Southwest-Spiced Chicken & Cumin Rice
with Roasted Zucchini, Smoky Crema & Toasted Pepitas
- Milk
Our chefs created a recipe that’s quick to cook while still capturing the bold, zesty flavors of Southwestern cuisine. Tender spiced chicken is served alongside buttery cumin-infused jasmine rice studded with crunchy toasted pepitas, plus succulent, garlicky roasted zucchini. Drizzle the chicken with a tangy, smoky red pepper crema just before serving to bring it all home for a hearty meal to remember.
Ingredients
1.5 tablespoon
Sour Cream
(Contains: Milk)
1 unit
Zucchini
½ cup
Jasmine Rice
1 teaspoon
Cumin
2 tablespoon
Smoky Red Pepper Crema
(Contains: Milk)
1 clove
Garlic
10 ounce
Chicken Cutlets
1 tablespoon
Southwest Spice Blend
¼ ounce
Cilantro
½ ounce
Pepitas
Not included in your delivery
1 tablespoon (tbsp)
Butter
(Contains: Milk)
teaspoon (tsp)
Salt
teaspoon (tsp)
Black Pepper
5 teaspoon (tsp)
Olive Oil
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Adjust racks to middle and top positions and preheat oven to 450 degrees. Wash and dry produce. • Peel and mince or grate garlic. Trim and halve zucchini lengthwise; cut crosswise into ½-inch-thick half-moons. Roughly chop cilantro.
• Heat a drizzle of oil in a small pot over medium-high heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30-60 seconds. • Stir in rice, cumin, and ¾ cup water (1¼ cups for 4 servings); bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover and reduce to a low simmer. Cook until rice is tender, 15-18 minutes. • Keep covered off heat until ready to serve.
• While rice cooks, toss zucchini on a baking sheet with a drizzle of oil, salt, and pepper. Roast on middle rack, tossing halfway through, 14-16 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat a large dry pan over medium-high heat. Add pepitas and toast, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and browned, 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
• Pat chicken* dry with paper towels and season all over with Southwest Spice Blend, salt, and pepper. Sprinkle with cilantro. • Heat a large drizzle of oil in pan used for pepitas over medium-high heat. Add chicken and sear until browned, 1-3 minutes per side. Turn off heat. • Transfer chicken to a second baking sheet. (TIP: For easy cleanup, line baking sheet with aluminum foil first.) Roast on top rack until cooked through, 6-8 minutes.
• While chicken and zucchini roast, in a small bowl, combine red pepper crema and sour cream. • Fluff rice with a fork; stir in toasted pepitas and 1 TBSP butter (2 TBSP for 4 servings). Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Slice chicken crosswise. • Divide rice, chicken, and roasted zucchini between plates. Drizzle chicken with smoky crema and serve.
Chicken is fully cooked when internal temperature reaches 165°.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Dec 2025- Flavor: Many loved the smoky Southwest spices and creamy sauce, though some found it bland and wanted more depth.
- Ease of prep: Customers appreciated how quick and simple this meal was to prepare, with clear instructions.
- Suggestions: Consider adding lime or hot sauce for brightness; some preferred the chicken cut up bowl-style.
- Portions: Several wanted more zucchini; a few felt the chicken pieces were too small.
- Rice: Opinions varied widely; some loved the cumin and pepitas, while others found it bland or odd-textured.
Reviews from our home cooks
I have never had so much Cumin in my food before, that spice pallet is different and I really enjoyed the rice with the Pepitas... I LOVED the Pepitas. So unexpected and awesome. We are huge fans of Zucchini at our house and we had never cooked it this way before. The whole meal was delicious.
Easy prep & cook. Very tasty - the pepita seeds added a delicious roasted element to the rice. The cilantro on the chicken was pointless though...couldn't taste it and it just fell off mostly. Chicken would be fine with just the southwest seasoning. Would order this again. A+
Toasted pepitas was new and really added to the rice. Zucchini roasted in oven - very easy and tasted good. Super simple combining of crema and sour cream together for the cumin covered cooked chicken.
Totally delicious. The roasted pepitas absolutely MADE the rice and I happen to love cumin, so the various spices in this dish were right up my alley.
This was just okay. Probably our least favorite of all meals we've had so far. The rice was bland and the zucchini portions were tiny! We received 2 tiny zucchinis for 4 people and they shrink! Not nearly enough. Also, we weren't crazy about the southwest seasoning on the chicken. It was just boring. We really liked the pepitas and cream sauce, which saved this.
I liked that the rice was more than just plain rice with S&P and butter. The chicken was perfect, not overly cooked and the creamy sauce added another level of flavor. All the veggies are always fresh.
New favorite!! Loved the flavors of the rice & chicken. The red pepper cream sauce was a nice accompaniment. Easy to make. Really hope to see this one again.
This was good, but with all of the spicy and rich flavors, it really needed some acid to lighten it up. I used a little bit of lime juice on the chicken, and if I'd had some zest, I'd probably have put a little into the rice, too.
I would have liked a little forewarning that the pepitas sound like popcorn as they're roasting, but beyond that, this recipe is delicious and fantastically simple. Everything balances nicely and I threw the cilantro in the GARBAGE WHERE IT BELONGS.
Loved that this was easy to make, delicious and pretty healthy. I am just disappointed in the portions. The chicken breasts provided were very small. There was only 1 small zucchini provided for 2 adult meals. I had to supplement with additional zucchini and I should have defrosted my own chicken to add to this. So I liked the recipe but it was not enough for 2 adult meals.
