Lebanese Chicken and Rice (Riz a Djej)

4.41 from 15 votes

Lebanese chicken and rice, aka riz a djej, is a delicious dish made with shredded chicken, rice, minced meat, spices, and toasted nuts.

Servings:

1 whole chicken about 3 to 4 lbs in size (about 1.5 kg)
0.5 lbs minced ground beef or lamb
2 medium onions 1 chopped and used in the meat mixture, 1 whole used in boiling the chicken
2 bay leaves
2 cinnamon sticks
2 cups long-grain rice washed and drained
2 tablespoons olive oil or butter for the rice
1 tablespoon butter for toasting the nuts
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon Lebanese 7 spices
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon white or black pepper
1 cup mixed raw nuts almonds, pine nuts, cashews

Boil the whole chicken in 10 cups of water in a stovetop pot on medium to medium-high heat for about 1.5 hours covered. Add a whole peeled onion, salt, pepper, two cinnamon sticks, and two bay leaves to the boiling chicken.
While the chicken is cooking, on medium heat add 1 tablespoon of butter to the pan and toast the nuts in a skillet until they turn golden brown.
Once the chicken is cooked, remove it from the heat, wait for it to cool down then shred and set aside (save the stock).
Wash the rice and make sure you drain it really well.
Add some oil to a non-stick pan and sauté the chopped onions and minced meat.
Mix in the allspice, seven spices, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, salt, and rice. Cook everything together for a minute. Add 4 cups of the saved chicken stock to the rice mixture. Bring everything to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and cover. Cook until the rice is done (about 8 to 10 minutes).
Once the rice is done, add a layer of shredded chicken into a bowl and spoon half the rice mixture on top. Repeat this process once.
Push the mixture down into the bowl using a spoon.
Flip over onto a tray and top with the toasted nuts.

If using long grain rice, add 2 parts chicken broth to 1 part rice. For this recipe, it will be 4 cups chicken broth to 2 cups rice.
If using medium grain rice, add 1.5 parts chicken broth to 1 part rice. For this recipe, it will be 3 cups chicken broth to 2 cups rice.
Serve hot with a cup of yogurt.