsp whole milk plain yogurt

• ½ lemon, juiced

• 1 small handful of fresh Italian parsley, leaves and tender stems roughly chopped

DIRECTIONS

1. Grind the saffron to a powder using a pestle and mortar, then add the hot water and set aside for 5 minutes to steep.

2. In a large bowl, combine the chicken thighs with the harissa paste, ground cumin and ground coriander. Season with salt and pepper and toss well to coat, then leave the thighs to marinate while you rinse the rice until the water runs clear. Set the rice aside to drain.

3. Heat the oil in a large sauté pan or Dutch oven over a medium–high heat. Sear the chicken in batches for 2–3 minutes per side, or until lightly browned (being careful not to let the harissa burn), transferring them to a plate as you go. The chicken won’t be cooked through at this stage – it’ll finish cooking with the rice.

4. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes, or until it is beginning to soften, then add the garlic and cook, stirring frequently, for 1 minute. Add the drained rice and toast it in the pan with the onion and garlic, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes, then pour in the saffron water and broth.

5. Nestle the chicken into the rice and bring everything to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan with a lid and cook for 20–25 minutes, or until the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed.

6. To serve, mix the yogurt with the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Serve this spooned over the chicken and rice (or on the side), with a scattering of parsley to finish.

Excerpted from Dinner Time: Deeply Delicious Meals in 15, 30, 45 and 60 minutes. Used with the permission of the publisher, Bloomsbury. Text copyright © 2026 by Zena Kamgaing, Photography copyright © 2026 by Yuki Sugiura

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