Rice cooker chicken rice is the ultimate lazy-but-delicious meal. Just toss everything in the rice cooker, press a button, and let it do its thing. The result? Fragrant, perfectly cooked rice infused with ginger, garlic, and broth, topped with juicy, tender chicken. A drizzle of chilli crisp and fresh spring onion takes it over the top.
Category
Dinner
Servings
1
Prep time
5 minutes
Cook time
25 minutes
Rice cooker chicken rice for one? Just toss everything in the rice cooker, press a button, and let it do its thing. The result? Fragrant, perfectly cooked rice infused with ginger, garlic, and broth, topped with juicy, tender chicken. A drizzle of chilli crisp and fresh spring onion takes it over the top. Very quick and easy recipe to make for dinner.
What is Rice Cooker Chicken?
Rice cooker chicken rice is a simplified home version of Hainanese chicken rice, one of the most widely eaten dishes across Southeast Asia. The traditional version involves poaching a whole chicken in seasoned broth and using that broth to cook the rice. This single-serve version condenses the process into one bowl: the chicken thigh sits directly on top of the jasmine rice as it absorbs the chicken bone broth, picking up all the aromatics as it cooks. The rice comes out fragrant and glossy, and the chicken is tender and well seasoned with ginger, garlic, and spring onion running through every bite.
The bone broth replaces plain water, which gives the rice a richer flavour and a slightly more unctuous texture from the collagen. It can make the rice a touch stickier than usual, which is normal. If you prefer it fluffier, reduce the broth by about a tablespoon. Sesame oil is rubbed onto the chicken before it goes in, adding fragrance and helping the skin brown slightly from the residual heat. Chilli crisp and the optional spring onion-ginger hot oil are the finishing touches that give the dish its punch.
Ingredient Notes
Jasmine rice: Long-grain Thai fragrant rice with a natural floral aroma that works well with the ginger and garlic in this dish. Don’t skip the rinse: washing the rice two or three times removes the excess surface starch that would otherwise make it gluey in the cooker.
Chicken bone broth: Used instead of water to cook the rice, adding a richer base flavour and a silkier texture from the collagen. Standard chicken stock works just as well. The ratio here follows the standard jasmine rice cooking ratio, so you don’t need to adjust anything else when swapping stock for broth.
Yum Yum seasoning: A savoury MSG-based seasoning powder common in Southeast Asian cooking. It adds umami depth without needing multiple spices. Available at Asian grocery stores. If you can’t find it, a small pinch of chicken powder or a dash of soy sauce gives a similar savoury hit.
Equipment
- Rice cooker
- Chopping board
- Chef’s knife
- Peeler (for ginger)
- Small bowl
- Fork (for fluffing rice)
- Tongs or fork (for handling chicken)
Ingredients
- ½ cup (90g) jasmine rice
- ½ cup (120ml) chicken bone broth or chicken stock
- 1 chicken thigh (skin on or off, as preferred)
- 2 spring onions – whites cut into 2cm (¾ inch) batons, greens finely sliced
- thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, sliced
- pinch of salt
-
small pinch of Yum Yum (MSG) seasoning
-
1 tsp sesame oil
- chilli crisp, to finish
- green oil (spring onion-ginger hot oil), optional
Directions
Add the rice to your rice cooker bowl and rinse under cold water two or three times, draining off the water at the end.
- Pour in the chicken bone broth or stock, swirling to ensure all the rice is evenly covered.
- Add the spring onion whites, sliced ginger, sliced garlic, salt, and Yum Yum seasoning.
Rub the chicken thigh all over with sesame oil and place it on top of the rice (place skin side up if using skin on chicken).
- Start your rice cooker and run it through one full cycle.
- Once finished, open the cooker and let the rice sit for a few minutes to steam off.
- While waiting, finely slice the green part of the spring onions.
- Remove the chicken, then fluff the rice with a fork.
- Slice the chicken (removing the bone if necessary) and place it on top of the rice.
- Garnish with the sliced spring onion greens and a drizzle of chilli crisp.
Recipe video
Recipe notes
Rice cooker settings
Use the standard white rice setting. If your cooker has a “quick” or “express” option, avoid it as slower gives better flavour and texture.
Chicken doneness
The chicken should be fully cooked at the end of the cycle, but if you're unsure, check it’s opaque all the way through and juices run clear. Pop it back in for a few more minutes if needed.
Rice texture
Bone broth adds richness but can also make the rice slightly stickier than usual, that’s normal. If you prefer fluffier rice, reduce the broth slightly (by about 1 tbsp).
Storage
Leftovers keep well just store the chicken and rice separately in the fridge and reheat gently to keep the rice from drying out.
FAQs
Can I scale this up for more people? Yes. Scale the ingredients proportionally using ½ cup of rice and ½ cup of stock per person, and use a larger rice cooker. If the chicken pieces can’t sit in a single layer on top of the rice, cut the thighs in half so they cook evenly.
Can I use a different cut of chicken? Bone-in, skin-on thighs give the best flavour and stay juicy through the full cooker cycle. Boneless thighs work well too. Avoid breast on its own as it tends to dry out. If using bone-in pieces, check doneness before serving as they take slightly longer.
What is green oil / spring onion-ginger hot oil? It’s a condiment made by pouring hot oil over finely chopped spring onion and ginger, which gently cooks them and creates a fragrant, punchy finishing oil. It’s a classic accompaniment to Hainanese chicken rice. You can make it at home by heating a neutral oil to smoking point and pouring it over the aromatics, or find it bottled at Asian grocery stores.
