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One Pan Roast Chicken with Pumpkin and Sage Rice is the easiest, most flavorful almost one-pan dinner. Serve it for holidays, dinner party, and more.
If I could write a whole chapter about one type of ingredient, it would be chicken thighs because they are so easy to cook, versatile, and flavorful. When entertaining, chicken thighs are a perfect single serving so guests can easily help themselves. On a busy weeknight, chicken thighs are quick cooking and a delicious dinner option.
Whether entertaining for a cozy dinner party, holiday, or simply a Tuesday night, Chicken thigh dinners always look impressive without much effort because of that beautiful crispy skin and all the wonderful nestled bits of vegetables. All of my chicken thigh recipes are oven to table, so there is no need to get extra serving dishes dirty! I love one-pan meals, especially when the weather gets cold, the days are short, and you want something delicious, fast! I love my Staub braiser for all meals quick and cozy.
The flavor combinations for chicken thigh recipes are endless. They are the star ingredients in my roasted-herbed-balsamic-chicken-thighs and Zaatar Roast Chicken with Olives and Lemons.
One Pan Roast Chicken with Pumpkin and Sage Rice is the perfect one pan meal!
As we fully ease into sweater weather, I want a chicken thigh recipe that embraces the autumn flavors of sage and pumpkin. With Sukkot on the horizon, I wanted to create a one pan, cozy dish that is easily transportable into the Sukkah. One Pan Roast Chicken with Pumpkin and Sage Rice is exactly as the name suggests; tender roasted chicken thighs layered over roasted pumpkin and rice. This recipe is an almost one pan dish because I roast the pumpkin separately before I add it to the rice. Roasting the pumpkin before hand ensures everything cooks to perfect tenderness, while adding extra layers of roasted caramel notes. The pumpkin roasts while you prep your chicken and the other ingredients, so fret not!
What transforms this humble roast chicken dish into a hearty, all inclusive meal is the rice. Just like risotto, the raw rice lightly toasts in the pan and then slowly absorbs the white wine; infusing it with flavor. While roasting in the oven, the rice plumps up and absorbs all those luscious bits of sage, shallots, and pan juices. Adding kale to the rice brings balance to this dish; it’s deep green flavors counter the richness of the rice. The lemon juice and zest brings a bright acidity and floral freshness….do not use bottled lemon juice!
This recipe is very versatile!
If you don’t have pumpkin, or you fancy this recipe outside of pumpkin season, you can substitute acorn squash because they share similar flavors and textures. Another option is roasting butternut squash cubes and scattering them into the rice.
My secrets to perfectly cooked chicken thighs.
Want perfectly cooked chicken thighs every time? Here are my secrets!
- Slit the skin. Slitting the chicken skin about 1inch allows the juices and fats to render.
- Sear before you cook. It only takes a few extra minutes and it’s well worth the effort. Searing your chicken thighs before you roast them locked in that moisture and flavor we all love. It also speeds up the cooking time because your chicken will already go into the oven a little cooked and at a higher temperature.
- Give them oven love! Chicken thighs can be a little rubbery when not cooked long enough. Roast them until a thermometer reads the thighs internal temperature anywhere from 180-190 degrees.
- Let them rest! After your thighs are done cooking, either cover them with a lid or tent them with aluminum foil and allow those juices to get back into the chicken and keep those chicken thighs moist and perfect.
I hope you love this easy and delicious autumn chicken recipe!
One Pan Roast Chicken with Pumpkin and Sage Rice
Ingredients
For the pumpkin:
- 1 sugar pumpkin roughly 2 lb, 9 oz, peeled, deseeded, cut into 1 inch wedges. See notes!
- extra virgin olive oil for drizzling, about 2-3 tablespoons
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2½ teaspoons maple syrup optional, but delicious
For the chicken marinade:
- 3 lb chicken thighs, bone-in skin-on trimmed of excess fat, ¾ slit cut into the skin on top.
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 3 teaspoon course Dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon granulated garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 2½ tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
For the pan:
- 2 tablespoon avocado oil or high heat oil
- ⅔ cup shallot chopped small
- sprinkle kosher salt
- 1½-2 tablespoons garlic crushed or minced
- 2 heaping tablespoons fresh sage cut into thin ribbons
- 1 cup, packed Tuscan/Lacinato kale stems removed, leaves cut into very thin ribbons
- 1 cup basmati white rice heavily rinsed and drained
- ¾ cup dry white wine
- 2 cups water
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- fresh sage leaves to top
Instructions
For the pumpkin:
- Preheat your oven to 415 °F, convection if possible
- On a medium sized cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, toss the pumpkin wedges with olive oil, kosher salt, and maple syrup until the pumpkin is evenly coated. Spread the pumpkin evenly out on the cookie sheet and roast in the oven for roughly 35 minutes, or until pumpkin is lightly golden brown.
For the chicken marinade:
- In a small bowl, combine the honey, mustard, garlic powder, thyme, and olive oil. Stir well to combine. Rub the marinade all over the chicken thighs, especially underneath the skin. Set aside and allow the chicken to marinade for a minimum of 20 minutes.
For the pan:
- Adjust the oven temperature to 400 °F
- Preheat a 3½ quart deep pan on medium-high heat and add about 2 tablespoons of avocado oil or high heat oil.
- Place the chicken thighs, skin side down into the pan and allow them to sear roughly 1 minute or so, until the skins become very deeply golden brown.
- Flip the chicken over and let it sear for another minute.
- Remove the chicken from the pan and let it rest on a plate or in a bowl. Cover the chicken with aluminum foil so it does not dry out.
- Lower the temperature to medium heat and add the shallots and a sprinkle of kosher salt to the pan. (There should be enough oil from browning the chicken to cook the shallots)
- Cook the shallots for a few minutes until lightly golden. (Make sure to scrape up all the good bits from browning the chicken as you stir)
- Add the garlic and sage to the pan, cook for about 1 minute until garlic is lightly golden and sage is fragrant.
- Add the rice to the pan. Stir it and let it toast a bit, roughly 1 minute.
- Slowly pour half the wine into the pan, stirring the rice as your pour. When the wine has almost fully absorbed into the rice, slowly add in the remaining wine while stirring.
- Add the kale into the pan and stir.
- Slowly add the water into the pan. Add the lemon juice and ¼ teaspoon of kosher salt and stir.
- Carefully arrange the pumpkin wedges in to the pan. Nestle the chicken into the pan (its ok if the chicken ends up on top of the pumpkin). Add the juices/gravy from the chicken that settled in the bowl when the chicken was resting. Arrange the extra sage leaves on top of the chicken.
- Bring the contents of the pan to a boil then transfer the pan to the oven and cook for roughly 38-40 minutes, until the chicken is cooked and reads 180 °F on a thermometer.
- Remove the pan from the oven and serve straight from the pan. Enjoy!
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