Nana’s Chicken and Rice in Tinfoil

I loved hearing my grandmother’s stories of how she acquired recipes, especially my favorites. This is one of my favorite recipes of all time. It is Nana’s recipe right out of the 1960s when Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup and casseroles reigned supreme. Chicken, minute rice, onions and some Campbell’s soup are baked in a wrapped tinfoil pouch. A moist chicken results with creamy rice that is crisp on the edges from the oven.

Nana acquired this recipe from her neighbor in Maine in the early1960s. She and my grandfather, mother and my three aunts and uncles went over to their neighbor’s for dinner one night. Nana liked it so much, she asked for the recipe and has made it on Sundays ever since. Unfortunately, I cannot get the name of the neighbor who gave her this recipe. This is so easy to prepare in advance and keep in the freezer. In grad school I ate this almost every night. I would make four packets on Sunday to eat throughout the week.

View more of my favorite recipes here.

Nana’s Chicken and Rice in Tinfoil

Author: Victoria
Total Time: 1 hour and 20 minutes
Yield: 4 servings 1x

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Description

The pictures at the end of this recipe are a very helpful aid.

Ingredients

Scale

Tinfoil
4 Tbsp. butter (cut into 4 equal pieces) plus more for greasing tin foil
1 large Vidalia or Sweet onion sliced in rings similar in width to onion rings
1 and 1/3 cups uncooked Minute White Rice (Separated into 4 portions)
2 cans Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup
4 1/2 Tbsp. dried Parsley
3 1/2 tsp. Ground Marjoram (Usually stores don’t have fine ground marjoram. I grind it myself with a spice grinder to create a fine powder)
A couple dashes of Poultry Seasoning
4 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs
4 capfuls Kitchen Bouquet (coloring agent)

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Instructions

Process (For the purpose of this recipe I will explain how to do one individual packet, except for the sauce which is divided among all the packets.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Cut off two, 1 1/2 foot pieces of tinfoil and layer them on top of each other as to make one larger piece of tinfoil, with enough overlapping to not worry about it opening it up. This will allow more room for the chicken and rice to spread out. (about 6 inches of overlap)
Take a stick of butter and grease down the large piece of tinfoil.
Add 1 tbsp of butter in the center of the tinfoil.
Top butter with 1/4 of the onion rings that were cut (See image below).
Pour 1/3 cup of uncooked minute rice directly on top of the onions.
Meanwhile, mix Cream of Mushroom Soup, parsley, marjoram, and poultry seasoning in a bowl to create the sauce for the chicken. (See image below for how the sauce should look. I usually add more marjoram and parsley to make it the color seen in the picture.)
Put a dollop (about 1/4 cup) of sauce mixture on top of the rice.
Place chicken thigh on top of the layered ingredients on the tinfoil.
Pour one capful of Kitchen Bouquet over the chicken and spread around with your fingers. This gives the chicken a nice browned color. (It’s more for the visual effect).
Next, add another 1/4 cup of sauce mixture on top of chicken thigh.
Assembly should go: butter, onions, rice, sauce, chicken, kitchen bouquet, sauce. (See image below).
Roll the two ends of the tinfoil together to close, and then roll the sides up. (See image below).
Place in oven and cook for one hour. (If previously frozen, cook for 1 hour and 50 minutes.)
Let sit for 5 minutes.
Open and enjoy! (Sometimes I like to pair it with some coleslaw. The cold crispness of the veggies is so tasty with the hot steaming sauce, rice and chicken!)