Chicken and rice are cooked in a flavorful Middle Eastern spice mixture, making this the best one pot rice dish. Garnished with roasted raisins, silvered almond, and a delicious Kabsa salsa sauce.

This meal is one of my favorite Middle Eastern dish! Chicken Kabsa is a Saudi Arabian recipe that is made with chicken stock composed with immense flavors of tomato paste, carrots, green peppers, onions, and garlic. Garnished with roasted raisins and almonds. I swear your house will smell oh so heavenly! I also made a tomato salsa mixture that goes perfect with the combination of the rice and everything else! A sweet and savory dish makes this one pot chicken recipe dish so good and very easy to make!

Key Ingredients you will need:

For the one pot recipe these ingredients will all mix in together:

• Basamati Rice - Basmati rice is a popular rice cooked in Middle Eastern Dishes. I use a 2:3 ratio when cooking this kind of rice. Long grain basmati cooks up beautifully.
• Chicken Thighs - It is best to use chicken that has skin on and bone in! We want to make a flavorful chicken stock that will be later used to cook the rice in. Chicken thighs or chicken legs will be your best option.
• Carrots, Green Peppers, Red Onions, Garlic - These delicious vegetables will give the dish texture and an amazing taste for the rice.
• Tomato Paste - A spoonful of tomato paste is great for intensifying the broth as it is cooked in rice and all the colorful vegetables. I also like to brush tomato paste on the skin of the chicken to give it that deep red crisp color when it goes in the oven to broil.

Spices

These spices will give the dish its authentic flavor:

• Yellow Curry - This beautiful and versatile spice has blends of Turmeric and Garam Masala. This spice gives it that unique and authentic Kabsa taste.
• Cinnamon - This spice will balance out all the savory spices so it is not to overpowering.
• Salt and Pepper
• All Spice - A warm spice mixture of nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, and pepper. If you do not have this spice, you may use a mixture of cinnamon and white pepper. I find this spice at my loval grocery store and it is readily available in most supermarkets.
• Lemon zest - Generally you are supposed to use a dried lemon ball. But it is so hard to find. Lemon zest works about the same as it gives the dish a tangy aromatic taste.
• Chicken Bullion - Will add to the chicken stock.

Salsa Mixture

Here are the ingredients you will need making the Salsa Sauce to go with the rice:

• Parsley - This herb makes the salsa so flavorful.
• Green Pepper - Every salsa needs green peppers!
• Red Onion - Just a half of red onion. We don’t want to over power the salsa with the taste of the onion. You can use yellow onion if you don’t have red onion.
• Chicken broth - Reserving a cup at least of the chicken broth will make this salsa recipe so unique and flavorful.
• Tomato Paste - A spoonful of tomato paste will give it that red color for the salsa.

Garnish

You will garnish the rice with Raisins and Almonds. These sweet and savory toppings creates a delicious blend of sweet crunch.

• Raisins - I used red raisins and roasted them with olive oil. You can use yellow raisins too!
• Almonds - You can use any kind of almonds. For this recipe I used silvered almonds. I love the crunch it gives. If you don’t have silvered almonds, you can use regular almonds. Just pour 1 cup of hot water on the almonds to let the skin peel right off. Slice almonds then roast them with oil.

How to make Chicken Kabsa

Such an easy recipe, making this dish the most perfect one pot chicken dish. With these simple steps:

1. Wash and pat dry your chicken. Season chicken with salt, black pepper, all spice, cinnamon, and curry.
2. On a large pot over medium heat, pour olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add the vegetables: Carrots, green pepper, red onions, and garlic. Saute vegetables for about 5 minutes.
3. Add in the chicken, and sear each side for about 2 minutes. Allowing the chicken to cook on both sides will release a fragrant chicken broth.
4. Add the lemon zest and mix.
5. Add the tomato paste and chicken bullion, mix all together.
6. Pour hot water just enough to cover the top of the chicken.
7. Cover with a lid and let the chicken cook in the broth until tender.
8. In the mean time, you can make the salsa. Using a food processor or blender: Add the parsley, green pepper, red onion, tomato paste, and chicken broth. Blend it, and pour in a bowl. You can keep the salsa in the fridge until ready to serve with the rice.
9. Once chicken is cooked, take the chicken out and place on a baking sheet.
10. Pour rice in the same pot the chicken was cooking in.
11. Next we want the broth to come to a boil before simmering.
12. Once the broth has come to a boil, simmer the rice and cover with a lid until the rice has absorbed all the liquid.
13. Heat some olive oil in a pan and fry almonds until golden. Set aside, and do the same with the raisins.
14. Sprinkle some salt and black pepper on the top of the chicken. Brush tomato paste and olive oil on the top as well. Pop it in the oven on broil for about 5 minutes or until crisp and red on the top.
15. Once the rice is cooked, fluff it with a fork.
16. Spoon rice onto a serving plate, cover with broiled chicken and sprinkle nuts and raisins. Served with salsa on the side. Enjoy!