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How to Make the Best Rice Pilaf At Home: An easy guide to a mouthwatering rice pilaf side dish. This recipe is made with tender long grain rice and small spaghetti pieces flavored with onion, garlic, salt, and butter.
Bonus: There are directions for both the Stove Top and your Instant Pot!
Best Rice Pilaf Recipe
If you’ve ever thought that rice was a plain, nothing-special side dish, then this recipe for rice pilaf is about to drastically change your mind.
This rice pilaf is the best rice recipe. It’s the perfect blend of textures and flavors. The rice is tender and fluffy, is largely hands-off cooking time and is flavorful thanks to added onion, garlic and toasted noodles.
What is Rice Pilaf?
Rice pilaf is a simple but flavorful rice dish that’s made with long grain rice cooked with small pieces of toasted pasta and sautéed garlic and onion.
How This Recipe Became A Staple
Years back we were lucky enough to have a fabulous recipe developer on our team, Kelli. Kelli’s husband made a version of this rice that instantly became a favorite in their home and with their friends and family, and then became a stale with my family! Kelli then shared this recipe with all of you here, and it’s an absolute hit!
We use gluten-free spaghetti, and it’s quickly fried in oil that transforms it into something different with a fabulous toasted flavor. There isn’t anything difficult to cook in this recipe, but it is all about building flavor with a few tricks to make the best rice ever.
This dish is so good it could be eaten simply on it’s own, or in our family with two toddlers topped with a fried egg and happily eaten as dinner (and then remade into a new dish the next day such as a stir fry).
What is Pilaf Rice Made Of?
- Olive Oil: You’ll need just a touch of olive oil to sauté the dry spaghetti noodles before proceeding with the recipe.
- Spaghetti: I use gluten-free spaghetti, broken into 1″ pieces.
- Aromatics: We’re creating the best flavor base with the classic combination of onion and garlic.
- Rice: Be sure to use long grain rice. I use long grain white rice, but jasmine or basmati will work too; they will just have slightly different flavor profiles.
- Water: You’ll need 4 cups of water to cook the rice and the spaghetti.
- Salt: Enhances the flavor of the pilaf.
- Butter: Butter is optional, but does add a delicious flavor depth.
How to Make Rice Pilaf
This rice pilaf recipe is super simple to put together. Just 5 minutes of prep needed!
- Rinse the rice: Fill a large bowl with cold water, then use your hands to move the rice around the water. Drain and repeat until the water is clear. Set aside to dry.
- Sauté the pasta and aromatics: Heat oil in a large pot, then add in the dried pasta. You’ll need about 40 small pieces of spaghetti or 1.75 ounces. Toast until light brown. Reduce the heat, then add the onion and garlic. Cook until softened.
- Combine and cook: To the pot, add the rinsed rice, salt, and water. Bring to a boil and cook until the water has evaporated below the rice. Cover, reduce the heat, and cook for 10 minutes.
- Fluff and serve: Use a fork to fluff the rice, then serve. Alternatively, for crispier rice, leave the rice over low heat for an extra 10-15 minutes!
Alternative Method: Instant Pot!
First thing’s first, rinse the rice as directed! This step does not change!
Next, follow these instructions to easily make this recipe using your instant pot.
- Press sauté on the instant pot, add oil, then toast the pasta until light brown. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until softened.
- Add in the rice, salt, and 2 cups of water, then cover. Press the rice button or cook on manual pressure for 12 minutes.
- Use the quick release function to release the pressure, then fluff and serve.
Is Rice Pilaf Gluten Free?
Yes! Since we’re using gluten-free spaghetti, this recipe for rice pilaf is totally gluten-free. I love the Jovial Brand. As always, verify the rest of your ingredients to make sure everything is certified gluten-free.
What is the Ratio of Water to Rice?
That depends on your cooking method!
- On the stove, the ratio is 1 cup of rice to 2 cups of water.
- In the instant pot, the ratio is 1 cup of rice to 1 cup of water.
Tips and Notes
- Use long grain white rice. Jasmine or basmati rice will work too. I do not recommend short grain rice or brown rice. They’re cooking instructions are not the same.
- Rinse the rice. This is a critical step! Rinsing the rice until the water is clear removes the excess starch from the grains. This results in more separate rice grains with better texture. Excess starch can make the final dish sticky.
- Toast the noodles really well. The more you toast them, the more flavor your final dish will have; just be careful, because they can go from perfectly toasted to burnt really quickly.
- Finely mince the aromatics. The finer you mince, the less bitter and harsh they come off.
- Let the water boil down. This recipe instructs you to boil down the water until it has completely evaporated below the rice before you reduce the heat and cover. This deviates greatly from traditional recipes, but results in a more pleasant texture.
- For the crispy bottom, uncover the pot once the rice is cooked and leave the heat on for an additional 10-15 minutes. This is called the pega…it’s basically fried rice that’s crunchy, and it’s so good!
Serving Suggestions
This rice pilaf is delicious served on its own, with a fried egg, mixed into a stir fry, or as a side dish!
Now, there really are no shortage of entrees you can serve this with, but if you’re looking for some ideas, here are a few favorites:
- How to Sear a Steak
- Thai Curry Soup
- Easy Black Bean Soup
- Pork Carnitas
- Paleo Mongolian Beef
- Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas
- Paleo Chicken and Broccoli
How to Store
Leftover rice pilaf can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. It can also be frozen in single portions for up to 3 months and used for easy weeknight dinners anytime!
You can also make a really large batch and freeze mini portions of it to take out as needed for a quick dinner side dish.
To reheat, thaw in the fridge if frozen, then place the rice into a medium pot with 2 tablespoons of water. Cover and cook on low heat for 10 minutes or until the rice is heated and the water is absorbed.
More Easy Rice Recipes You’ll Love
Recipes with Rice
- Lemon Chicken and Rice Skillet
- One Pan Indian Chicken and Rice
- Breakfast Fried Rice
- One Pan Salsa Verde Chicken and Rice
- Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken, Broccoli and Rice
How to Make the Best Rice Ever (Stove Top and Instant Pot)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ⅓ cup dried GF spaghetti, broken into 1” inch pieces (about 40 pieces spaghetti or 1.75 ounces)
- ½ small onion very fine dice (about ¼ cup diced onion)
- 1 garlic clove minced fine
- 2 cup long grain rice
- 4 cup water
- 1-1/2 to 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoon butter optional
Instructions
- Rinse the rice: Place rice in a large bowl and fill with cold water and move the rice around with your hands. Drain the rice and repeat this step until the water inside the bowl is clear.
- Heat a medium to large pot and add oil. Once hot at the dried spaghetti (you'll need about 40 small pieces of spaghetti or 1.75 ounces) and toast, until the pasta is light brown. Reduce the heat to medium low and add the onion and garlic and cooking, stirring, for 3 minutes until just slightly beginning to soften.
- Add the rice, salt and water and turn heat to high. Bring to a boil and continue to cook until all the water has evaporated below the rice and the bubbles have disappeared, about 10 minutes.
- Cover and reduce temperature to the lowest heat and cook for 10 minutes.
- Once done, fluff with a fork and serve immediately. If you’d like to make a pega (crispy fried rice bottom) you can leave the rice with the low heat for an additional 10-15 minutes.
Notes
- We really love the flavor of the full 2 teaspoons of salt, but if you prefer you can reduce it slightly to about 1-1/2 teaspoons, though it will be a little more bland.
- To cook in the Instant Pot (note the different amount of water added than on the stove top, all other ingredients stay the same):
- Rinse the rice: Place rice in a large bowl and fill with cold water and move the rice around with your hands. Drain the rice and repeat this step until the water inside the bowl is clear.
- Press saute on instant pot and and add oil. Once hot at the dried pasta and toast, until the pasta is light brown. Add onion and garlic and saute for 3 minutes until just slightly beginning to soften.
- Add the rice, salt and 2 cups of water (this amount is different than the remainder of the recipe) and press the rice button (or cook on manual pressure for 12 minutes).
- When done use the quick release function.
- Fluff with a fork and serve immediately or cool down to use for meal prep.
- The rice will keep for about 5 days in the refrigerator. Alternatively you can freeze in single serve portions to use for a quick weeknight dinner. To reheat place rice in a medium pot with 2 tablespoons of water and place on low heat with a cover. Cook for about 10 minutes until the rice is completely heated through and the water has been absorbed.
Can this be made in the rice cooker?
We haven’t tested in the rice cooker – sorry!
I’m always looking for new twists on making rice. This sounds great! The only thing is you might want to change the Instant Pot version. There is a rice button, which works fine, but then you stated that it could be cooked on manual for 12 minutes. You should probably include that the temp setting would be set to low, or high for 4 minutes with a 10 minute NPR.
We make this weekly, and I can assure you this timing works just right 🙂
This is what we call pilaf, sans the onions. It goes with almost any and all Armenian dishes, we grew up eating! That’s an interesting ratio of 1 to 2, I’ll try it the next time we make it. We use egg noodles, shaped like spaghetti, for what you’re calling “spaghetti” It’s not as heavy as actual spaghetti. It”s found in middle eastern stores or grocery stores that have a wide variety of noodles. (It’s not in the rural grocery store near us). And it usually comes in a square shaped bag. Also, this is definitely not a healthy dish, so since we’re putting health aside. The more butter you use for the noodles, the better!!! Thanks for sharing. I hope you don’t mind my comments! I make a lot of your recipes!!! As a matter of fact, bell peppers are on the menu for tonight! Bon Apetit!
No hyperbole! “BEST RICE—-EVER!!” As someone who “cooks for survival, not gourmet efficacy,” I especially appreciate the additional notes for instant pot preparation. The resulting product placed this recipe squarely in the survivalist chef gourmet category.
Thanks for this gift!
Bill
Yay Bill! So glad you loved this recipe as much as we do!
This looks great! Does he have a recipe for arroz con coco?! I’ve been dreaming about it since our trip to Cartagena a few weeks ago.
This looks really great! I think Recipe Note #1 meant to say salt instead of rice. Also, how much is 1/3 cup of spaghetti before you break it? Is there a good way to estimate this? Thanks!
Thanks for catching that, Heather! Edited that typo. Also included some more indicators of how to measure that out (honestly we were trying to figure out what was the easiest, and choose that, but have just included them all). The pasta is one of those ingredients that it is okay to be approximate. But updated to say 1.75 ounces or about 40 pieces of pasta (yes we counted, haha). Hope that helps.