Spanish-style whole chicken stuffed with rice, peppers, and tomatoes, infused with herbs and paprika.
Recipe Intro
This Spanish-style roasted chicken, or Pollo Relleno al Horno is a flavour-packed dish. The chicken is stuffed with rice, tomatoes, and peppers, and once roasted, the rice absorbs all the delicious juices from the chicken. The rice is served as a side dish, making it incredibly tasty and satisfying. Perfect for both special or festive occasions and family dinners.
This dish is often prepared for large gatherings or special occasions like family celebrations, holidays, or Sunday roasts. It’s a versatile dish, as it can be easily adapted to suit different regional tastes so you can change ingredients for the stuffing.
Variations: The stuffing for Pollo Relleno can vary. In certain areas, ingredients like chorizo, nuts, or even seafood are added to the rice.
Spanish-style Stuffed Chicken Ingredients
- whole chicken – I prepared a 1.3 kg chicken, serves 2 – 4.
💡 Instead of chicken, you can prepare this dish with a turkey for larger gatherings. Adapt the cooking time and increase the ingredients for the stuffing to suit the size of the bird, making it perfect for festive occasions like Christmas.
Rice stuffing
- rice – plain white or brown rice, cooked
- onion, garlic – base for the sauce, you can also add finely chopped leek or spring onion
- peppers – bell peppers, choose your colour 🙂
- tomatoes – best use canned chopped tomatoes
- paprika – sweet or smoked paprika
- herbs – bay leaves, parsley, thyme
- vinegar – use red wine vinegar
- sugar – a small amount of sugar is added to balance the acidity of the tomatoes
- olive oil
Butter with herbs
- butter – unsalted
- paprika – sweet or smoked
- herbs – parsley
- chilli – best use chilli flakes
Optional vegetables:
I served this Spanish-style stuffed chicken with carrots, but you can use potatoes, parsnips, or courgettes.
While you’re here, explore these tasty chicken recipes from around the world 🍗🌎
– African Kedjenou-inspired chicken
– Puerto Rican chicken and potato stew
– French Hunter’s chicken with mushrooms
How to prepare Spanish-style Stuffed Chicken with Rice
1. Rice and Pepper Stuffing
- First, cook the rice in salted water, following the usual method. Once it’s done, drain it and set it aside to cool. Heat some oil in a medium-sized pan. Add the chopped onion and pepper, and fry for about five minutes. You want the peppers to release their lovely aroma.
- Once the onion and pepper are nicely sautéed, pour in the vinegar. Then, add the rest of the ingredients and leave everything to simmer. You want to cook it until the liquid evaporates and the sauce thickens. Stuffing must not be too runny, as it could ooze out of the chicken, so make sure most of the liquid from the sauce is gone.
- Once the sauce has been reduced, stir in the cooked rice and mix well. Let the whole mixture sit for around 30 minutes so it can cool slightly and firm up a bit. And don’t forget to remove the bay leaves.
2. Preparing and Stuffing the Chicken
Butter mixture: Combine the butter with the other listed ingredients until smooth and well-blended. This herb butter is used to spread over the chicken before roasting, including under the skin of the breast area. Use the butter directly from the fridge; do not melt it.
- Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper, both inside and out.
- Start by loosening the skin on the upper part of the chicken (on the breast). Gently slide your fingers under the skin to separate it. Then, place a tablespoon of herb butter under the skin and gently press it to spread the mixture evenly across one side. Repeat this process on the other side. The butter should cover the meat completely under the skin.
- Spread the remaining butter all over the chicken, and don’t forget to spread the butter over the area between the body and the thighs.
- Begin stuffing the chicken with the slightly cooled filling. Use a spoon to add the mixture in small amounts, pressing down each time to make it compact. Be careful not to overstuff, as the skin should be able to close over the filling once stuffed.
3. Prepare for Roasting
- Once the chicken is stuffed, you need to close the opening where the skin is loose near the breast. Pinch the skin together from both sides, folding it over the stuffing. Then, secure the skin by threading a cocktail stick through the folded edges, holding them tightly in place.
- Tie the legs together with a kitchen string.
- Similarly, tie the wings close to the body to ensure they stay in place during roasting.
Tying the chicken this way will prevent the stuffing from falling out while cooking, ensure the chicken cooks evenly, and prevent the meat around the thighs from drying out. This also helps keep the legs attached to the body, ensuring they don’t overcook.
- Cover the chicken with foil, especially around the legs.
4. Roasting
- Preheat the oven to 180°C. I roasted the 1.3 kg chicken for ~ 1 hour and 20 minutes.
As a general rule, roast the chicken for 45 minutes per kilogram, plus an extra 15 minutes. So, if your chicken weighs 1.3 kg, it should be roasted for 1 hour and 15 minutes, plus an extra 15 minutes – a total of 1 hour and 30 minutes. Adjust the cooking time accordingly for larger (or smaller) birds.
- For golden and crispy skin, increase the temperature to 220°C in the last 10 minutes of roasting, remove the foil and let the chicken finish cooking.
- After roasting, remove the chicken from the oven and cover it loosely with foil. Let it rest for about 20 minutes. This allows the juices to redistribute throughout the meat, making the chicken more tender and juicy. Resting also helps the stuffing firm up, making it easier to serve.
💡 What to do with leftover roasting juices
Once the chicken is done, transfer the roasting juices into a larger pot. Add the previously boiled potato cubes along with any carrots. If you’d like to include onions, add them to the pot first and sauté them in the juices for a few minutes to soften. Then, add the potatoes and carrots, and continue to sauté for 2 minutes, ensuring they are well coated in the roasting juices.
Serving Spanish-style Chicken Stuffed with Rice
Slice the chicken breasts into thin or thick slices. Alternatively, you can remove the whole breast and serve it as a steak.
Scoop the stuffing with a spoon and serve it as a delicious side dish. I also served it with some fresh cucumber slices and gherkins on the side for added crunch and flavour
Recipe Card
Spanish-style roast chicken stuffed with rice
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken
- salt, black pepper - for rubbing
RICE STUFFING
- 1 cup cooked rice
- 1 onion
- 3 garlic
- 2 bell pepper
- 400 g tomatoes
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tbsp parsley
- 1 tsp thyme
- olive oil
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 tsp sugar
BUTTER
- 50 g unsalted butter
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp parsley
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1/2 tsp chilli flakes
OPTIONAL (for serving)
- 3-4 boiled potatoes
- 2-3 boiled carrots
Instructions
- Cook the rice in salted water. Drain and cool.
- Heat olive oil in a pan. Sauté 1 chopped onion and 2 chopped bell peppers for 5 minutes.
- Add red wine vinegar, chopped tomatoes, sweet or smoked paprika, thyme, parsley, bay leaves, and sugar. Simmer until thickened, Remove bay leaves.
- Stir in cooked rice and cool for 30 minutes.
- Mix cold unsalted butter with sweet paprika, parsley, and chilli flakes.
- Loosen chicken skin over the breast. Spread 1 tbsp butter under each side of the skin. Coat the remaining butter over the chicken, including the thighs and between the legs and body.
- Spoon stuffing into the chicken cavity, pressing it down. Avoid overstuffing. Fold the skin and secure it with a cocktail stick. Tie the legs and wings with kitchen string. (see recipe post photos)
- Preheat oven to 180°C. Roast a 1.3 kg chicken for 1 hour and 20-30 minutes (adjust time for weight: 45 min/kg + 15 min). Cover with foil.
- For crispy skin, remove the foil and increase to 220°C for the final 10 minutes.
- Use Leftover Juices: Transfer roasting juices to a pot, add boiled potato cubes and carrots, sautéing for 2 minutes until well coated in the juices. Serve with the chicken.