Seasoned Rice is a homemade version of the flavoured boxed rices like Rice-A-Roni and Uncle Ben’s! A quick way to add flavour to white rice to make it super tasty, this is a rice side that’s economical, simple to make, and goes with literally everything.
Make a big batch and refrigerate 4 days or freeze 3 months.
Buttery Seasoned Rice
I tell my friends this is the rice version of Potato Salad – you make a big batch, stash it in the fridge and bring it out night after night to serve with everything.
Except unlike Potato Salad, this rice recipe can also be frozen. Whip it out of the freezer, pop it in the microwave for a couple of minutes. Anyone for a 2 minute instant side – that didn’t come from a box??!!
Rice Side Dish for everything!
Don’t get me wrong, plain rice has its place in this world. Doused with saucy stir fries, smothered in spicy curries. But you do need a sauce.
So how do you make plain white rice so tasty, you will want to eat a meals’ worth straight out of the pot?? Cook it with stock powder/bouillon, some spices and add a good wack of butter!
Flavourings and spices for seasoned rice
Here’s what goes in this seasoned rice. You can make this with any white rice other than speciality rices like risotto, paella and sushi rice. Also see the recipe notes for how to adjust this for brown rice.
Don’t worry if you don’t have all the spices, there are plenty of alternatives! See below the photo for a list.
Substitution for spices
You could skip one of the spices and it will still taste similar. Or you can substitute as follows:
Garlic powder – melt 1 tbsp (15g) butter and cook 2 finely chopped garlic cloves until golden, then add rice, water and all other ingredients and cook per recipe;
Onion powder – add extra 1/2 tsp garlic powder instead;
Paprika – just skip it, adds a touch of warm earthy flavour and a bit of colour, not critical;
Thyme – not critical. Best sub is dried oregano, followed by basil. 1/4 tsp sage powder is SO GOOD as well.
Parsley – optional, this is more for visual, to get the little green specks in the rice. Sub with basil, or stir through 1 cup finely sliced green onion, or 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley or chives.
How to make rice taste better!
Here’s how to make this flavoured rice which comes out beautifully fluffy – with the added bonus of no scorched pot base too!
Place rice, water and all the seasonings into a large saucepan or small pot and give it a good stir;
Bring to a simmer over medium high heat until there’s bubbles around the edges and the entire surface is rippling, and it foams a bit (you’ll see in the video);
Place a tight fitting lid on, then turn down to medium low – or low for strong stoves. You want the water to still be simmering – if the heat is too low, then the rice just sits there in hot water, bloating, rather than absorbing. Too high, and it will bubble over and out the sides of the pot. NO PEEKING – the lid needs to stay on to trap the steam inside – this will ensure your rice cooks evenly;
After 13 minutes, remove from the stove and let it rest for 10 minutes – the rice will finish cooking during this time (if you try the rice as soon as it comes off the stove, you’ll find the surface of the grain is wet and the inside is still uncooked);
Add butter and fluff up the rice with a rubber spatula – the residual heat will melt the butter. I recommend using at least 3 tbsp (50g) for a lovely buttery rice, but you can reduce to 2 tbsp (30g) if you want. Or sub with extra virgin olive oil, or just skip the butter – it will still be very tasty rice!
Pile onto serving platter, sprinkle with parsley or something green for presentation if you wish. Dig in!
How to properly store cooked rice
Cooked rice will keep for up to 5 days in the fridge (I say 4 to be safe). Cool the seasoned rice rapidly – tumble it out of the pot into a large bowl, or if you scaled up the batch then spread out on tray(s). Refrigerate within 2 hours of cooking.
The stories you may have heard about food safety and cooked rice revolves around large volumes of cooked rice sitting out for hours and hours, creating a cosy environment for bacteria to grow which can lead to food poisoning. This is typical of large scale cooking, not home cooking (because vast quantities of rice takes ages to cool down).
A single batch of this seasoned rice will cool to room temp in 40 minutes once in a serving bowl, so you’ll have no practical issues with storing.
What to serve with Seasoned Rice
This is a rice side dish that will pretty much go with any foods other than Asian food and curries (they’ve got enough flavour in them as it is!).
It’s tasty enough to eat plain without sauce, quick enough for midweek meals yet so good you’ll want it on the table of grander affairs too! Here’s a few suggestions for mains to serve with this:
It would also be terrific to make a meat-free meal out of things like these:
AND stuff them into BURRITOS!!
Now, kiss those boxed rices goodbye, and make a big batch of this rice and refrigerate for days, or freeze it! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Buttery Seasoned Rice
Ingredients
- 2 cups long grain white rice , uncooked (Note 1 for brown rice)
- 3 1/4 cups water (cold tap water)
- 2 tsp chicken powder / granulated bouillon , or 2 cubes dissolved in boiling water (Note 2)
- 1 tsp garlic powder *
- 1 tsp onion powder *
- 1 tsp paprika *
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme *
- 2 tbsp dried parsley *, optional
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Stir through:
- 50g / 3 tbsp butter, unsalted (or MORE!)
Instructions
- Place all Rice ingredients in a large saucepan and give it a stir.
- Bring to simmer over medium high heat (edges bubbling, entire surface rippling), put the lid on and turn stove down to medium low (LOW for strong stoves). It should be simmering gently.
- Cook for 13 minutes – do not lift lid!
- Tilt pot then QUICKLY peek to ensure all water is absorbed.
- Remove from stove, stand 10 minutes with lid on.
- Add butter and fluff rice with a rubber spatula. Serve!
- Storage – please read Note 4.
- Rice cooker – Same ingredients, water and rice ratio. Pop it all in your rice cooker and cook per manufacturer directions, stir through butter at end.
Recipe Notes:
- Garlic powder – melt 1 tbsp (15g) butter and cook 2 finely chopped garlic cloves until golden, then add rice, water and all other ingredients and cook per recipe.
- Onion powder – add extra 1/2 tsp garlic powder instead
- Paprika – just skip it, adds a touch of warm earthy flavour and a bit of colour, not critical
- Thyme – not critical. Best sub is dried oregano, followed by basil. 1/4 tsp sage powder is SO GOOD as well.
- Parsley – optional, this is more for visual, to get the little green specks in the rice. Sub with basil, or stir through 1 cup finely sliced green onion, or 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley or chives.
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
Dozer thinks the social distancing rules don’t apply to him – lucky police aren’t fining DOGS for non compliance with these new laws!!
Cooked in rice cooker for dinner tonight with roast chicken.
Used Jasmine rice, and added frozen peas, corn and carrot to the cooker. When it was finished, I added chopped roasted capsicum, and let the capsicum warm up in the residual heat of the rice.
Just beautiful, and so easy in the rice cooker
Tomorrow I will fry off chorizo sausage and add it to the leftovers.
TRADER Joe’s basmati rice says 40 minutes, Carolina organic rice says 45. Other brands I’ve used over the years always called for 40-50 minutes cooking time unless it was quick cooking rice.
Amazing recipes
This sounds really good but I have a couple of questions.
1. Can I use chicken broth/stock instead of boullion cubes? If so, should I make any adjustments?
2. Your notes say to cook brown rice for 25 minutes, but my brown rice says 45-50 minutes. Will it be cooked through in 25 minutes?
Hi Luda, you can substitute the water and stock cubes for liquid stock if you prefer. And what brand of brown ice are you using? I find mine cooks perfectly in 25 minutes. N x
TRADER Joe’s basmati rice says 40 minutes, Carolina organic rice says 45. Other brands I’ve used over the years always called for 40-50 minutes cooking time unless it was quick cooking rice.
Wow. Who knew rice could taste this good. Absolutely delicious.
Can I make seasoned rice in a rice cooker?
I made it in the rice cooker using 2 and 3/4 cups of chicken stock with the spices. Add butter & parsley or green onion once cooked. Delicious!
This was so easy and so delicious!! Your timings and seasonings are so spot on! Made this together with your roast chicken and gravy, such a yummy dinner. Thank you Nagi
Oops, gravy baked chicken, had forgotten the name. Brilliant recipe 🤗
Rice turned out so mushy even though I cut the water down to just 3 cups. Not sure what I did wrong since I followed the recipe exactly aside from using less water. I usually love your recipes but was disappointed with this one 🙁
Hi Lila, sorry you had issues here – that doesn’t sound right at all! What type of rice are you using and are you rinsing it before cooking? N x
Hi Nagi! I used long grain rice and I did rinse it before cooking. I made this with your gravy baked chicken and the chicken was 5 out of 5 stars! Thank you for responding!
Hi Lila! The rinsing is the answer here 🙂 Rinsing rice adds another 1/4 cup of water because the rice becomes waterlogged. If you reduce water by 1/4 cup it should be perfect! Oh and lastly when you reduce the heat to simmer covered, it needs to actually be SIMMERING. If it’s just sitting there doing nothing then the rice just bloats and again, becomes all mushy 🙂 N x
Can I use chicken broth/stock instead of bouillon cubes? Would it change the flavor or texture significantly? Should anything be adjusted?
I would love to make it, but don’t have bouillon or chicken powder.
Made this seasoned rice along with your Gravy Baked Chicken. The Gravy Baked Chicken is easily 5 stars! So flavorful and juicy. Definitely will make again and again.
Made the seasoned rice to go with the chicken and I was so disappointed. The rice turned out so mushy even though I only used 3 cups of water vs the 3 1/4c. Not sure what I did wrong. I really wanted to like this because it looked and sounded delicious.
Hi Lila! I’m sorry to hear you had problems. What kind of rice did you use? – Nagi x
Hi Nagi,
This looks Yummy!
Just a question, instead of Chicken-powder can I use (same quantity) Vegeta?
Thankyou
Cathy x
Hi Cathy, you can use vegeta but it’s slightly stronger than stock powders so cut the amount back to 1 tsp. N x
Thanks Nagi!
I made this tonight alongside the ‘Chicken Thighs in Gravy’
Superb!
Thankyou
Cathy
this is SO good – tonight, alongside chicken thighs marinated in the gyros yoghurt marinade, tomorrow it will star with beef schnitzel.
Awesome recipe Nagi, thank you; you rock!
Hi thank you for sharing all these delicious yummy & easy to make recipes. Tried to cook this rice for lunch & it’s amazing. ! I like cooking something that it’s achievable boost my confidence! Once again thank you . I’ve shared your recipe to my children . They are vegetarian & the first thing I’ve cooked for was the mushroom orecchiette, even my husband ate it . It’s our favourite food during family events.
Made this yesterday. Basmati rice cooked well as directed. Halved paprika for kid friendly meal. Genius move – used pan drippings from roast chicken in place of butter. Absolute knockout!
Wahoo, winner winner chicken dinner! N x
Best rice ever
The flavor was everything
I’m so glad you loved it Ursula! N x
This saved me from an impromptu dinner with a picky boyfriend! Being an Asian girl, I can’t live without rice.. but this doesn’t always please my Caucasian partner. I made this recipe last night and it was such a hit, he asked for seconds and thirds! Cooked this in the rice cooker and it turned out perfectly. I also made the Salisbury steak with mushroom gravy to go with it. Was a heavy dinner but so hearty and we had clean plates by the end of it. Thanks so much Nagi!
YESSSSS! I love hearing this Anne! N x
Made this to have with dinner tonight. Pretty good, but the texture seemed a little dry and it tasted like something was missing.
I’m definitely making it again but with a little more butter, and I might try adding 1/2 tsp cumin, or maybe some coriander, or both.
Hi Scott, can I ask what type of rice you were using?? N x
Just ordinary white rice. I probably just left it on the heat a little too long or something like that.
I tried it again tonight and it was perfect!
I made this tonight as side for drumsticks cooked on the grill. It was absolutely a hit! My fiancee loved it. My 20 month hit all of hers and proceeded to want more. This is such an accomplish right now because I feel like she hasn’t been eating much! Thank you for the wonderful and easy recipe.
Also I have been making recipes off of your site for awhile and for the most part, they turn out wonderful 🙂
I cook recipes from this site all the time and they usually turn out amazing.
The few times they don’t, well, it’s pretty easy to figure out what it’s missing.
Hi!
Hope you’re keeping safe right now.
I don’t have any stock cubes as our supermarkets have run out. Do you suggest I use liquid stock as a substitute? Thank you!
This rice is absolutely beautiful