Chicken Perloo

Updated March 20, 2024

Chicken Perloo
Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Andie McMahon.
Total Time
1 hour
Prep Time
10 minutes
Cook Time
50 minutes
Rating
4(774)
Comments
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The supremely comforting one-pot rice dish, perloo (pronounced every which way, including PER-low, PER-la and per-LOO), is a Lowcountry staple with roots in West Africa. This Charleston version from “Rodney Scott’s World of BBQ” by Rodney Scott and Lolis Eric Elie (Clarkson Potter, 2021) calls for two key ingredients: Charleston Gold rice, an heirloom grain, and leftover smoked chicken. Feel free to use arborio rice or another short-grain variety if you can’t get Charleston Gold; and you can buy the smoked chicken from your local smoke shop or BBQ restaurant, or in a pinch, use grocery store rotisserie chicken. You’ll just want to compensate for the absence of smokiness by adding a pinch of smoked paprika, a whisper of fire. —Eric Kim

Featured in: A Supremely Comforting One-Pot Rice Dish

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • ¼cup olive oil
  • 6celery stalks, cut into ¼-inch pieces
  • 1large green bell pepper, cut into ¼-inch pieces
  • 1medium yellow onion, cut into ¼-inch pieces
  • 3large garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1(14-ounce) can stewed tomatoes
  • 2teaspoons dry rib rub spice (see Tip)
  • Salt
  • 6cups chicken stock (see Tip)
  • 1cup Charleston Gold or arborio rice
  • 12ounces smoked or rotisserie chicken meat, pulled into large pieces (from roughly half a bird)
  • Chopped scallions, for garnish
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

728 calories; 34 grams fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 17 grams monounsaturated fat; 5 grams polyunsaturated fat; 63 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 11 grams sugars; 41 grams protein; 1846 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

  2. Step 2

    In a Dutch oven or other large, heavy pot, heat the oil over medium. Add the celery, bell pepper, onion and garlic, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables become translucent and soft, about 10 minutes.

  3. Step 3

    Add the stewed tomatoes, rib rub and a pinch of salt to the sautéed vegetables and cook, stirring occasionally, until all the liquid is gone and the mixture begins to caramelize on the bottom of the pot, about 10 minutes.

  4. Step 4

    Add the stock and bring to a boil, raising the heat if needed. Stir in the rice and smoked chicken and transfer to the oven.

  5. Step 5

    Bake, uncovered, until the rice is soft and cooked through, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, season with salt to taste and garnish with the scallions.

Tips
  • You can buy and use any dry spice mix meant for ribs or you can make your own according to Rodney’s recipe: Mix 2 tablespoons kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal), 1 tablespoon MSG, 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper, 1 tablespoon paprika, 1 tablespoon chili powder, 1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar, ½ tablespoon garlic powder, ½ tablespoon onion powder and ¼ teaspoon cayenne.
  • If you have some leftover potlikker (the leftover liquid after you cook a pot of greens or beans), use that instead of chicken stock.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
774 user ratings
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Comments

Plenty of "genuine" Perloo recipes out there call for 5-6 cups. Why not just say, "some of us like our Perloo with less stock," instead of throwing shade at the recipe?

Six cups of stock is way too much. Three cups is more than enough if you want genuine Perloo. If you want chicken, rice, and tomato stew, use 6 cups.

Made this and it was great. Not much smoked chicken in these parts so I used rotisserie. I had home made stock frozen so I put it in the Instant Pot and chucked in a smoked ham hock to get the smoke flavor. Only thing I added was some collard greens and dayum, real good.

This is not the Perloo I once enjoyed in Charlotte, NC. Way too much chicken broth, not enough rice. More like a soup than a stew. Was skeptical of the 6 cups of chicken broth. I followed the recipes to a T and was disappointed in the results. Would use less broth and add another 1/2 cup of rice and another 4 ounces of chicken at least. Seasonings were very good. Will tweak this to my taste.

Arborio rice would not work as a substitute for Charleston Gold. Use another long grain rice. White Bastmati perhaps.

Thank you Eric Kim and NYT Cooking. I watched the fun and informative video on rice and chose Chicken Perloo as the first thing to try. I just moved to France three months ago so this is my first truly American meal. Perfect for a No Kings weekend!

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Credits

Recipe from “Rodney Scott’s World of BBQ” by Rodney Scott (Clarkson Potter, 2021)

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