Rice Pilaf

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The best Rice Pilaf recipe has rice toasted in butter until golden then cooked in chicken broth with seasonings. It pairs perfectly with any main dish and is picky-eater approved!

How to make Rice Pilaf:

Combine: Rinse rice well in a fine mesh strainer. Toast the rice in a saucepan with butter until it's golden. Add onion, garlic, salt, and pepper. Add chicken broth, bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes (until liquid has absorbed). Remove from heat and let rest, with the lid still on, for 10 minutes.

Serve: Remove lid and gently fluff rice with a fork. Stir in chopped parsley and serve seasoned rice pilaf immediately with any meal like Honey Mustard Chicken, Air Fryer Salmon Bites, Roast Chicken, and Steak Kabobs.

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Rice Pilaf

Author: Lauren Allen

Our easy Rice Pilaf recipe is my favorite way to upgrade white rice, with toasted rice cooked in chicken broth and seasonings. It pairs perfectly with any main dish and is picky-eater approved.

Prep: 5 minutes mins

Cook: 25 minutes mins

Total: 30 minutes mins

Servings: 5

Equipment

• Fine Mesh Strainer

Ingredients  

0.5x1x2x?

• ▢ 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• ▢ 1/2 cup onion, (71g), finely chopped
• ▢ 3 cloves garlic, , minced
• ▢ 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ▢ 1 1/2 cups long-grain white rice, (297g)
• ▢ 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth, (711g), or vegetable broth
• ▢ ¼ cup fresh chopped parsley, (15g)

Instructions 

• Rinse rice: Add rice to a fine mesh strainer or colander and rinse really well, until the water runs clear. Set aside to drain.
  1 ½ cups long-grain white rice
• Sauté and season: Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the rice and cook, stirring often, until lightly golden. Add onion, garlic, salt, and pepper and cook until onion has softened.
  2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, ½ cup onion, 3 cloves garlic, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Cook: Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Cover pot with a tight fitting lid and reduce heat to a simmer. Don't remove lid during cooking. Cook for 18 minutes. Remove pot from heat and allow to rest, with lid on, for 10 minutes.
  3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• Fluff rice with a fork and gently stir in chopped parsley.
  ¼ cup fresh chopped parsley

Notes

Yield: 4 ½ cups rice. Serving Size: ¾ cup rice.

For Instant Pot Rice Pilaf: Rinse rice then turn Instant Pot to sauté setting. Add butter and rice and cook until golden, then add onion, garlic, salt and pepper and cook until onion has softened. Add 1 ½ cups of chicken broth then close with the lid and move the valve to sealed. Cook for 4 minutes on manual/high pressure with a 10 minutes natural release. Remove lid, add parsley, and fluff with a fork.

Brown Rice Pilaf: Add an additional ½ cup of broth, and cook for about 40 minutes, instead of 15.

Orzo Rice Pilaf: Reduce rice to 1 cup and add ½ cup of orzo.

Vegan Rice Pilaf: Use vegan friendly butter and substitute vegetable broth.

Vegetable Rice Pilaf: Add additional vegetables with the onion, like diced celery, bell pepper, carrots, and peas and substitute vegetable broth.

Use leftover rice pilaf to make Chicken and rice enchiladas, Crispy Southwest Wrap, Creamy Wild Rice Soup, Breakfast fried rice, Salmon bowls, Arroz chaufa, or Eggroll in a bowl.

Nutrition

Calories: 276kcal, Carbohydrates: 48g, Protein: 7g, Fat: 6g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.5g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 12mg, Sodium: 514mg, Potassium: 237mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 1g, Vitamin A: 394IU, Vitamin C: 6mg, Calcium: 35mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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I originally shared this recipe February 2020. Updated October 2022 and May 2025.