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!!
I make something very similar but first of all I saute some onion and chopped up bacon. Then I do all the rest as you say. It’s a tasty and filling meal. Thank you for reminding me about it as I had forgotten.
Bacon = extra YUM!
I add chopped garlic to the onion and bacon, use chicken broth/stock, and use smoked paprika and za’atar, then do the rest according to your recipe (sometimes along with reconstituted dried mushrooms (I have lots) along with the strained mushroom liquid). I’d also add saffron in warm water, too (again, I have lots — my pantry is almost as global as the coronavirus!).
Your pantry is IMPRESSIVE!!!!!
Hi Nagi “… the nature of what I do is changing. No more recipe development …” Are you OK? Am I the only one now worried about you? We need you, Nagi! xo Mary
Hi Mary!! I’m still here and working full time, I just feel now is not the time to be getting extra ingredients so I can test and retest new recipes like I used to 🙂 So I am sticking with recipes I already know, and being a little more frugal. That’s all! Some members of the public are also harassing people at the supermarkets who look like they’re hoarding (though really, shopping for a week for family of 5 = overloaded trolley even in normal times) and just causing a scene, I got harassed the other day with just a HAND BASKET of shopping But it made me gun-shy about buying more than the bare minimum to survive – and I only film what is on my own meal plan now! (And of course the homeless man’s! 😂) N x
Keep smiling? Husband & I clutched our sides in mirth. Thanks for recipe & the cartoons.🤣🤣
😂
thank you but no more rice even so I do love it but its fourth day am having it. Last night dear neighbour send me 2/3 serves of fryed rice. for next two days will have pasta. Magi, how about you send Dozer to me to eat……yes, …..
Dozer isn’t meaty enough 😂
I love Rice-a-Roni, especially the kind that this is mimicking. Bonus points that I have everything I’d need for this right now! I’m excited to try this soon, thank you for sharing it!
Hope you love it Keegan! N x
Nagi…thank for your “Keep Smiling” section…stay safe with Dozer. All the best to your homeless man at the dog park.
He’s good Roslyn! The whole community is watching out for him and making sure he has enough hand wash, giving him advice to keep him safe 🙂 N x
Thank you Nagi for your common sense and sense of humour. Ere this life exercise is over we may need lots more of both I remember six long years of uni and managing to get away from boring hospital meals to discover the rice in Chinese, the rice in Thai and the rice Indian curry meals ! El cheapo and actually huge fun with lowbrow rough red !! Why not again . . . love your simple recipe ! Honestly add a fried egg and a couple of green leaves and have enjoy !! . . . for those who may think me flippant . . . what is the choice . . . as we say: don’t get your knickers in a twist !
You TOO were WAY ahead of the curve Eha!!! N xx
I used to make a version of this in highschool as my lazy weekend lunch (fewer seasonings though, so I’m sure yours has much more oomph). When I told someone about it a couple of years ago they looked at me like I was crazy – now I can tell them I was just ahead of the curve! Thank you for validating my culinary life choices! XD
Ha! You were WAY ahead of the curve Alice!! 😂
Any changes if using a rice cooker?
Hi Mike! Exactly the same, but cook time will be whatever your manufacturer instructions say 🙂 Will pop this in the notes! N x