Hainanese Chicken in Rice Cooker

Making Hainanese chicken has never been easier. This one-pot rice cooker dish is delicious, requires little prep, and done in as quick as 30 minutes. 

(Love quick and easy meals? Try mandu rice or dumpling rice. You cook it in your rice cooker too!)

Hainanese chicken is a dish named after Hainan, a province in China. 

However, it’s become so much more popular in Southeast Asia, specifically Singapore, where it’s considered one of their national dishes.

I love this dish but I find the traditional way of making Hainanese chicken (or Hainan chicken) beyond my capabilities as a novice cook, so I’m very happy to have discovered a much easier way to make it using a rice cooker.

Same delicious flavors, a breeze to make.

Let’s get to it.

Why you’ll love rice cooker Hainanese chicken

• Perfect for non-cooks. Can’t cook? Me neither. But I can make meals using our rice cooker and they are delicious! 

• Easy weeknight meal. This is also perfect for busy weeknights or those days when you just don’t have the energy to cook. Just put everything in your rice cooker and you’re done! Delicious 1-pot dish.

• Easier to make than traditional Hainan chicken rice. But it’s just as tasty.

How to make

Hainanese chicken is a delicious fusion of Asian flavors like ginger, garlic, sesame oil and scallions or green onions. You can find the full ingredient list in the recipe card at the bottom of this article.

Ingredients

A few thing to note:

• Rice — we eat basmati rice and jasmine rice at home so those are what I use when I make this recipe. You can use long grain rice, too. Just don’t use sticky rice. 

• Chicken — we use boneless, skinless chicken thighs. You can choose to use chicken breast and/or keep the skin; just make sure to remove the bones so the chicken cooks through.

• Chicken broth — we also use chicken broth instead of water to cook the rice for added flavor. You can also choose to cook with just water, just season accordingly.

• Garlic and ginger — I use pre-minced ginger and garlic available in bottles but if you have the knife skills (which I clearly don’t have lol), go ahead and use fresh.

Tools

We have a Tiger rice cooker that has different settings. When making rice cooker Hainanese chicken, we select “plain” then press start.

If you have a simpler rice cooker, all you need to do is flip the switch to cook.

You can also make this recipe without a rice cooker. 

Simply follow the recipe as written then just check for doneness yourself (allow for roughly the same amount of time that it usually takes your rice to cook).

One pot cooking with your rice cooker

Easy, right? Here are some things to remember when making rice cooker dishes:

• Know your rice cooker. If you have a simple rice cooker, all you need to do is flip the switch and cook the rice. If you have a more feature-rich one, you’ll need to be familiar with all the settings available to you. For our rice cooker, it specifies that we use the “plain” setting.

• Rinse your rice properly. It’s also important to rinse your rice properly. And depending on the rice you’re using, you may also need to soak it in water before cooking.

• Use the cup that came with your machine. In all my rice cooker recipes, when I say “cup” I mean the cup that came with your rice cooker and not your usual baking cups.

Recipe FAQs

What to serve with Hainanese chicken rice

This recipe is a complete meal and goes well with:

Try serving with a side of ninjin shirishiri (sautéed carrots and scrambled eggs) or Instant Pot green beans and bacon, too.

I love making Hainanese chicken rice in our rice cooker. It’s so easy but so flavorful! 

Perfect for lunch and dinner and every time you’re craving for a simple but delicious Asian dish.

Happy cooking!

Did you make this recipe for Hainanese chicken in rice cooker? I’d love to hear all about it! Leave a comment or a star rating below. You can also tag me on Instagram or Facebook. I’d love to see your creations!

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