Recipes Rice Pilaf Dishes

Fluffy, flavorful, and fabulous, this easy rice pilaf recipe makes a great side dish all year long. The perfect side for any protein, and a regular in your dinner rotation.

The rice is perfectly cooked and fluffy, the flavors simple and wonderful. This is the kind of side that tastes amazing but really lets the main shine. It is far better than the boxed version, but just as easy to make.

This recipe can be made in the oven, however, I find it is so easy to make stove top, why bother? But if you want to make it in the oven, then what you will do is:

Easy Rice Pilaf Recipe

Easy rice pilaf, a delicious and simple side dish with flavorful rice and orzo. Easy to make and great with any main.

Calories: 244 kcal | Carbohydrates: 35 g | Protein: 7 g | Fat: 8 g | Saturated Fat: 4 g | Cholesterol: 19 mg | Sodium: 1165 mg | Potassium: 191 mg | Fiber: 1 g | Sugar: 1 g | Vitamin A: 225 IU | Vitamin C: 10.1 mg | Calcium: 99 mg | Iron: 0.7 mg

Our recipe card software calculates these nutrition facts based on averages for the above ingredients, different brands, and quality of produce/meats may have different nutritional information, always calculate your own based on the specific products you use in order to achieve accurate macros for this recipe.

Vegetarian Rice Pilaf

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Hi, I'm Rachael, and I am obsessed with sharing quality products and solid recipes. I can work with you to develop, test and create original recipes and content using YOUR products, and share it across Eazy Peazy Mealz blog and social channels, reaching thousands of dedicated readers.This Easy Homemade Rice Pilaf is a classic rice dish that's simple to make in one pot or skillet, is packed full of flavor, and is a favorite side dish in our house!

Ahhh another fond food from my childhood that came from a box. Did anyone else grow up on (or still make) rice pilaf from a box? I have vivid memories of it when I was a kid because I absolutely loved it. But you know what I love even more? How this Easy Homemade Rice Pilaf made from scratch is almost just as easy as opening that box and will be the rice pilaf of my girls' childhood!

Herbed Rice Pilaf Recipe: How To Make It

Pilaf is actually a cooking method where the rice is cooked first in some garlic and onion (or other aromatics like shallot or fennel) and then finished in a cooking liquid, like water or stock (for more flavor). This is what makes it so flavorful and delightful - and what makes it different from your regular rice dish. This technique is also how you get that lovely fluffy texture where the rice doesn't clump or stick together.

In other regions of the world, you may encounter it as pilau (from the Indian subcontinent), palaw (in Afghan cuisine), pulao (Persian) or plav (Central Asia), and pilav (in Turkey). Nearly every region in the world has a variation of a rice dish cooked in a similar method. Some with meat, some without, and some with wheat-like bulgar.

An easy but delicious homemade pilaf though is basically made up of 5 components: Aromatics + Rice and Orzo + Spices + Cooking Liquid, and a Finishing touch.

Savory 15 Minute Rice Pilaf Recipe

Rinsing Rice: A general good practice when cooking rice. This is super simple and worth the little added effort because it removes the extra starch on the outside, which ultimately helps prevent it from getting mushy or sticking and clumping. Just add it to a strainer and run cold water over it, gently moving it with your hands. You'll see the cloudy (starch-filled) water drain. Just 15-30 seconds of this is plenty and then let drain. No need for it to be completely dry before cooking.

Step 2: Add the other 1/2 of the oil and then add your rinsed rice and stir to coat all of the rice.

This step is very important to not only building flavor but toasting the grains and coating them with oil will help prevent it from clumping.

Yellow Rice Pilaf

Step 3: Add your spices, give a mix, add the stock, cover, then sit back and relax and finish the rest of your dinner in the next 15 minutes.

Step 4: Once you have that beautiful perfectly cooked rice (thanks to you not lifting the lid or stirring it), let that rice rest. Take it off the heat and give it a couple of minutes, covered, to collect a little more of that steam into the rice. This is what will help it become nice and fluffy.

Once it's rested for a few minutes, add your fresh parsley, give it a fluff, and you have beautiful, fluffy, perfectly cooked Easy Homemade Rice Pilaf!

Baked Rice Pilaf — Let's Dish Recipes

We LOVE our 12 Finex Cast Iron for this, but you can use any nonstick deep skillet or pot with a lid that will fit 4 cups of cooked rice (at least 2 quarts).

Yes, long grain is best. Although it will greatly adjust your cooking time as brown rice to cook is usually 40 minutes. We prefer this recipe with white rice.

Be the same. While still good, when rice is stored in the fridge it'll start to dehydrate a little and it just doesn't reheat quite the same. Great for leftovers, knowing they're leftovers, but not to bring to a dinner party.

Wild Rice Pilaf Recipe (one Pot, Vegan & Gf)

Yes, you can cook some ground beef with the garlic and onion and then add the orzo and rice. We prefer this without meat, but if you're set on a meaty rice dish, then I'd suggest a Plov (Russian/Ukrainian) rice dish which uses lamb, chuck roast, or chicken, or Uzbek Plov (Uzbekistan).

No, it's not necessary, although it does remove the excess starch which will help make your rice nice and fluffy. In general, it's a good practice to rinse your rice before cooking it, although if you don't, it's not the end of the world and this recipe will still turn out great.

Rinsed Rice: Add rice to a strainer and run cold water over it and gently move it around with your hand a bit. You'll notice the water that's drained is cloudy - that's the extra starch. You could also add it to a bowl, fill with cold water, and then stir with hands to rinse, then drain water.

The Best Easy Rice Pilaf

Be sure to use a seasoned cast iron, non-stick skillet, pan, or pot with a lid. You will need something that will fit 4 cups of cooked rice, at least 2 quarts.

Let the rice cook! While it's cooking, don't open the lid and don't ever stir! This will affect the liquid to rice ratio and stirring will make the rice mushy.

Calories: 216 kcal | Carbohydrates: 38 g | Protein: 4 g | Fat: 5 g | Saturated Fat: 1 g | Sodium: 573 mg | Potassium: 120 mg | Fiber: 1 g | Sugar: 2 g | Vitamin A: 713 IU | Vitamin C: 8 mg | Calcium: 24 mg | Iron: 1 mgScented with warm spices and studded with dried fruit and almonds, this golden rice pilaf, adapted from Cooks Illustrated, pairs beautifully with grilled chicken kabobs, lamb kofta, grilled Moroccan-style meatballs or falafel. It is made with basmati rice, a type of rice grown in the Himalayas and Pakistan that is incredibly fragrant with a light nutty flavor. “Bas” in the Hindi language actually means “aroma” and “mati” means “full of, ” so the word basmati translates to  “full of aroma.” The grains are long, slender, and fluffy compared to standard white rice.

Tomato Rice Pilaf {mediterranean Rice Recipe}

Begin by rinsing basmati rice.  It only takes a minute or two — simply place the rice in a bowl with water and then swish it around to release any excess starch. Rinse the rice in several changes of water until the water runs almost clear.

Sprinkle the dried fruit over top, then cover loosely and let sit for about 10 minutes. (I use a combination of currants and chopped apricots, but feel free to use whatever you like.)

I'd love to know how it turned out! Please let me know by leaving a review below. Or snap a photo and share it on Instagram; be sure to tag me @.

Mushroom And Wild Rice Pilaf

This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe.