Chicken Legs & Herbed Rice

Bone-in legs roast on top of the rice so it cooks in the juices and the skin crisps. One dish plus the steam oven, about 50 minutes, mostly passive, for 5 adults.

Updated 2026-06-03 · v2 · chicken / rice

One dish + steam oven · ~50 min (mostly passive) · serves 5 adults · this week’s chicken Bone-in legs roast on top of the rice so it cooks in the juices and the skin crisps. No onion/garlic. Cooked unsalted so the kids and baby eat from it first; salt the adults’ share at the end.

Ingredients

• 6 chicken legs, bone-in, skin-on (~1.6–1.8 kg)
• 800 g long-grain rice
• 2 leeks, sliced
• 2 carrots, finely diced (visible — kids like it)
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1.6 L stock (homemade or additive-free)
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• 3 tbsp fresh parsley or dill, chopped
• salt + pepper, to finish
• 2 heads broccoli (+ a few carrots to steam, optional)

Method — by station

Start the rice in a large ovenproof pan / roasting dish on the hob, lay the legs on top, then the whole thing goes into the steam oven. The chicken leads the timing — broccoli joins late. Nothing is salted in the pot.

🍳 On the hob — large ovenproof pan (~8 min)

1. Medium heat. Melt the butter with the oil; soften the leeks ~5 min, without browning.
2. Add the carrots and rice; stir 1–2 min to coat. Pour in the stock, bring to a simmer over medium-high, then take off the heat.

🔥 In the steam oven (~35–45 min)

Steam oven — no preheat needed; set it going from cold.

1. Pat the legs dry, season the skin with pepper only (no salt yet), and lay them skin-side up on the rice. Don’t stir once they’re on.
2. Setting: combi 200 °C, low–medium steam (~30–40 % humidity), fan on. Bake 35–45 min, until the skin is golden and the chicken reaches 75 °C at the thickest part / juices run clear.
3. Put the broccoli (and any carrots) in for the last ~12 min. It steam-roasts at this temperature — still tender, a touch more colour. (For plain steamed veg, cook separately at pure steam 100 °C, ~10–12 min.)

🍱 To assemble

1. Fork the lemon and herbs through the rice.
2. For the 1-year-old and kids: pull the meat off a leg, check carefully for bones and cartilage, and shred. Take their rice and veg out now — all still unsalted.
3. Now salt and pepper the rest to taste. Box rice + a leg (or shredded meat) with the steamed veg.

Notes

• It’s a big batch — use a deep roasting dish (or split across two) so the rice sits in an even layer and the legs aren’t crowded.
• For extra-crisp skin, sear the legs skin-side down 3–4 min in the same pan on the hob before step 3, or finish with 3–4 min on the grill setting, no steam.
• Keeps 3 days; reheat in the steam oven, lid off, with a splash of water/stock so the rice doesn’t dry.
• Sizes vary — go by temperature, not the clock.

Changelog

• v2 — scaled up to 6 legs / 800 g rice for 5 adults; cook unsalted so the kids and baby eat first, salt the adults’ share at the end; added carrots to steam and grill-finish option for crispier skin.
• v1 — first version.

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