One Pot Indian Chicken Biryani

Easy Indian Chicken Biryani made in just one pot or skillet. This delicious flavorful meal is perfect for a lovely evening in and is awesome as a meal prep recipe. While traditional biryani is made marinating the chicken in yogurt, I keep it dairy-free using coconut milk for those of us who are allergic or intolerant to dairy.

Have you ever tried Biryani?

Biryani is a classic Indian dish, which includes aromatic basmati rice studded with raisins, pine nuts, and/or almonds. It typically includes some form of animal protein, such as lamb, chicken, beef, pork, or shrimp. Said animal protein is marinated in a spiced aromatic yogurt sauce prior to cooking the dish.

I make a few changes from the authentic approach to biryani (because it’s my blog site, and I’ll get creative if I want to 😉

To keep it dairy free for myself and those who are allergic or intolerant to dairy, I use coconut milk instead of yogurt in order to marinate the chicken. If you tolerate dairy, simply replace the coconut milk with plain yogurt!

As an additional change up to the traditional version, I make everything in one pot and it cooks together. This way there is minimal cleanup and the process of preparing the dish is goof-proof. If you’d like to check out a more authentic approach to biryani, I encourage you to do so!

While it may seem like a complex dish, making chicken biryani at home is a cinch! It requires a long list of ingredients, most of which are spices, but don’t let that fool you. There is nothing complicated about preparing the meal, and all you need is one large skillet.

In fact, I posted a One-Pot Chicken Biryani  recipe years ago, but have since modified it to be even easier with fewer ingredients.

The dish is often served with a yogurt raita sauce, which I absolutely adore! I don’t often make raita myself, because – again – it contains dairy. BUT just know you can absolutely whip some up for your own adventure.

The end result is a flavorful rice dish with a nice protein infusion, which you can either treat as a main dish or a side dish. It makes for a lovely evening in for those times you’re craving takeout. 

Let’s make Chicken Biryani!

How to Make Chicken Biryani:

Transfer the raw chicken pieces to a large bowl (or a zip lock bag) with the coconut milk and sea salt. Stir everything well until the chicken is well-coated in coconut milk and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or up to 24 hours. 

Note: You can skip the marinating process entirely and go straight to cooking if you’re in a rush. If this is the case, omit the coconut milk from the recipe entirely.

Heat the oil in a large skillet (you’ll need a deep skillet with a lid that can hold liquid) or Dutch oven.

Place the marinated bone-in chicken pieces on the hot skillet and cook for 4 to 6 minutes, until chicken has browned. Flip and cook on the other side another 3 to 4 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cover the skillet. Continue cooking the chicken for 3 minutes.

Remove chicken from skillet and set aside on a plate.

Add the onion and garlic to the skillet and sauté, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add the remaining ingredients, including the browned chicken and the coconut milk from the marinade, and stir well.

Increase heat and bring to a full boil. Cook for 3 minutes at a full boil. While the mixture is boiling, stir the contents of the skillet around to ensure the rice is evenly distributed so that it cooks evenly.

Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook 10 minutes.

Turn off the heat and allow skillet to sit an additional 20 minutes, or until rice has absorbed all of the liquid. Stir well and serve with sliced almonds and fresh parsley or cilantro.

Can I use Chicken Breasts or Thighs?

You can absolutely replace the bone-in chicken pieces with chopped chicken breasts or thighs. If you go this route, you won’t need to cook the dish as long, as boneless pieces cook faster. Simply replace the bone-in chicken drums with 1 large boneless skinless chicken breast (chopped) or 1 pound chicken thighs (chopped). Brown the chopped chicken for a couple of minutes before following the rest of the recipe as normal.

Recipe Adaptations:

• If you don’t own a large skillet that comes with a lid, use a stock pot (or dutch oven) to prepare this recipe.
• Omit the onion and garlic to make Low-FODMAP.
• Replace chicken with boneless chicken breasts or thighs, lamb, or shrimp.
• Serve it up with a homemade raita sauce from My Food Story.

Also try my Indian Shrimp Biryani recipe for a shrimp version!

More Indian Recipes:

• Instant Pot Indian Lamb Curry
• Quick and Easy Chana Saag
• Indian Eggplant Curry 
• Easy Lamb Curry 
• Crock Pot Chicken Tikka Masala 
• Indian Chickpea Stew

I hope you love this chicken biryani as much as I do!

My cookbook, Paleo Power Bowls, is now available! CLICK HERE to check it out. Thank you for your support!

If you make this Chicken Biryani, please feel free to share a photo and tag @The.Roasted.Root on Instagram!

Indian Chicken Biryani

Chicken Biryani with aromatic basmati rice, sliced almonds and golden raisins

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Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes minutes

4 servings

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 to 3 pounds bone-in chicken pieces or 1.5 pounds boneless chicken thighs
• ▢ 1 cup full-fat canned coconut milk, well stirred*
• ▢ 1 tsp sea salt, to taste
• ▢ 2 Tbsp avocado oil
• ▢ 1/2 yellow onion, chopped**
• ▢ 4 cloves garlic, minced**
• ▢ 1 2/3 cups white basmati rice
• ▢ 3.5 cups chicken bone broth
• ▢ 1 tsp ground turmeric
• ▢ 1 tsp dried cumin
• ▢ 1 tsp ground ginger
• ▢ 1 tsp dried thyme
• ▢ 1 cinnamon stick
• ▢ 1/3 cup golden raisins

Toppings:

• ▢ 1/4 cup sliced almonds
• ▢ 1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions

• Transfer the raw chicken pieces to a large bowl (or a zip lock bag) with the coconut milk and sea salt. Stir everything well until the chicken is well-coated in coconut milk and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or up to 24 hours.
• Heat the oil in a large skillet (you’ll need a deep skillet with a lid that can hold liquid) or Dutch oven.
• Place the marinated bone-in chicken pieces on the hot skillet and cook for 4 to 6 minutes, until chicken has browned. Flip and cook on the other side another 3 to 4 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cover the skillet. Continue cooking the chicken for 3 minutes.
• Remove chicken from skillet and set aside on a plate.
• Add the onion and garlic to the skillet and sauté, stirring occasionally, until onion is transparent, about 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients, including the browned chicken and the coconut milk from the marinade, and stir well. Increase heat and bring to a full boil. Cook for 3 minutes at a full boil. While the mixture is boiling, stir the contents of the skillet around to ensure the rice is evenly distributed so that it cooks evenly.
• Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook 10 minutes.
• Turn off the heat and allow skillet to sit an additional 20 minutes, or until rice has absorbed all of the liquid. Stir well and serve with sliced almonds and fresh parsley or cilantro.

Notes

**If your canned coconut milk is separated (the thick white flesh is separate from the water beneath), stir it well until it's combined. You can also heat up the coconut milk in a jar in the microwave for about 20 seconds to get it to blend together.

*Omit the onions and garlic if you follow a Low-FODMAP diet.

Nutrition

Serving: 1of 6 - Calories: 324kcal - Carbohydrates: 21g - Protein: 31g - Fat: 7g - Fiber: 1g - Sugar: 1g

Course: Main Dishes

Cuisine: Indian

Keyword: baked chicken, chicken recipe, Dairy-free Chicken Biryani, indian, Indian Chicken Biryani, Indian recipe, saffron rice

Servings: 4 servings

Calories: 324kcal

Author: Julia