Chicken Perloo
Updated March 20, 2024
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Prep Time
- 10 minutes
- Cook Time
- 50 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
Advertisement
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.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Private Notes
Leave a Private Note on this recipe and see it here.
Cooking Notes
Jane in Charleston SC
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?
Bob in Charleston SC
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.
Ty Ty
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.
Brooks in Brooklyn
"It would loan money to gumbo." It's comments like that that make me absolutely love this column -- and of course the amazing recipes. Looking forward to making this one!
BJ
Add sausage and you will have chicken bog, another SC Lowcountry favorite.Most people I know make this with ordinary long grain white rice.
Virginia
This recipe is super yummy and satisfying but a word about the rub recipe included in the tip. Monosodium glutamate (MSG) causes a severe reaction in some people — I am one of them and it makes me very sick for at least a couple of days. No, it’s not a myth! It would be wise to mention in the recipe that some people have very bad physical reactions to MSG.
ccbanana
Is it just me or would this be delicious with shrimp?!
KPC
I use bacon fat rather than olive oil and the bacon crumbled as a garnish. It adds some of the smoke and a textural interest to an essentially gloppy comfort food.
Eric Kim
Hi Les, I would go for smoked paprika, personally, if you don't mind that flavor (the way fire tastes). The chili powder is a reference not necessarily to powdered chile peppers, but to the spice blend that often goes into the dish chili (con carne). All this to say, whatever you prefer.
Florian
Grew up in the beautiful Lowcountry. Nothing compares to Charleston rice, but if I’d imagine it’s hard to come by for people not in the area of influence. Also, for what it’s worth, never known it to be spelled like this. I imagine it is spelled different ways as many things are in the Gullah Geechee culture since recipes are verbally passed down from those enslaved, thus we have several variations of the phonics. Perleau is how I know it to be. But amazing, nonetheless.
Kath
Nice quick recipe for Perloo. If you have the time, you can put half a chicken (pieces) in the chicken broth with the celery tops, and onion and some garlic and simmer until the chicken is cooked through. Pull the chicken, strain the broth and then proceed as directed. You will have a lot more flavor in the finished dish.
Rsp
Cooked chicken gets way too dry. Add it when the rice is about half cooked
Suzanne A
Why not just finish cooking on top of the stove?
Rsp
Also agree with the comment that 6 cups of stock makes a very soupy dish. Start with 3.
Mike
Perloo around my part of SC always contains sausage or bacon or both, and no garlic.
Terry S
I used about tsp each of brown sugar meat rub, Creole seasoning, and smoked paprika, used Jasmine rice on the cooktop (too hot to turn on the oven) and it came out really well. Delicious!
Gabe R
The recipe as written is a bit of a disaster. Reduce the liquid by at least 1.5 cups, make sure the celery is equivalent to the onion and green pepper (my 6 stalks were far too much) and double the sugar if you’re making the rib rub from scratch (MSG is perfectly fine and naturally occurring, any issue is either psychosomatic or rooted in racism). It’s basically lowcountry jambalaya, use whatever long grain rice you want. I encourage folks to watch Rodney’s YouTube video instead of this recipe.
Therese
Excellent! can't wait to try with shrimp or sausage too!
INP
Delicious chili day recipe. Did not use MSG as I usually have a reaction. Saved the remainder of the run for a later pork rub.
Janice LA
Picked up some Carolina Gold rice when last in Charleston. This is the second Perloo recipe I’ve tried. They’ve both been okay, but I think I’m looking for something with a little more spark. Any suggestions for other dishes that traditionally use Carolina Gold? Thanks!
Jim S.
I agree that the recipe, as written, needs a little oomph! Frank's hot sauce did the trick for me. A nice spicy, vinegary note added at the table. Polish sausage added as well. Delicious!
leslie
Unreal. One of my favorite things I’ve ever made. I used the spice rub provided minus the MSG and with half the cayenne. I used another commenter’s suggestion to pull the chicken in the afternoon and use the carcass to make a homemade stock with some frozen veggies I keep in the fridge for this purpose. LOVED the 6 cups broth. THANK YOU for this recipe!
rose
This was delicious. I cut down the chicken stock to 4 cups and used regular long grain white rice based on comments. I didn’t have smoked chicken so I used some diced ham. My rib rub spice was from Salt Lick in Austin. I sprinkled in some smoked paprika for just a hint of smokey flavor. I will make it again!
Nikki D
Used a can of diced tomatoes, leftover shredded chicken breast (made in slow cooker) and regular white rice as I already had these on hand. Love a one pot meal for easy cleanup. It was easy and delicious, will make again.
Ann Marie
I have never had Perloo, nor have I ever heard of it. But his looked like a nice and easy weeknight meal. And it was. It was quick to put together and was delicious. I will definitely make this again and probably add more smoked paprika since I had a hard time finding smoked chicken.
MR from Oaktown
This was very tasty but it definitely took more than 1 hour to make. Every stage took longer than described--a total of an hour and a half for me. Totally worth it, just plan your timing accordingly!
SBG
My husband actually cooked this from the recipe that was in the New York Times magazine last weekend. We read the reviews on my New York Times cooking subscription and as suggested added the cooked andouille sausage. It was quite good and he will make it again!
Catarina in New Mexico
This is not a regional dish for me but my mother made jambalaya often so I took the lead from there. I also double and triple checked the amounts of rice and stock called for and agree that next time I will either add two cups of rice or throttle back the stock to 3-4 C. I did add some smoked sausage for good measure and it worked for me. For a New Mexico twist, I garnished with ripe avocado slices. Real comfort food!
Iris
Subbed a cup of white wine for a total of 4 cups of broth. Delicious! I will try using the full 6 cups of broth next time to make it soupier.
Catherine
Too starchy. Needed a lot of hot sauce. Added ham
David B.
Made this for the first time this week. Based on some of the comments I put in just 4 cups of stock, but I think I'd prefer it to be a little soupier so might use 5 or 6 cups next time. It was a little too bland for me, so I might add more of the spice rub next time (I made the homemade rub in the recipe's notes).
Private notes are only visible to you.
Advertisement
