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Chicken thighs with rice is an easy (almost) one-pan family dinner! I stuff rice inside the chicken, making it super juicy and flavorful – it’s always a crowd favorite!

Plate with chicken and rice.

This chicken thighs with rice recipe is one of those famous dishes that you would see at every Slavic wedding in the early 2000s. And I’m not even exaggerating! The Slav’s call it “Solomon Golubtsi” because they’re stuffed kind of like golubtsi/cabbage rolls. We have been married for over 20 years now and this recipe has stayed with us all this time.

The rice absorbs all the chicken flavor, and with very little effort, you get the most incredible rice and the juiciest chicken that even kids love. I promise you, once you try it, this recipe will become part of your regular meal routine. It is so easy to prep, which is exactly why it was so popular for huge wedding receptions of 300+ people.

Short on time? If you need something quickly, try making my recipe for Instant Pot Chicken Thighs instead.

How To Make Rice Stuffed Chicken

These Slavic stuffed chicken thighs with rice take about 30 minutes of prep and 45 minutes to cook. They’re great to make ahead of time (scroll down to the “Storing” section for more on this), and the delicious flavor is made with only eight ingredients that are guaranteed to be in your pantry and fridge. Let’s get cookin’!

  • Cook the rice: In a pot of salted water, cook the rice. Once cooked, set it aside to cool.
  • Sauté the veggies: Meanwhile, sauté the onion and carrots in a large pan until they’re soft and translucent.
  • Prepare the chicken: Remove the bone (if present) from the bone-in chicken thighs. Then, pound the meat with a tenderizer until it’s flat and thin.
  • Combine the rice and veggies: In a medium bowl, stir the rice and veggies together and season to taste with salt and pepper.
  • Stuff the chicken with rice: Place a handful of the rice mixture into a pounded chicken thigh and fold over the loose sides toward the middle. Assemble the rolled thighs seam side down in a baking dish.
  • Bake the thighs: Sprinkle the chicken with extra seasoning, then cook the thighs uncovered in the oven at 350°F for 45 minutes.

Hot tip: Save the leftover chicken bones! Use them to make delicious homemade chicken broth.

chicken getting tenderized on a cutting board
Vegetables with rice in a bowl
Chicken stuffed with rice in a baking dish
Baking pan with chicken stuffed with rice.

Tips for Making Chicken Thighs with Rice

From my kitchen to yours, here’s a few tips to help you nail this recipe.

  • Use fully cooked or leftover rice: To save on time, use fully cooked leftover or precooked white rice, brown rice, basmati rice, or jasmine rice in this recipe. Any short or long grain rice varieties work equally well.
  • Opt for a garlicky seasoning blend: For the best flavor, use a tasty seasoning with lots of garlic. This seasoning is my go-to to sprinkle on top of stuffed chicken, but feel free to play around here!
  • Tenderize the thighs: Tenderizing the thighs ensures that the chicken pieces are uniform and bake evenly. It also makes the meat so much more decadent and easy to chew. Tenderize the inside of the meat instead of the outside. Leave the skin side intact so it can crisp up well.
  • Drain the excess grease: At around 30-40 minutes of baking, drain a portion of the liquid out of the baking dish so the rice is not fully flooded with fat.
  • Use a meat thermometer: To avoid having a chicken that’s too dry or undercooked, skip the guesswork and use a meat thermometer. The inner temperature of the chicken thighs should reach 165°F.
  • Don’t flip the chicken: In some recipes, you need to flip the chicken halfway through baking. Not here! There’s no need to flip stuffed chicken thighs halfway through baking. Keep them seam side down so that they don’t fall apart.
  • Bake uncovered: I love a crispy skin, so I prefer to bake my chicken thighs uncovered. It’s so flavorful!
  • Add more flavor (optional): If you feel like you need more calories or more flavor, feel free to add slices of butter throughout the dish and season with some thyme, Italian seasoning, and parsley on top.
Stuffed chicken with rice in a plate.

Serving Ideas

Since this recipe is a popular Slavic recipe, continue the theme with more Slavic options. I love a Russian vinaigrette salad or creamy cucumber salad. If you want to go super simple, make this oven roasted broccoli or roast any of your favorite veggies in the oven (such as green beans, or carrots and parsnips).

Storing & Reheating Leftovers

Stuffed chicken thighs are an amazing protein entreé that stores wonderfully. Make it ahead of time and eat the leftovers throughout the week.

  • Refrigerator: To store for up to four days, place cooled leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.
  • Freezer: To store for two months, allow the thighs to completely cool, then wrap each piece in plastic wrap and place it into an airtight container in the freezer. If freezing raw chicken, follow the same method but now you can freeze it for up to four months. Defrost fully overnight in the fridge.
  • Reheating: To reheat the thighs, pop them in a casserole dish covered with foil and bake them at 350°F until warmed through. If frozen, this may take up to 20 extra minutes.

Meal prep tip: To meal prep this dish, you can either fully cook it upfront or make a “deconstructed kit” to bake later. For grab-and-go meals, bake the stuffed thighs completely, let them cool, and store them in the fridge. Or, for a freshly baked dinner, prep the rice filling and pound the raw chicken in advance, store them separately, then assemble and bake right in time for your meal.

More Tasty Chicken Recipes

Recipe

A plate with chicken stuffed rice and herbs on top.

Oven Baked Rice Stuffed Chicken Thighs

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Servings
6 Serivngs
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Recipe contributed by: Natalya Drozhzhin
Chicken thighs with rice is an easy (almost) one-pan family dinner! I stuff rice inside the chicken, making it super juicy and flavorful – it's always a crowd favorite!

Ingredients

US Units – Metric

Instructions

  • Cook the rice in salted water per package instructions. Set aside to cool. In a large skillet, sauté the onions and carrots together in oil until they soften and the onion turns translucent. Set aside to cool.
    carrots and onion in a skillet
  • Cut the bone out of the chicken thighs. Using a meat tenderizer, pound the chicken from the inside (leaving the skin intact on the outside) until flat and thin.
    chicken getting tenderized on a cutting board
  • In a medium bowl, mix the cooled rice and veggies together and season them with salt and pepper.
    Vegetables with rice in a bowl
  • Place a piece of chicken on a flat working surface, then put a handful of the rice mixture in the middle of each pounded thigh. Fold each side into the middle, securing the filling inside.
    chicken and rice on a cutting board
  • One by one, assemble the stuffed chicken thighs seam side down in a baking dish. Make sure they are flush against one another. Sprinkle the chicken with 1 tbsp garlic parsley salt.
    Chicken stuffed with rice in a baking dish
  • Bake the thighs at 350°F for 45 minutes. Enjoy immediately!
    Baking pan with chicken stuffed with rice.
Note: The chicken may produce lots of grease during the baking process, you can just drain the grease and keep on baking.
Nutrition Facts
Oven Baked Rice Stuffed Chicken Thighs
Amount Per Serving
Calories 511 Calories from Fat 198
% Daily Value*
Fat 22g34%
Saturated Fat 6g30%
Trans Fat 0.1g
Polyunsaturated Fat 4g
Monounsaturated Fat 10g
Cholesterol 111mg37%
Sodium 1655mg69%
Potassium 408mg12%
Carbohydrates 54g18%
Fiber 2g8%
Sugar 2g2%
Protein 23g46%
Vitamin A 3491IU70%
Vitamin C 3mg4%
Calcium 43mg4%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Updated August 12, 2026

About Author

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Natalya founded Momsdish to demonstrate that placing a homemade meal on the table is not hard at all. Natalya makes cooking easier and approachable, by simplifying the ingredients, while still producing the same great taste.