Chicken Machboos (Rice & Chicken Kabsa)

Chicken Machboos, also known as chicken kabsa, is a traditional spiced rice dish from the Arabian Gulf that’s aromatic and packed with bold flavor. This one-pot chicken and rice recipe is made with fragrant basmati rice, tender bone-in chicken, and a blend of warm whole spices like cardamom, cloves, black lime and cinnamon. It’s easy to make and perfect for a hearty family meal. Follow along for step-by-step instructions to master this Middle Eastern classic.

3 Secrets to Amazing Machboos:

It’s hard to beat a one pot chicken and rice dish. This recipe is deeply flavourful with perfect grains of rice, namely for these reasons:

• Cooking the rice in the same broth that the bone-in chicken cooked in, thereby extracting so much flavour.
• Whole warm spices that infuse their flavour (and must include the use of dry lime as a required ingredient… if you can find it!) into the broth and rice.

PS. once you make it, you’ll love my other similar rice dishes. More specifically the lamb kabsa and the chicken mandi, both of which are reader favourites!

Kabsa Rice’s Special Ingredient: Dried Lime

Dried lime are what make Kabsa special. I grew up on their flavour as a core part of Iraqi cuisine. The best way to extract their deeply tangy and earthy flavour is to pierce them with a knife a few times and drop them into soups, stews and rice dishes. Sometimes, if they are really hard to pierce, I submerge them in boiling water for a few minutes to soften. They can also be ground up into a powder and used as a seasoning.

Let’s Make Chicken Machboos

Grab the ingredients! Any bone-in chicken pieces will do – thighs, drums or whole legs is my preference as opposed to white meat.

Step 1: Cook down the onions and garlic and toast the whole spices.

In a large pot over medium heat, add the oil, then the diced onions and crushed garlic. Cook until the onions are translucent, about 4-5 minutes. Add the whole spices and toast them for a few minutes.

TIP: Be sure to pierce the dry lime with a knife a few times to get optimal flavour. If its too hard to pierce, submerge in boiling water for a few minutes to soften.

Step 2: Add the tomato paste, sauce, and ground spices. Then add water.

Step 3: Add the chicken. Cover the pot and cook for 20 minutes.

Step 4: Remove the chicken and strain the broth.

Place the chicken in a baking tray and bake for 15 minutes, then broil for a few minutes when ready to serve. Broiling gives it a great colour. Strain the broth and discard the whole spices and onion. Keep the liquid for the next step.

By the way – you don’t have to strain the broth and remove the chicken – you can cook the rice right in there. But through testing this recipe, I found that the rice comes out much fluffier when the broth is strained from the onions and spices.

Step 5: Cook the rice.

Place the broth back into the same pot, then add the remaining water to it. Add the rice, and mix very gently to incorporate the rice. Cover and bring the pot to a boil for 1 minute, then cover tightly and cook on low for 20 minutes.

Do not open the lid while cooking the rice (this post on rice recipes explains why and many other tips on cooking rice!).

Step 6: Prepare the garnish and serve!

Toast the almonds with a little bit of oil in a skillet until golden. Add the raisins and warm through.

Serve the machboos by first adding the rice to a platter, then top with the chicken, then sprinkle with the toasted almonds and raisins.

How to serve Machboos

To plate the dish, spoon the rice in a large tray or serving dish, removing the whole spices as you go. Then add the broiled chicken on top. Garnish with the toasted almonds or pine nuts and raisins.

Like with any other rice dish, I love serving mine with either plain yogurt, a yogurt cucumber salad, or with a simple Arabic chopped salad.

If you tried these recipes, please consider leaving a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page – I’d love to hear from you! You can also hop on over to Instagram and say hello!

4.95 from 58 ratings

Chicken Machboos (Rice & Chicken Kabsa)

Yield: 8

Prep: 10 minutes mins

Cook: 1 hour hr

Total: 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Author: Amina Al-Saigh

This chicken Machboos is a popular Arabic rice dish. Onions, garlic, dry lime, cinnamon, cardamom and bay leaves are used to perfectly spice the rice to perfection. It’s served with chicken that’s been crisped up, along with toasted pine nuts and raisins. Such a soul satisfying dish and a must try for any lover of Arabic food!

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Ingredients

 

½x1x2x

• ▢ 4 full chicken legs, skin on, bone in (you can also use thighs – add 1-2 pieces per person)
• ▢ 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• ▢ 3 medium onions
• ▢ 4 medium garlic cloves
• ▢ 3 cinnamon sticks
• ▢ 3 dry limes, substitute 2 teaspoons dry lime powder if unavailable
• ▢ 3 bay leaves
• ▢ 5 green cardamom pods
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• ▢ 2.5 teaspoons salt
• ▢ 1 cup tomato sauce
• ▢ 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• ▢ 3.5 cups basmati rice, long grain
• ▢ 4.5 cups water/broth, *note 1
• ▢ 1/3 cup raisins
• ▢ 1/3 cup slivered almonds or pine nuts

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Instructions

 

• Start by preheating the oven to 400F
• Finely dice the onion and crush the garlic
• To a large non-stick pot, add the oil and heat for 1 minute. Then add the onions and cook for 5 minutes until slightly softened
• Add the whole spices (cinnamon, cardamom, dry lime, and bay leaves) along with the crushed garlic and cook for a further 5 minutes
• Add the tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes, using a wooden spoon to smear the paste on the bottom of the pan and caramalize it
• Add the ground spices (salt, black pepper, cinnamon, cardamom and allspice) as well as the tomato sauce and 1 cup of water. Allow to simmer for 3 minutes
• Add the washed chicken legs and cover them in the sauce mixture. Cover the pot and allow to cook for 20 minutes, flipping the chicken halfway through
• Wash and rinse the rice several times until the water runs clear
• Remove the chicken legs, sprinkle with extra salt and pepper (if desired) and place them on a baking sheet lined with foil. To finish cooking them, bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until juices run clear. Broil for 2 minutes to crisp the skin
• Add the rice to the pot along with the remaining 3.5 cups of water. Mix well but gently to incorporate the rice. Cover and bring to a boil for 1 minute. Once boiling, keep the rice covered, lower the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Do not uncover the rice before the 20 minutes
• Turn off the heat and let the rice stand for 5 minutes
• Toast the pine nuts in a skillet with 1/2 tablespoon of vegetable oil on medium heat, stirring constantly until golden. This should take no more than 5 minutes
• Remove the nuts and add the raisins using the same pan. Stir on high heat for 1-2 minutes to heat through and slightly caramelize
• Open the pot and fluff the rice with a fork. Serve in a large dish, with the chicken legs on top and garnish with the pine nuts/almonds and raisins

Notes

1. The 4.5 cups of water is divided into: 1 cup to cook the chicken, then the remaining 3.5 after you strain the broth, add the broth back to the pot, then add the remaining water.
2. If you don’t have dry limes, you can skip it. It adds a unique depth of flavour that is hard to replace with other ingredients. I encourage you to find it from your local middle eastern shop!
3. If you don’t have full chicken legs, you can use thighs or drumsticks. I would not use chicken breast, dark meat will yield better results in this recipe

Calories: 523kcal, Carbohydrates: 82g, Protein: 19g, Fat: 13g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g, Monounsaturated Fat: 6g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 60mg, Sodium: 988mg, Potassium: 565mg, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 4g, Vitamin A: 275IU, Vitamin C: 15mg, Calcium: 95mg, Iron: 2mg

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