Chicken Pelau

This one-pot chicken pelau stew is flavor-packed with coconut milk, fresh thyme, tender chicken, pigeon peas, and rice. It’s the perfect stew for a quick and satisfying weeknight meal the entire family will love. 

Chicken pelau is a traditional Caribbean dish that has gained popularity among many West Indian islands, especially in Trinidad and Tobago. There are many similarities in chicken pelau with other one-pot chicken and rice dishes across different cultures but a few key components make up chicken pelau that cannot be missed including rice, chicken, pigeon peas, coconut milk, and burnt sugar. Carrots are a big part of traditional pelau as well but I’m not always the biggest carrot fan and decided that for my recipe I would omit it. I recommend adding carrots if that’s a flavor you enjoy with your chicken and rice dish. 

Ingredients you’ll need for my chicken pelau:

Chicken drumsticks 

Parboiled rice

Pigeon peas 

Coconut milk

Oil 

Fresh thyme

Garlic

Onion

Carrot

Kosher salt

Black pepper

All-purpose seasoning 

Paprika

Common questions:

Do I have to use the burnt sugar method?

No, you can either use browning on your meat or simply sear your meat until nicely browned. The burnt sugar does add a nice caramelization to the meat but it can be achieved with other methods as well. 

Can I use another type of beans?

Pelau is most traditionally made with pigeon peas but you can get creative with other beans that are to your liking for a little switch up. 

Can I use a different part of the meat? 

Yes, you can use other parts of the meat but you want to try and stick with dark meat since it’s less likely to dry out while cooking in the rice. The dish is meant to have the chicken in smaller pieces chopped up, which also cuts down on cooking time.

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Chicken Pelau

This one-pot chicken pelau stew is flavor-packed with coconut milk, fresh thyme, tender chicken, pigeon peas and rice. It’s the perfect stew for a quick and satisfying weeknight meal the entire family will love. 

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 4 -6 servings

Author natasha

Ingredients

• 1 lb chicken drumsticks chopped into 2-3 pieces
• 3 cloves of garlic minced
• ½ a white onion chopped
• 2 carrots chopped
• 2 springs fresh green onion chopped
• 1 cup parboiled rice
• 1 cup of pigeon peas
• 1 cup of coconut milk
• 1 cup of water
• 1 scotch bonnet pepper
• 1 tbsp of butter
• 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
• For seasoning chicken
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• ¼ tsp pepper
• 1 tsp all purpose seasoning
• 1/2 tsp all spice seasoning
• ½ tsp paprika
• 1 tbsp green seasoning *optional
• 4 pimento seeds *optional
• For burnt sugar method if desired:
• 2 tbsp of brown sugar
• 2 tbsp of canola oil or any neutral cooking oil that can be cooked at a high heat

Instructions

• Heat oven to 350 degrees
• Prepare chicken by chopping drumsticks into 2-3 pieces (you can keep the skin on or remove) You can also choose to keep the drumsticks whole
• Once the chicken is chopped, rinse chicken with water and pat dry with paper towel
• In a bowl, season chicken with seasoning blend and mix well ensuring to get seasoning under the skin of the chicken as well
• Set chicken aside and to a skillet on medium heat, add oil. Once the oil is hot, add brown sugar and stir until dissolved
• Add chicken to the burnt sugar and allow it to sear on each side for 2-3 minutes until golden brown
• Once the chicken is brown, remove any excess oil and add onions and saute until fragrant, about 2 minutes
• While onions cook down, rinse your rice and beans with fresh water 
• Once rinsed, add your rice and beans to the chicken with the onions and garlic 
• Stir to combine and then add your coconut milk and water
• Add in your scotch bonnet pepper, fresh thyme and pimento seeds and taste the liquid for seasoning, you can add additional salt if needed at this point. Be sure to taste the liquid for seasoning as this is the last time you can adjust
• Lastly, cover with a tight-fitting lid and put in the oven and cook for 30-25 minutes or until rice is cooked and chicken is tender and the liquid has evaporated
• Chicken pelau is done when all the water has evaporated and the chicken is pulling apart from the bone, add butter at the end and fluff rice
• Serve hot and enjoy