Hummus Crusted Chicken and Rice Bake

This hummus crusted chicken and rice bake is officially one of our favorites and in the weeknight dinner line-up for the foreseeable future. Perfectly baked chicken with the warm flavors of creamy hummus, topped with toasted breadcrumbs on a bed of fluffy seasoned rice. It’s a super easy one-dish meal that is ideal for any busy weeknight.

What is Hummus?

From the middle east, with an Arab origin, hummus is a creamy dip that is made with chickpeas and tahini. You can find it in most grocery stores near the produce section –  either made in-house or packaged.

Choosing the Hummus Flavor

Good news! You can use any hummus flavor you love, these flavors would taste the best with this baked chicken; classic, roasted garlic, roasted red pepper or the olive tapenade hummus.

Perfect Baked Rice

Long-grain white rice is usually considered “the normal” white rice. Rice is a ratio recipe, for every 1 cup of rice, it will need 2 cups of liquid.  To get the perfect fork-fluffy tenderness, rice will need to be covered so that it can slowly absorb liquid and steam at the same time.

Add the rice, cubed butter, water, shallot, garlic, thyme and salt to the baking dish. Stir to mix in the ingredients. Top with the prepared chicken and cover tightly with foil.

Once covered, put it in the pre-heated 425F oven and let it cook uninterrupted for 25 minutes. Do not uncover during this time. After 25 minutes, remove the foil and fork-fluff. If there excess liquid, bake at 425F uncovered for 10 minutes until the liquid is gone and the rice is tender.

If the rice is still crunchy and not fully cooked, add 1/4 cup of water and bake at 425F uncovered for 10 minutes until the liquid is gone and the rice is tender.

Hummus Crusted Chicken Breasts

If you have thick chicken breasts, you will need to cut them through the center, horizontally, to make them thinner – about 1/4 inch. Try to keep them all the same thickness for even cooking. You can also buy chicken cutlets.

Avoid tenderloins, they are too thin and will over-bake in the oven because of the time it takes for the rice to cook.

Use only 3-4 thin chicken breasts so that the casserole dish is not over crowded, the chicken should not touch.

Want to make it gluten-free?

All of the ingredients in this hummus crusted chicken and rice bake recipe are naturally gluten-free except for the breadcrumbs. Make sure to substitute with gluten-free bread crumbs. The substitution is a one to one.

Hummus Crusted Chicken and Rice Bake

Perfectly baked chicken with the warm flavors of creamy hummus and topped with toasted breadcrumbs on a bed of fluffy seasoned rice. It's a super easy one-dish meal that is ideal for any busy weeknight. 

5 from 4 votes

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Course: Weeknight Dinner

Cuisine: American

Keyword: easy recipe, chicken, One-Pot Recipe

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes minutes

Servings: 4

1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 1 cup White Rice
• 2 TBSP Butter - cut into cubes
• 3 cups Water or Chicken Stock
• 1 TBSP Dry Thyme
• 2 cloves Garlic - minced
• 1 Shallot - thinly sliced
• ½ tsp Salt
• 1 cup Panko Breadcrumbs
• ½ cup Regular Breadcrumbs
• 1 TBSP Smoked Paprika
• 3-4 Thin Chicken Breasts or cutlets, see blog, about 1lb
• 8 oz Hummus

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 425F.
• In a baking dish, add the rice, butter, water, dry thyme, garlic, shallot and salt. Using a spoon, stir to make sure the seasoning is incorporated throughout the dish.
  
• In a shallow bowl, add the Panko breadcrumbs, regular breadcrumbs and the smoked paprika. Stir until everything is evenly combined.
  
• Spread hummus on both sides of the chicken breasts.
  
• Dredge the chicken in the breadcrumb mixture, making sure both sides are coated.
  
• Slightly press down to make sure the breadcrumbs are secure.
  
• Place the prepared chicken on top of the prepared rice mixture in the baking dish. Do not over crown the dish, and the chicken should not be touching.

  Tightly cover with foil and bake at 425F for 25 minutes.
  
• After baking for 25 minutes, remove from the oven, it will still have some excess liquid, bake uncovered for 10 minutes. Fork fluff the rice.

  If the rice is still crunchy and not fully cooked, add 1/4 cup of water and bake at 425F uncovered for 10 minutes until the liquid is gone and the rice is tender.
  

Quick Raw Chicken Reminders

• Make sure that if you touch the chicken with the spoon you use to spread out the hummus and double-dip into the hummus, discard any leftover hummus to avoid possible salmonella.
• Discard any unused breadcrumb mixture to avoid possible salmonella.