CHICKEN AND SHRIMP SKILLET DINNER

• Slice chicken into thin 2-inch strips. Peel shrimp, leaving the tail on, and clean shrimp by running a paring knife down the back and rinsing out the shrimp vein with cold water.
• In a large skillet, add 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add chicken. Season chicken with a pinch of salt and pepper and cook for 6 minutes until chicken is cooked through (it’s okay if it’s slightly undercooked).
• Remove chicken from skillet. Add butter, onion, and garlic. Cook for 3-4 minutes, until vegetables are soft.
• Add rinsed rice to skillet and pour in chicken stock. Stir together and bring mixture to a simmer. Turn heat down to low. Add chicken back to mixture, cover, and cook for 15 minutes on low heat.
• After simmering for 15 minutes, add cleaned shrimp to skillet. Cover and cook for another 5 minutes.
• Uncover skillet and taste rice. Season with salt and pepper if needed. If the skillet has too much liquid, cook uncovered for a minute to thicken.
• Finish chicken and shrimp skillet by garnishing with fresh parsley and lemon slices. Serve skillet while warm.

For those indecisive eaters and home cooks out there, combining two proteins in one skillet is a great option. The trick to this easy skillet dinner is making sure to add the ingredients in the right order!

There are really only a few ingredients, so the flavors really shine through. Just don’t forget the lemon. It makes everything pop!

 

Slice boneless skinless chicken breast into thin 2-inch strips. You want the chicken to cook evenly and quickly.

For the shrimp, get larger ones so they won’t dry out while cooking. I like to get the 16-20 per pound shrimp, sometimes labeled “extra large”.

 

Peel the shrimp and run a paring knife up the back of each so you can rinse out the vein in the back. Sometimes you can find them already cleaned, which will save a step!

Add about two tablespoons of olive oil to a large skillet over medium heat. Once it’s hot, add the chicken and season it with a pinch of salt and pepper. You could add other seasonings if you want, but I like to keep it simple.

 

Cook the chicken for about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through. It’s okay if it’s slightly undercooked. We aren’t done cooking yet!

Remove the chicken from the skillet and add a small knob of butter to it. Then add the onions and garlic and cook until the veggies soften, 3-4 minutes. Use the veggies to gently scrape up any bits stuck to the pan.

 

After the veggies are soft, add the rinsed rice to the skillet. It’s important to rinse the rice or else it will just clump together. Stir the rice into the onions and then add the chicken stock. Bring everything to a simmer.

 

Nestle the chicken back into the skillet and turn heat down to low. Cover the skillet and let it cook slowly for 15 minutes.

After that simmering, add the shrimp to the skillet. Just kind of nestle them in there.

 

Cover the skillet and cook for another five minutes. That should be enough to cook the shrimp, but feel free to test one.

 

At this point the skillet is pretty much done! There should be a light sauce coating the rice mixture and the chicken and shrimp should be cooked through. If the mixture is too runny, remove the lid and let it simmer for a minute uncovered to thicken.

This skillet is an awesome one-pot meal. Garnish it with lemon and parsley and it’s ready for the table!