Chicken & Chorizo with Rice

First the disclaimer. Gary, Mark, Gerald and the rest of you who tried this dish I apologize to you now for being my white lab rats. I had no other way to gauge how the dish would tasting without having you guys taste the rice for me. Thank you for being my impromptu white lab rats.

Why were you my lab rats? To put simply I changed the recipe here and there to judge the flavors of the dish.
Chicken Broth/Bullion cubes. I first made the dish with and without chicken broth even though everyone who tasted it it was better with chicken broth (or bullion cubes).
Oregano. the original called for more than what is used I liked it better using less oregano and it seemd as if everyone else did to. But like everything this is a matter of taste, if you want more use more. :)
Sofrito. Sofrito added more flavors and give the dish a more reddish color this is in addition to the color you would get from the chorizo. The final version for the rice we had for our bbq and it was noted that the rice was killer!
Bayleaf. I don't know about you guys but I did notice a very subtle aroma but not much on the flavor department so the final version keeps the bayleaf.
Chorizo. Here is where difference might matter but I don't believe so. I used Johnsonville brand chorizo, what we (us Mexicans) are used to eating is the variety that breaks apart when cooked, this chorizo acts like the Portugese or Spanish variety in that it does not break apart when cooked. I do not believe this to be an issue in making this dish. So if you try it with the Mexican version please let me know how it comes out. I really would like to know.

Ok now on with the rest of the story!




Chicken and Chorizo with Rice

Who likes chicken and rice? A whole lot of people love this simple dish and similar one- dish meals to feed your family. While scouring the web one day for another version of chicken and rice I came upon one that called for chorizo. If you’re Mexican as I am you love chorizo. Chorizo with eggs or potatoes or mixed in with your refried beans for that matter. A dip can be made with chorizo and cheese that is very good. Well you get my drift about chorizo so let’s get back to what we were originally talking about, chicken and rice.

I had found a recipe for chicken and chorizo, which intrigued me enough to copy the basic ingredients for the recipe this is what I came up with. I don’t know if you will like it but the flavor tasted pretty good. If you like it please let me know
I modified the recipe for the electrically controlled pressure cooker; also a couple of ingredients have changed due to location and available ingredients at the time. Please do the same for this recipe to work for you.

The ingredients with "*" next to them is where I have changed the recipe so this gives you a bit of leeway in making this dish. Oh, and before I forget this recipe is for a pressure cooker, you will need to adjust the amount of water or chicken broth to have enough to cook the rice.

1 small chicken cut-up*
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup Sofrito (a little more if you like)
2 – 3 tablespoons olive oil
1 – 2 links Chorizo, sliced*
Oregano flakes (a few shakes from the bottle)
Red pepper flakes*
4 Cloves garlic, chopped
1 Medium onion, diced
1 bay leaf
1 ¾ cups uncooked rice
1 chicken bullion cube
3 cups water (if you use chicken broth you can eliminate the chicken bullion)

1. Season chicken with salt and pepper and cook in pressure cooker with olive oil. Once browned set aside on a plate and drain oil from pressure cooker.
2. Add chorizo to cooker and brown once browned removed chorizo to plate with chicken but reserve oil in cooker.
3. Add remaining ingredients except rice and broth and cook onions until transparent than add rice, broth, chicken and chorizo and cook uncovered and stir occasionally for 10 minutes than cover and cook for 8 minutes under pressure.
4. When completed let cool slowly. Than serve.


• I had a whole cooked chicken from the dining hall that I de-boned and used instead of a small cut-up chicken.
• The chorizo used is Johnsonville brand chorizo. This is a firm style chorizo unlike the Tex-Mex variety from home does not crumble
• I had no red pepper flakes on hand so I used Tony Chachere’s It is a great spice and you can find it in Kuwait)