Easy Rice Pilaf:
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.
Pair it with your favorite protein like Smoked Pork Butt and serve with chocolate cupcakes and peanut butter frosting for dessert.
What is the rice pilaf method?
The rice pilaf method is a method for cooking rice that involves using aromatics (garlic and onion), and some oil, and specific steps for cooking the rice to get a fluffy, tasty rice.
Essentially, professional chefs cook rice in different ways to achieve different results. Which is why you can get things like risotto which is rice that is high in starch, and creaminess, that is rich and saucy. But a pilaf is not creamy, it is textured, fluffy rice, with distinctive pieces.
What rice to use?
The pilaf method should be used when cooking with long grain rice.
- Start by first cooking garlic and onion in oil. Garlic and onion are your aromatics. They add flavor.
- Then you add your rice to the pan and stir it so each grain is coated with the oil and is shiny. This is called pearling, and is part of what helps the rice stay separate once it is cooked. This gives you a nice flavor to as you toast the rice. But in this recipe, we do that to the orzo, and just pour the rice in. So easy!
- Add texture: In this recipe we add some orzo in to give a difference in size and texture.
- Fluff with a fork: Once the rice is cooked in the liquid of your choice, you have to uncover it and fluff it with a fork to allow the steam to escape. This is a critical step because if you don’t do this, the steam will continue to cook the rice, and you will end up with mushy, overcooked rice as a result.
For this recipe we add some orzo pasta, which looks like a very large grain of rice, and is toasted to a golden brown to add some color and dimension to this side dish, as well as a fun texture.
How do you make rice pilaf in the oven?
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:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Follow recipe directions through step 4, where you have your rice and aromatics in a pan.
- Then add your liquid and transfer to an oven safe cooking dish. Cover with foil.
- Cook in the oven for about 35 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, fluff with a fork, and continue with step 7 in the recipe card.
Serve Rice Pilaf with:
- Lemon Butter salmon and Asparagus Foil Packs
- Skillet Honey Mustard Chicken
- Healthy Lemon Skillet Chicken
- Salmon with Creamy Lemon Dill Sauce (Keto)
- Honey Dijon Chicken Cobb Salad
Or Try this Wild Rice Pilaf for a fun change to rice pilaf.
Easy Rice Pilaf
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup orzo pasta
- 1/2 cup onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 cup white long grain rice uncooked
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Dried Parsley
- ¼ cup Parmesan Grated
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium-low heat, melt butter *Note, you need a lid for the skillet for later
- Add orzo pasta to butter, and cook and stir orzo until golden brown.
- Once orzo pasta is golden, stir in onion and cook until onion becomes translucent.
- Add garlic and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
- Add in the rice, and stir to coat with oil. Add chicken broth, salt, and parsley. Stir well, then increase heat to high and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, reduce heat to medium-low, cover skillet with lid, and simmer until the rice is tender, and the liquid has been absorbed, 20 to 25 minutes.
- Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minute
- Stir in parmesan, then fluff with a fork.
- Taste, and adjust seasoning as needed.
Video
Nutrition
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.
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Nancy Banning says
This is our family’s favorite side dish, so good and easy to make!
Myndeigh says
This is the best rice pilaf and so easy to make. Its my go to side dish
Rachael says
Thank you, agreed, we make it all the time too!
Joe says
Made this last night. Everyone loved it! Any recommendations for extra add-ins? Will definitely make again soon.
Rachael says
You can add roasted vegetables to it as well. Sometimes we add small diced carrots etc. I am so glad you enjoyed it.
deb says
This was a great side dish. Very flavorful. I let shallots get crispy and added some peas for color. Family ate it right up.
Mary Kling says
This was AMAZING.
I just ate some of last night’s leftovers for breakfast this morning, because I couldn’t wait for lunch.
This is a new go to.
Rachael says
I love hearing that. We love it too!
PJ says
How much liquid I need if using the rice cooker after browning the rice?
Rachael says
I haven’t tried it that way, but thanks for sharing your experience.
PJ says
I love it. I made it using onion and garlic powder. After browning the orzo and rice on the stove I transfers to rice cooker. I didn’t have to reduce the amount of the broth. It was not mushy but slightly different from stove top for sure. I probably prefer stove top if I’m not rushing and need to make large crowd. I will make this for school lunch to go with chicken nuggets and steam broccoli. Thanks for the recipe!
Rachael says
Love it! Thanks for sharing. I am so glad you liked the recipe.
Julie says
Great recipe but we found it was too salty. I would leave out the salt because the broth has salt as well as the Parmesan! Another idea is to use low sodium chicken broth!
Briana from Texas says
This is my go-to recipe for rice pilaf. My husband and son love it. They told me to never lose this recipe. The only thing I do differently is that I leave out the grated parmesan – just a personal preference.
Kathy says
Wonderful Rice! Love it!
If you double the recipe, how long would I cook it?