I was recently lucky enough to be sent some of the new range of meal kits and one pan rice dishes from Old El Paso.

This week, I’ve felt a bit below par and have tried to keep things simple as a result. So what better time to defrost some chicken breasts from the freezer and give their Chilli & Garlic One Pan Rice Dish for chicken a try. This one is “mild”.

It was tasty. Not so much hot and spicy, like a classic chilli or a fajita kit, but warm and flavourful nonetheless. We shared it with Little Chap, who has a fairly broad palate and is fairly good at trying new flavours for. Five year old! He tried it and did quite well with it. However, over all I think it was too warm for him o he didn’t finish it, but served with a fresh green salad it made a satisfying meal for the two of us.

All I needed to make it was my trusty frying pan (one pan dish!), that chicken from the freezer, onion and some red and yellow pepper. I didn’t have a yellow pepper and as Little Chap struggles to like them, I substituted a handful of mushrooms instead.

The instructions are simple and easy to follow. Total cooking time was about 20 mins as indicated. The kit comes complete with a packet of seasoned rice and a sachet of garlic and chilli sauce. All you do is chop the chicken and veg to suit, sauté them I. The pan and add the other ingredients provided as instructed with some water.

For a quick mid-week family meal (it served four, or in our case, two adults, one kid-sized portion and leftovers for my lunch the following day!), this was a quick and tasty way to make the most of the sort of ingredients you might have in the fridge or freezer.