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This roast lemongrass chicken with turmeric coconut rice is a delicious weeknight dinner that you’ll come back to often. The roast chicken brings the umami factor while the turmeric coconut rice provides a vibrant, delicious backdrop for the chicken to shine.
Today I’m sharing one of our favorite weeknight meals--roast lemongrass chicken with turmeric coconut rice. This chicken and rice dish is on regular rotation in our house since it is easy to prepare. Once you try this dish, you’ll never look at chicken and rice the same way again!
Growing up in Vietnam, I ate rice daily. One of my favorite childhood was one pot yellow chicken rice. My mom cooked the rice and chicken with spices like curry powder, turmeric, cumin, cinnamon, and cardamom to create a beautiful aromatic one pot meal. While I love this dish, my husband and kids aren’t keen on a lot of the spices used in the yellow chicken rice so I prepared something with spices that they do enjoy.
What I love about this dish is you can marinate the chicken the night before and pop it in the oven when you come home from work. The whole chicken is marinated in a mixture of lemongrass, lime leaves, shallot, garlic, fish sauce, and yogurt overnight. The yogurt helps tenderize the chicken and keeps it moist and juicy during roasting. I like using free range chicken since its meat tend to be leaner with better texture. You can also use chicken thighs if you prefer dark meat. The lemongrass and lime leaves act as aromatics and lend an incredible fragrance to the chicken.
While the chicken is roasting, I prepare the turmeric coconut rice. I love using RiceSelect Texmati White Rice for this dish. RiceSelect Texmati White Rice is a pantry staple because it is organically grown, free from preservatives and chemicals. Like all RiceSelect products, this rice is made with superior quality and taste. This RiceSelect rice combines the nuttiness of basmatic rice with the high quality of American long-grain rice.
I used to make this dish with coconut milk but recently learned a trick from Andrea Nguyen of Viet World Kitchen to use coconut water instead for a lighter, more delicate flavor. Due to its delicious nutty flavor and unique texture, RiceSelect Texmati white rice goes so well with the sweetness of the coconut water. Along with the turmeric, the coconut water creates a fragrant and vibrant rice with a fluffy texture. This rice dish is so delicious you’ll be cooking again and again.
I the love the balance of turmeric, herbs, and richness in this dish. The roast lemongrass chicken brings all the umami factor while the turmeric coconut rice provides a vibrant, delicious backdrop for the chicken to shine. I like to serve it with steamed broccoli but you can use any vegetables you like. This roast lemongrass chicken with turmeric coconut rice is a delicious weeknight dinner that you’ll come back to often.
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If you like Vietnamese food, check out these recipes: grilled Vietnamese lemongrass pork ribs, Vietnamese shaking beef, or Vietnamese sticky wings.
Roast lemongrass chicken with turmeric coconut rice
Ingredients
Lemongrass Roast Chicken
- 1 3.5 lbs whole free range chicken
- 2 lemongrass stalks, coarse outer layers removed, top and bottom trimmed, and finely chopped (about ½ cup)
- ¼ cup marut lime leaves, roughly chopped
- 2 banana shallots, roughly chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon freshly grated turmeric
- 2 tbsps fish sauce
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ cup 2% Greek yogurt
Turmeric Coconut Rice
- ¾ cup RiceSelect Texmati white rice
- 1 ¼ cup fresh coconut water
- ½ teaspoon freshly grated turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 tbsps chopped cilantro
Instructions
Roast lemongrass chicken
- In a small bowl, combine the lemongrass, lime leaves, shallots, garlic, fish sauce, salt, and yogurt.
- Place the chicken in a large dish.
- Spread the lemongrass marinade evenly over the chicken, tucking any excess into its cavity.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight.
- When ready to roast, bring the chicken to room temperature, about 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Place the chicken, breast side down and roast for 30 minutes.
- Turn the chicken over so the breast side is up and spoon the juices over the top. Roast for another hour until the thickest part of the thigh registers 180 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer. If the chicken starts to brown too much, tent it with aluminum foil.
- Remove the chicken and let it cool slightly before carving.
Turmeric Coconut Rice
- Wash the rice in three changes of water and drain well.
- In a medium saucepan over high heat, combine the rice, coconut water, turmeric, and salt and bring to a boil.
- Stir occasionally to loosen the grains.
- Lower the heat to medium and let it simmer for 10-12 minutes or until the rice is fluffy and all the liquid has been absorbed.
- Before serving, use a fork to fluff the rice then transfer it to a serving plate and garnish with cilantro and serve with the chicken.
Lisa
The rice and chicken turned out so delicious! My kids ate them all!
SHIORI
This sounds absolutely divine! Can the turmeric coconut rice be cooked in the rice cooker?
Vy Tran
Hi Shiori! I like to cook it on the stove for the crunchy bits at the bottom but you can use the rice cooker.
Jenn
Our family really enjoyed this meal! The coconut rice was completely different from what we usually eat.