Chicken and rice are a match made in heaven. The meal promises to be delicious, lovely, and filling. But without a sauce, it can feel dry. A delicious sauce adds moisture and makes this dish even better.
So, what is the best sauce for chicken and rice?
Popular and pervasive as this dish is, there are several ideas, recipes, and suggestions for the sauce you can use. We look at a few of the best options to see which one works best.
Top Sauce Recommendations For Chicken And Rice
1. Some Chicken ‘Juice’ Action
The idea behind this recipe is to give the chicken and rice a deeper chicken flavor without using other ingredients. The process involves steaming the chicken with some water. No other ingredients are necessary, though you can add some ginger if you prefer.
Steaming the chicken this way is a slow and long process. It can easily take up to an hour to get it done right. At this point, you’ll have soft and tender steamed chicken.
The water used for steaming the chicken will be flavorful and quite delicious. It’s perhaps something like chicken stock, but with a richer flavor.
You can add this chicken on white rice and use the available chicken juice as a sauce. The result is a meal that’s simple but impressively flavorful.
2. Barbecue Sauce
A little bit of barbecue sauce can go a long way in adding more flavor to your chicken and rice meal. BBQ sauce adds a tangy flavor to the food and is an easily available condiment that you can enjoy any time.
There are plenty of BBQ sauce options available and each may vary in flavor. However, the general result is usually the same. You can enjoy this recipe with your choice of BBQ sauce.
3. Buffalo Sauce
Buffalo sauce is another classic that’s easily available and is a popular condiment in many kitchens. It’s readily available in the market, or you could even make buffalo sauce at home with a few ingredients.
To make it at home, you’ll need some hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and vinegar. Mix these ingredients and allow the concoction some time to heat and reduce.
Soon enough, you’ll have a nice homemade buffalo sauce. Of course, it’s always possible to add a few ingredients of your choice to ensure the sauce has a flavor you like.
4. Alfredo Sauce
The rich and creamy alfredo sauce will go along with a chicken recipe any day of the week. A good alfredo sauce is going to be rich in butter, cream, and parmesan cheese. It usually has a thick consistency and lends its flavor wonderfully to the chicken and rice.
5. Honey And Soy
This stunning sauce utilizes honey and soy sauce cooked along with the chicken. The soy adds something of a salty and umami flavor, while the honey brings sweetness.
Ordinarily, this combination wouldn’t work, but with chicken and rice thrown into the mix, the recipe turns out quite delicious.
You can also add some broccoli, sliced green onions, and sesame seeds to add more zing and flavor to the food.
6. A Creamy And Cheesy Rice And Chicken
The rich sauce for this chicken and rice meal comes from using cream and parmesan cheese. It can be quite a rich and delicious sauce with several ingredients and additions.
While heavy cream and parmesan cheese form the soul of this sauce, you can also add some chicken stock, Italian seasoning, onions, garlic, a dry white wine, chicken stock, and some peas. Actually, a lot of peas!
When it’s all cooked and done, the ingredients will add to the flavor of the chicken and rice combo. Plus, you can make it more flavorful and filling by adding more ingredients like bacon, pepper, leeks, and celery.
7. Chipotle Sauce
Sauce made from chipotle will add a deeper flavor and heat to the food. It’s a somewhat unusual addition, but it goes fantastically with the meal. Chipotle is basically smoked jalapeno peppers.
The earthy flavor and the heat from jalapeno combine really well with rice and chicken.
8. Kimchi Sauce
Kimchi is a very popular food in Korea. It’s flavorful and has a great texture. Adding some kimchi to your chicken and rice will make it more flavorful and add a nice touch to the meal.
Putting kimchi straight into the food doesn’t work as well (in this case), so it has to be prepared first. The idea is to cook kimchi with some diced onions, soy sauce, and rice vinegar to make a wonderful sauce combo that’s remarkably flavorful.
Keep in mind, kimchi itself is a wealth of flavors. While cabbages form a key ingredient, it also includes anchovy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, and a few spices. Adding it to your food promises to make it a more vibrant affair!
9. One Pan Honey Garlic Chicken And Rice
One-pan cooking is an increasingly popular trend these days. It’s simple, convenient, and can help prepare a better recipe by blending the ingredients and flavors together.
This particular recipe uses honey and garlic to add flavor to the chicken rice, while also working as the sauce to keep it moist. You’ll also need some water, rice wine vinegar, and soy sauce to round up the flavors.
While the chicken gets prepared in the oven, you can prepare the sauce in the pan first. The sauce will require water, honey, ginger, rice vinegar, garlic, and some soy sauce.
Cook the mix until it gets to the right consistency. Usually it takes about 5-7 minutes. You can cook it for longer to reduce the sauce further. The next step is to cook the rice and eventually put everything together for a wonderful meal.
10. Chimichurri (Green Sauce)
This wonderful sauce of Argentinean origin is a blend of flavors and is rather quick to make. Once you put the ingredients together, it takes just a couple of minutes to get the sauce ready.
It’s wonderful with most food, including chicken and rice. You can also use Chimichurri for basting, marinades, and similar purposes.
The key ingredient here is flat leaf parsley. Add some red wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, red onions, and other ingredients to the list.
The process is simple. Start with chopping the parsley into fine pieces, then mix it with other ingredients. Put everything in a blender and let it run until you’re satisfied with the Chimichurri!
Conclusion
Rice and chicken is a wonderful and very popular food. These two get along great and make a hearty and healthy meal. Occasionally though, you might want a touch of flavor and moisture to the recipe.
On such occasions, choosing the best sauce for chicken and rice will make things easier for you. Take a look at our recipes and recommendations here, and see what fits your style!