Rice Pilaf

A simple, flavorful rice pilaf made with long-grain rice, toasted orzo, and sliced almonds.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American, Southern

Keyword easy-rice-pilaf, rice-pilaf-recipes

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 30

Stand time 5

Total Time 45

Servings servings

Calories 362kcal

In 3 quart Dutch oven or skillet melt butter with olive oil over medium heat. To the butter, add orzo. Cook while stirring for several minutes until orzo is golden brown.
Add onion, cooking for 4-6 minutes or just until softened. Add garlic, cook for 1 minute longer.
To the pot add rice, salt, black pepper, paprika and turmeric. Stir to coat ingredients in butter then add chicken stock. Increase heat to medium-high. Bring to a boil, then immediately cover and reduce to low.
Cook for 20-25 minutes or until the rice is tender and liquid is absorbed.
To Toast Nuts: While rice pilaf cooks, preheat oven to 350°F. Spread almonds in a single layer on a baking sheet. Toast for 5-7 minutes or until lightly golden and fragrant then set aside.
Once rice pilaf is cooked, uncover and add 1/3 cup almonds, 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese and 3 Tbsp chopped parsley. Mix to combine. Let stand covered for 5 minutes the fluff with a fork.
Serve immediately garnished with reserved almonds, Parmesan and parsley.

Rice - This recipe uses long grain rice i.e. Uncle Ben's or similar. You could adapt using basmati or jasmine rice but they will cook differently than long grain rice. Long grain rice holds up best the cooking time in this recipe.
Brown Rice - You could use brown rice, but it will take longer to cook and require additional chicken stock.
Nuts - You can use pine nuts or even walnuts or pecans in place of almonds, if desired. You can also omit the nuts altogether. They do add to the flavor and texture overall so I highly recommend including them.
Garlic Cloves - You could use garlic powder in place of fresh garlic in a pinch.
Protein - You could adapt this recipe adding chopped cooked rotisserie chicken toward the end of cooking.
Chicken Stock - You can use chicken broth or chicken stock in this recipe. For a vegetarian option, you can use vegetable stock in place of chicken stock.
Veggies - You could add mushrooms, diced carrots, celery or peas.