Fluffy seasoned rice and oven roasted vegetables, all baked in one pan? YES YOU CAN! The veggie juices drip down into the rice while it’s baking so it absorbs all that extra flavour. It’s like free vegetable broth. While this Oven Baked Rice and Vegetables is great as a side, I usually have it as a meal!
And the next free eCookbook is….. drumroll please….. ASIAN TAKEOUT AT HOME!!! I’m trying to ramp up the excitement, but it won by quite a margin and everyone could see the results of the poll at anytime. So rather than a drumroll, a more appropriate sound effect was probably pfffffffff ( <– The sound of a deflating balloon, totally obvious, no? 😉)
It will largely be a collation of recipes already on my site, but I’ll add some extras that I haven’t published. And for everyone on my mail list, this new eCookbook will be emailed to you once it’s done! (And if you’re not yet on my email list, you can join at anytime. It is 100% free, always will be, no strings attached, and I pay a premium service provider too much money to protect the email details of everyone on my list so no one can ever use it. Except me – to send you recipes. And free e-Cookbooks. ❤️)
I probably should be sharing an Asian recipe to be on theme, but I’m so overdue on this Oven Baked Rice and Vegetables, I must share it today! This is a reader request – well, I should say readerS. After sharing my Oven Baked Chicken and Rice earlier this year, I had an astonishing number of people requesting a vegetable version. So here it is!
When it comes to this Oven Baked Rice and Vegetables, there is only one rule – you have to use LOTS of veggies. And I’m not just saying that to sound cheeky, I’m being serious. Because you need enough to cover the rice entirely while it’s baking. This serves 2 purposes:
Acts as a cover for the rice, allowing it to essentially “steam” like it does when cooked on the stove; and
The juices that drip from the veggies while they are roasting on top adds flavour to the rice. It’s like free vegetable broth that is all sucked up by the rice.
I used carrots, zucchinis, corn, capsicum/bell peppers, onion and cauliflower, all of which are standard for my weekly shop. I’m sure you can make yours much more exciting than mine. 😉
When you bake the rice and roasted vegetables in one pan, the reality is that there is only so much veggies that get the benefit of the beautiful oven roasting char. So when you are spreading the veggies across the top of the rice, make sure to be fair! Get a bit of each type of veggies on the surface so you get some char.
And for those veggies that can live without being roasted, like carrots, broccoli and peas, cook them IN the rice, rather than on the surface, or shove them down under the other veggies. Leave the surface for veggies that really benefit from being browned in the oven – in my world, that includes: onions, zucchinis, cauliflower, capsicum / bell peppers.
As for the rice?
It’s seasoned. It’s fluffy. It’s sucked up all those vegetable juices.
Frankly, it’s the best part of this recipe. 😉 But we must eat our veggies! – Nagi x
PS I expect many people may think of this as a side dish to pair with a protein, but in all honesty, I have it as a meal. I don’t think I’ve ever made it as a side.
PPS You won’t need a sauce with this if you serve it fresh. The roasted veggies are juicy and the rice is flavoured. But if you want a sauce, a simple yoghurt + lemon one would pair great with this. Recipe in the notes.
PPPS Those who are fans of the Oven Baked Chicken and Rice may notice that this recipe doesn’t call for the step to “oven saute” onions before adding the rice. The reason is because this recipe gets extra flavour from the veggie juices that drip into the rice while baking. 🙂
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
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Oven Baked Rice and Vegetables
Ingredients
Rice:
- 1 1/2 cups basmati or jasmine rice , uncooked (Note 1 for other rice types)
- 1 1/2 cups (375ml) chicken or vegetable broth (I use chicken)
- 1 1/4 cups (315ml) water
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 2 medium carrots , cut into 1 cm thick slices, larger pieces halved
- 30g (2 tbsp) unsalted butter (optional)
Roasting Vegetables (Note 2):
- 1 red onion , halved and cut into wedges
- 1 capsicum / bell pepper , cut into 2.5cm / 1″ pieces
- 1/2 small cauliflower , broken into florets
- 2 zucchini , cut into 2cm / 4/5″ chunks
- 2 corn cobs , each cut into 3 (6 small cobs)
- 1/4 cup olive oil , plus more for drizzling
Spice Mix:
- 1 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1 1/2 tsp thyme or other dried herb of choice
- 1 tsp garlic powder (or onion powder)
- 1 tsp salt (Note 3 for low sodium)
- 1 tsp pepper , plus extra
Garnish (optional):
- Finely chopped parsley
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200C/390F (standard) / 180C/350F (fan / convection).
- Mix Spice Mix in a small bowl.
- Place Rice ingredients in a baking dish (including the carrots), about 23 x 30 cm / 9 x 13″. Add 1 1/2 tsp Spice Mix. Stir, cover with foil, bake for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, place Roasting Vegetable ingredients in a large bowl, drizzle with 1/4 cup olive oil. Sprinkle over remaining Spice Mix. Mix well – hands are best for this.
- Remove rice from oven.
- Turn oven UP to 220C/430F (standard) / 200C/390F (fan / convection).
- Take off foil. Spread the Roasting Vegetables on top of the rice. Make sure there’s a bit of each type of vegetable on the surface. Push corn mostly under.
- Drizzle with more oil (optional), sprinkle with more pepper.
- Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, rest for 5 – 10 minutes.
- Sprinkle with parsley if desired. Push vegetables aside, fluff rice and toss it through the vegetables a bit (rice gets more flavour). Serve!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
His current favourite toy. I bet this doesn’t surprise anyone.
Doesn’t using so much liquid for the amount of rice, make the rice soggy?
Hi Norma! That’s a great observation 🙂 No it doesn’t because rice cooked in the oven requires more liquid because you lose some to evaporation, noting that baked rice takes about 3 times as long as stovetop rice 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi All those gorgeous vegetables sitting pretty on top of the rice; I love this dish! I’m with you, no need for a protein. This is a meal all on its own.
AGREED! 🙂 I love roasted veg – I can inhale an enormous pile of them! N x
It’s looking very yummy and so colourful recipe, thanks for sharing this delicious recipe.
Thanks Aria! 🙂