Here are your go-to rice recipes for how to cook this healthy whole grain! Includes basics, side dishes, and how to make it into filling main dishes.
Looking to eat more whole grains? Here’s the world’s most popular one: rice. Rice is eaten all around the globe in almost every cuisine! It’s easy to make, full of nutrients, and shelf stable for years. But it can also be botched: cooked to be too gummy, too watery or too crunchy. With rice, you can end up with a sloppy mess.
Here are all the best go-to rice recipes so you can cook it perfectly every time! This list includes basics like how to cook white rice, brown rice and basmati rice, including how to cook it in the Instant Pot. It also has ways to make rice into a tasty side dish, and at the end: how to take rice and turn it into delicious and tasty healthy dinner recipes. Ready to get started?
And now…our top rice recipes!
Let's start with a knock-out side dish rice recipe: Southwest rice salad! It combines long-grain basmati rice with black beans in a protein-packed side dish. The rice is seasoned with cumin, garlic, and cider vinegar, then mixed with colored bell peppers, green onions and rice. It's a great healthy lunch idea or dinner side dish. And it's plant based, vegan and gluten free, so it works for a variety of diets!
Next up: let's talk basics. Here's a white rice recipe that comes perfect every time! Have you ever over-cooked rice and ended up with a glue-y mush? Under-cooked it to where it’s crunchy? Gotten it stuck to the bottom of the pan? Any way you can think of to botch rice, we’ve done it! Until, we met the perfect way to cook rice…and our lives changed forever. (Really!)
Ever wanted to cook brown rice, until you saw the 1 hour cook time? Who has 1 hour to cook rice on a weeknight? Here's the “fast way” to cook brown rice. It’s not instant, but it cuts down the time investment for sure. In just 35 minutes, you’ve got a big pot of nutritious brown rice that cooks perfectly every time!
Long grain basmati rice is perfect for serving with curry or grain bowls. The best way to cook it? the perfect way is called the pasta method for cooking rice. Wait, pasta? We’re cooking rice here, right? We promise: your basmati rice will come out perfectly. And brown rice cooks in almost half the time!
Did you know an Instant Pot is also a rice cooker? Here’s how to cook the best Instant Pot rice, including both brown rice and white rice. It’s a little faster than the stovetop, but the biggest plus: it's totally hands off. And it works perfectly every time!
Wild rice is actually not technically rice! It looks like rice, but it's not the same as white and brown rice. It's actually a seed from a water grass that grows in lakes and rivers. But since it's treated like rice, we've included it in our rice recipes, too! This wild rice soup is impossibly creamy, packed with flavor and full of tender veggies and hearty rice. White beans and cashews bring a creamy body and loads of plant-based protein. Everyone asks for the recipe—it’s that good.
Here's another fantastic side dish rice recipe: black beans and rice! Here long-grain rice is jumbled with black beans and green bell pepper, and seasoned with cumin, lime and cilantro. It’s the a great side to serve with tacos or any Latin-style meal, or as a lunch idea (it saves well for eating throughout the week).
This rice recipe can be a main dish or a side: rice casserole! You can use any variety of rice here, but we used red rice, which has a vibrant bright color. Combine it with the elements of everyone's favorite dip: spinach, tangy artichokes and mozzarella cheese. It comes together into a hearty, savory casserole that's total comfort food.
Here's a great way to make rice into a healthy meal: as a grain bowl! This bowl is full of goodness: starting with short grain brown rice cooked with turmeric so it has an electric yellow color. Top that with seasoned broccoli, kale, and chickpeas, and a drizzle of zingy Tahini Sauce. It's a seriously satisfying lunch or healthy dinner. Another great option? Mediterranean Rice Bowls.
No list of rice recipes is complete without fried rice! This one is straightforward and delicious, featuring leftover brown or white rice cooked up with scrambled eggs and a clean-out of pantry veggies. The best part? Garlic and ginger add an aromatic undertone, and the hot pan gives it the perfect crispy crunch. See also: Three Onion Homemade Fried Rice.
Another classic rice recipe: risotto! Risotto is a traditional Italian dish where short grain arborio rice is cooked in broth. Adding the broth gradually makes the grains plump up and become creamy. Here's our base Parmesan risotto recipe, with a hint of truffle oil for some elegance. Here are a few other variations: Butternut Squash Risotto, Mushroom Risotto, or Roasted Cauliflower Risotto.
Last but definitely not least in our rice recipes: paella! Paella is a traditional rice dish from Spain. It's easy to make at home and a great dish for entertaining or celebratory meals. This one features shrimp and artichokes, cooked on a bed of arborio rice that's seasoned with turmeric and smoked paprika. It's a showstopper! See also: Simple Vegetarian Paella.
More rice recipes
Need more recipes? Here are a few more recipe ideas starring this grain:
- Vegetarian Red Beans and Rice
- Easy Chickpea Curry
- Roasted Acorn Squash with Wild Rice Stuffing
- Cuban Black Beans
- Rice Stuffed Acorn Squash
- Coconut Cauliflower Curry
- Teriyaki Vegetable Stir Fry
- Delicata Squash with Black Bean & Rice Stuffing
- Healthy Sushi Bowl
- Quick Coconut Lentil Curry
- Wild Rice Stuffed Delicata Squash
- Maki Sushi Recipe
- Best Vegetarian Meatloaf
- Salmon Poke Bowl
- Best Veggie Burger
White rice vs. brown rice
What’s the breakdown of white rice vs brown rice? Is brown rice healthier? When you have time to make it, brown rice has a lot of nutritional benefits. Brown rice has an impressive amount of vitamins, minerals and beneficial compounds because it is less processed than white rice. Here’s a breakdown:
- Brown rice is less processed so has more nutrients. White rice has its hull, bran and germ removed, but brown rice has only the hull removed and keeps the nutrient-packed bran and germ. As a result, brown rice retains the nutrients that white rice lacks such as vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
- Brown rice has more fiber. 1 cup of cooked white rice has 0.6 grams fiber, but 1 cup cooked brown rice has 3.2 grams of fiber, 13% of your daily need. (Source)
Wild rice vs. brown rice
Did you know that wild rice is not actually rice? (You did if you read about our wild rice soup above!) It’s the seed from a grass that grows in lakes and streams. But since it looks a lot like rice, most cuisines treat it like rice.
Though they are not related, wild rice is often compared to brown rice. What are the nutritional differences between the two?
- Wild rice has less calories than brown rice, about 66% less! 1 cup of cooked wild rice has 166 calories and 1 cup brown rice has 248 calories. (Source)
- Wild rice has slightly more protein than brown rice. 1 cup cooked wild rice has 6.5 grams protein vs 5.5 grams in brown rice. (Source)
- Both wild and brown rice have the same amount of fiber, about 3 grams per 1 cup cooked.
Southwest Rice Salad
(5 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 8 1-cup servings 1x
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
This Southwest rice salad recipe is full of healthy ingredients and tastes tangy and satisfying, perfect for everything from potlucks to easy lunch ideas.
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup uncooked long grain rice
- 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained (or 1 1/2 cups cooked black beans)
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 yellow bell pepper
- 5 green onions
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 large garlic clove
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Pour 2 cups of water into a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then add the uncooked rice, stir to combine, and return to a boil. Cover pan, and reduce heat as low as possible. Simmer without opening the lid for 15 minutes, until the rice is tender and the water is absorbed. (Or, use our Stovetop White Rice or Instant Pot White Rice methods.)
- Finely chop the peppers. Thinly slice the green onions. Mince the garlic.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the cooked rice, black beans, chopped red and yellow peppers, and scallions, and toss to combine.
- In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, mustard, cumin, garlic, salt, and black pepper, Whisk thoroughly to combine, then pour over the rice mixture. Toss gently to coat, then either serve immediately or keep refrigerated for up to 3 days.
Notes
Reprinted with permission from Husbands That Cook: More Than 120 Irresistible Vegetarian Recipes and Tales from Our Tiny Kitchen by Ryan Alvarez and Adam Merrin
- Category: Salad
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Latin
Keywords: Rice Recipes
About the Authors
Sonja Overhiser
Cookbook Author and writer
Sonja Overhiser is author of Pretty Simple Cooking, named one of the best healthy cookbooks of 2018. She’s host of the food podcast Small Bites and founder of the food blog A Couple Cooks. Featured from the TODAY Show to Bon Appetit, Sonja seeks to inspire adventurous eating to make the world a better place one bite at a time.
Alex Overhiser
Cookbook Author and photographer
Alex Overhiser is an acclaimed food photographer and author based in Indianapolis. He’s host of the food podcast Small Bites and founder of the recipe website A Couple Cooks. Featured from the TODAY Show to Bon Appetit, Alex is author of Pretty Simple Cooking, named one of the best vegetarian cookbooks by Epicurious.
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