Stuffed Chicken Thighs with Rice is crispy on the outside, filled with irresistible flavor on the inside. Just a few ingredients and you’ll create a delicious dish that goes well with any occasion.

I love using chicken thighs because their dark meat is guaranteed to add a ton of flavor to any dish. If you are a bit short on time, try making my recipe for Instant Pot Chicken Thighs instead.
In Slavic weddings, it’s customary to prepare this dish for the reception. Known as “Solomon Golubtsi”, this recipe has become so popular in my family that we now have it at almost every holiday party or special event.
I can’t say enough how much this recipe is going to win you over. The chicken produces a delicious fatty sauce that seeps into the rice as the dish bakes. It’s out-of-this-world tasty and I can’t get enough of the delicious chicken skin that forms on top of each stuffed thigh.

Tips for Making The Best Stuffed Chicken:
- To save some time, use the leftover or precooked brown, white or wild rice.
- I like to use garlic parsley salt to sprinkle on top of the stuffed chicken. It’s a very popular spice blend used throughout the Eastern European cooking. But, feel free to play around here. You can and should use your favorite seasoning blend.
- This is totally optional, but if you’re a cheese fanatic, adding a bit of mozzarella or parmesan cheese inside the rice filling is super tasty.
- I like to use bone-in chicken thighs so I can save the removed bones and make chicken broth. With the cold season approaching, it’s always nice to have homemade broth on hand.
- Don’t skimp on tenderizing your chicken thighs. Tenderizing the thighs ensures that the chicken pieces are uniform and will bake evenly. It also makes the meat so much more decadent and easy to chew.
- At around 30-40 minutes of baking, drain some of the grease out of the pan so that the rice is not fully flooded with fat.
- Use a meat thermometer to check that the inner temperature of the thighs have reached 165F. You don’t want your chicken to be too dry or undercooked. I find that using a thermometer provides piece of mind and removes all the guesswork of cooking chicken properly.

Can You Freeze the Stuffed Chicken Thighs?
There are two ways to freeze your stuffed chicken thighs — cooked or raw. Here’s how to do both:
Freezing the Fully Cooked Stuffed Chicken Thighs
Allow fully cooked stuffed chicken thighs to completely cool in the refrigerator. Then, wrap each chicken thigh in plastic wrap and place in an airtight container. Freeze the thighs for up to a couple of weeks. Cooked chicken is more prone to freezer burn, so it doesn’t last as long as the uncooked chicken. To reheat it, place the thighs in the oven at 350F for 20 minutes, or until warm all the way through. If you’re unsure, cut one of the pieces in half to check the internal warmth.
Freezing the Uncooked Stuffed Chicken Thighs
Put uncooked stuffed chicken thighs on a foil-lined baking sheet and place in the freezer for about an hour or until completely firm. Then, layer the frozen stuffed thighs between sheets of waxed paper in an airtight container. Freeze it for up to a month. To serve, thaw in a single layer overnight in the refrigerator. Bake according to the recipe’s instructions.
More Chicken Recipes
Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 chicken thighs
- 2 cup rice cooked
- 2 medium carrots grated
- 1 small onion diced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp garlic parsley salt to taste
- 1 tbsp pepper to taste
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Cook the rice in salted water. Set aside and let it cool. Saute onions and carrots together until they soften. Set aside and let it cool.
- Cut the bone out of chicken. Tenderize from inside (leaving the skin), until the chicken becomes thin and large enough to be able to wrap rice on the inside.
- Once rice and veggies have cooled down, mix them well together and add salt & pepper to taste.
- Take chicken, place it on the working surface and put a handful of rice in middle. Roll both sides over to the middle, turning it into a roll.
- Place them one by one, rolled side down on a baking dish. Sprinkle with Vegeta or any other seasoning on top.
- Bake at 350F for 45 minutes.
Can I use boneless chicken breast for this recipe I know it will reduce the flavor but I want to use what's in my freezer
Hey Axel, you can use them but reduce baking them. Chicken breast cooks way quicker.
Do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT go off of this recipe with uncooked rice. There is absolutely NO way that much rice would fit inside the chicken withOUT the carrots and rice. I’m so frustrated I trusted the word of the woman who posted this and told another person that the recipe was working with uncooked rice. I measured out the number of cups of rice in cooked state and still had a little left after stuffing the chicken. And since I was doing a double recipe, that meant 4 cups of uncooked rice and what I am sure is 6 cups of remaining cooked rice left over! What am I going to do with all of this rice now?!?
Make some rice pudding. Freeze remaining rice and have it with chili. You could also use left over rice for porcupine balls.
So many great ideas!
Minute rice does not expand. 2 cups dried equals 2 cups cooked.
Hey Abby, if it doesn’t expand than you need 2 cups.
Hey Kaley, you are correct. It should be 2 cups of cooked rice. I am sorry about the misunderstanding. Btw, rice freezes well. Hope it helps with meal planning.
Natalya drozhzhin but you alread says in the ingredients 2 cup rice cooked
Yeah, not sure what went wrong.
Nice recipe. Baked without the skin. Sprinkled breadcrumbs over chicken and baked in a prego chunky sauce with some tweaking.
Oh, this sounds so amazing! I like the sauce idea. Thanks for sharing
Can you use breasts rather than thighs?
Hey Virginia, yes but shorten the baking time. Breast cook much quicker. Enjoy!
What is the easiest way to debone chicken thighs??
The best way to cut out bone from chicken thighs is by using a small sharp knife. Cut around the bone and pull it away from the chicken thigh. It will probably take you about 1-2 minutes. 🙂
How much of this can I prepare ahead of time?
They can be prepared be night before.
Can I add an other spice besides Vegeta? I don'thhave vegeta. How would you reheat it? if I had to bring the whole thing to party?
You can replace spices to what ever you like. You can rehet in a microwave, bring it in a crock pot or in a baking dish and place it in a oven to reheat.
I made these for dinner tonight and they turned out delicious. There was a lot of oil after cooking, but thats probably why the chicken and rice turned out moist and tender. At first I covered them with foil, but discovered they turn out a lot better when cooked uncovered- the skin turns out crisp and golden. Make sure the rice is a little over salted because the chicken will soak up some of the salt. Also, there was quite a bit of rice leftover after I stuffed the chicken and I stuffed them really
full, next time ill reduce the amount of rice. Thanks for a good recipe 🙂
Hi Oksana, I am loving all the tips you have shared. Salty rice idea is incredible.
Bake covered or uncovered? 🙂
It doesn't matter, you can cover it to speed up the cooking process and towards the end remove the cover to get some color.
bake them for an 1/2 hour then add mushroom soup on top!
That is an interesting one! Mushrooms and chicken is a wonderful combination 🙂
Can you add cheese in the middle?
Yes you can. That is a wonderful idea. 🙂
You can cook in it a rice cooker but I usually cook it in a pot. Let me know if you need tips on cooking rice.
This looks delicious i want to make it tonight. I have a question though how do you cook the rice?
In rice cooker?
You can cook in it a rice cooker but I usually cook it in a pot. Let me know if you need tips on cooking rice.
Thanks
This is such a good idea! I've never thought of doing this.
I use white rice.
I would like to know what kind rice you use?
Thanks
that's what I was thinking to do them for! I'm sure my family will be thrilled, they always love it when I make something new 🙂
yes they are pretty simple. I been wanting to make them for a while. Probably for Easter 🙂
Actually all I need is the chicken thighs! These look so simple to make
These solomonski goluptsi look scrumptious! I've never heard of them. I need to run to the grocery store and buy the ingredients and make them. Love your blog
There is similar technique to the recipe as this one, just different ingredients. Meat Roulade (http://momsdish.com/recipe/66) Maybe this would help for now.
I will make it soon and add lots of pictures
Hi, I was wondering if you can upload pictures of step 2 and 4 so I can make sure I do it right. This recipe looks delish and I really want to make it. Thanks