Easy Arroz con Pollo
Ready in 20 minutes, this Arroz con Pollo is a Mexican restaurant classic that is made with a mix of seasoned chicken, rice, veggies and topped with creamy queso!
A Fast Mexican Inspired Dinner
Arroz con Pollo is probably my favorite meal to get when we go out to eat Mexican. Arroz con pollo (or Chicken with Rice) is such a comfort meal! You just can’t beat tender, seasoned pieces of chicken cooked up with peppers and onions with seasoned rice then topped with melted cheese! It’s filling and is a whole meal in one!
Frequently Asked Questions
Chicken and rice goes with a variety of things. You can serve this dish with warm tortillas for wrapping or scooping, a side of guacamole or sliced avocado, black beans or refried beans for extra protein, a fresh garden salad with lime vinaigrette, and crispy tortilla chips with salsa.
You can find the sauce in a couple of different places. First, try looking for the shelf stable version in a jar where the other Mexican ingredients are located in your store. If you don’t see what you’re looking for there, check the refrigerated section of the grocery store, sometimes it’s by the other refrigerated cheeses, but it may be by the specialty Mexican ingredients or it can be by the refrigerated salsa.
Most stores carry some version of Spanish Rice. You can purchase that or make your own homemade version. Walmart carries their Great Value Brand (see my ingredient photo below). You can also find an Uncle Ben’s version and Kroger has their own store brand version as well. If you want to make it yourself, try my Mom’s Spanish Rice recipe. If you do that, I just wouldn’t add the green peppers and onions to the rice since we already have them in this recipe. And, I’d obviously skip the ground beef, but that base recipe works great for this recipe. Additionally, you could make my 3-ingredient Mexican Rice recipe. You can make this totally homemade or semi-homemade – it all depends on the flavors you enjoy and how much time/energy you have.
No problem, if you don’t have a packet of fajita seasoning, or don’t want to use fajita seasoning, you can use taco seasoning instead. It’s very similar. In fact, you can grab a packet at the store or make your own homemade Taco Seasoning.
You can keep the leftovers in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Ingredients Needed: (See Recipe Card Below For The Full Recipe)
- red and green bell peppers – to me it is not arroz con pollo without peppers but if you don’t like them then just leave then out.
- yellow onion
- chicken– you can use chicken tenders instead of chicken breast if you prefer. Additionally, you can dice the chicken up into smaller pieces if you prefer that over slices of chicken. You can even use boneless, skinless chicken thighs.
- queso sauce– you can grab some from the grocery store or make your own Homemade Queso Dip. If you need help finding the queso sauce in the grocery store, scroll up to my FAQ (Frequently Asked Question) section where I share some tips and places to look in the grocery store.
- green chiles – you can leave these out if you prefer but personally don’t find it adds much spice.
- chipotle sauce – need help knowing which sauce to grab? I show my brands and ingredients in the ingredient picture below if that is helpful. When looking in the store, you can usually find this sauce in cans in the same aisle as the rest of the Mexican food products. If you aren’t a fan of chipotle sauce, you can omit this. Or, you can use a mild taco sauce.
- fajita seasoning– use store-bought or make a Homemade Fajita Seasoning.
- Spanish-style rice – I shared some of my favorite brands and two links to make your own homemade versions above in the FAQ area above.
- chopped cilantro– optional ingredient. If you love it, use it! Hate it?? Omit it!
How To Make Arroz Con Pollo
In a skillet over medium heat add the peppers, onions, and avocado oil. Sauté for 6 minutes. Add the chicken. Saute for 4-7 minutes or until the juices run clear.
Add an ⅛ of a cup of the queso cheese, green chiles, chipotle sauce, and fajita seasoning. Mix until combined.
Serve the chicken and peppers over the rice. Drizzle as much of the remainder of the cheese on top as you would like and sprinkle the cilantro on top
Craving More Recipes?
Easy Arroz con Pollo
Ingredients
- 1 cup sliced red bell peppers
- 1 cup sliced green bell peppers
- 1 cup sliced yellow onion
- 1 Tablespoon oil
- 1 pound thinly sliced, boneless, skinless chicken breasts (can use chicken tenders or thighs)
- ½ cup melted white queso sauce (divided use)
- 4 ounce can green chiles
- 2 Tablespoons chipotle sauce
- 1.25 ounce packet fajita seasoning
- 2 packets Spanish-style rice (or make your own, see post above)
- 1-2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro (optional)
Instructions
- In a skillet over medium heat add 1 cup sliced red bell peppers, 1 cup sliced green bell peppers, 1 cup sliced yellow onion and 1 Tablespoon oil. Sauté for about 6 minutes (or until the peppers and onions are soft).
- Add 1 pound thinly sliced, boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Sauté for about 4-7 minutes or until the juices run clear and chicken is fully cooked.
- Add ⅛ cup white queso sauce, 4 ounce can green chiles, 2 Tablespoons chipotle sauce and 1.25 ounce packet fajita seasoning. Mix until combined and heat until it is all warmed up.
- Prepare the 2 packets Spanish-style rice according to the package directions. When ready, serve the cooked chicken and peppers over the rice.
- Drizzle as much of the remaining white queso sauce as you would like and sprinkle 1-2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro on top then serve!
Video
Notes
- Please refer to my FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions) and ingredient list above for other substitutions or for the answers to the most common questions.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Wonderful recipe…but now that I’ve prepared this recipe and served it to my husband and son, they no longer want to head to our favourite Mexican restaurant 🙁 Oh, well, it could be worse!
Hahaha – you’re cooking too well Jeanette! See what you did LOL. Thanks so very much for coming back to comment – I really appreciate it!
Very easy and very good recipe
Thanks so much for coming back to comment Flora!