Empty-Fridge Chicken Supreme Bake

The empty-fridge chicken supreme bake is exactly what it sounds like — one pan, one hungry chef, and whatever the fridge has left to offer. Half an onion, a few mushrooms, some celery that has seen better days, and a handful of cherry tomatoes. Add a chicken supreme, some rice, a splash of stock, and thirty minutes in the oven. Midweek at Casa Adora, nothing planned, nothing wasted.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 chicken supreme, skin on, bone in
• 60g basmati or brown rice
• ½ onion, finely chopped
• ½ stick celery, sliced
• 3 brown mushrooms, sliced
• 5–6 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 small garlic clove, crushed
• ½ tsp dried thyme or mixed herbs
• 2 tsp tomato purée or 50ml passata
• 150ml chicken or vegetable stock
• Olive oil
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Pinch of smoked paprika or chilli flakes
• A handful of broccoli florets, to serve

How to Make Chicken Supreme Bake

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (fan 180°C).
2. Parboil the rice — 6 minutes for basmati, 15 minutes for brown rice. Drain and set aside.
3. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a frying pan. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and sear skin side down until golden — about 4 minutes per side. Set aside.
4. In the same pan, cook the onion, celery and mushrooms gently for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, herbs, tomato purée and cherry tomatoes. Pour in the stock and stir well.
5. Stir the parboiled rice into the vegetable and tomato mixture. Tip everything into a small ovenproof dish.
6. Nestle the chicken on top, skin side up. Bake uncovered for 25–30 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the rice is tender.
7. Steam the broccoli for 4–5 minutes before serving, or stir it into the bake for the final 10 minutes.
8. Serve with a drizzle of good olive oil or a squeeze of lemon.

The beauty of a chicken supreme bake is that it adapts to whatever is in the fridge — swap the mushrooms for courgette, the cherry tomatoes for tinned, the thyme for oregano. The method stays the same. If you enjoy cooking chicken supreme, try the Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken Suprême with Green Peppercorn and Mushroom Sauce — a more ambitious version for when the fridge is better stocked.

FOOTNOTE

This chicken supreme bake recipe is part of the Chicken Recipes hub — a complete collection of chicken and poultry recipes from Casa Adora and the road. Wonky photos, proper food, genuine adventures – The Flexible Chef.