As predicted, I didn’t manage a lot of cooking this week, but I did want to share one of our most frequently made side dishes. Yes, a rice cooker is an easy way to make rice, but this Oven Baked Rice Pilaf is almost as easy and has a lot more flavor! We serve it pretty much any time we make salmon, and it is also great with any grilled or roasted meats, fish or vegetables. It is pretty amazing with shrimp scampi, too!
This one cup version makes enough rice for 4 generous servings, but you can double it and put it in a 13 x 9 inch baking dish to serve more people. You will need to increase the baking time to 40-50 minutes for that amount.
Next week I’ll share one of our go-to weekday salmon recipes that we rarely serve without this baked rice. What I love is that you can bake the rice first and then broil your salmon while the rice sits covered. It stays piping hot for quite awhile and you can just uncover and fluff it with a fork when you are ready to eat. 😊
You only need five ingredients for this:
Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C). Chop your onion in small dice. Feel free to add a bit more if you like. Melt butter (or heat olive oil) in a medium sauce pan. Add onion and sauté for a few minutes until it is soft and translucent but not brown.
Add the rice and sauté for another minute to coat the rice in the butter/oil.
Transfer rice mixture to an 8 inch glass or ceramic baking dish. (I usually give it a quick spray with cooking oil first.) Spread it evenly in the dish.
Add the 2 cups of broth and 1/2 tsp of salt to the saucepan and bring to a boil. (Note: The Swanson can that I used is actually a little shy of 2 cups so I add water to make up the difference.) Once the broth is boiling, add it to the rice mixture. Give it a quick stir and spread the rice evenly in the pan. (I forgot to take a photo so you’ll need to imagine what that looks like. 😉)
Cover tightly with aluminum foil and and bake for 25-30 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed. Remove from oven and keep covered until ready to serve.
Before serving, fluff with a fork. You can garnish with sliced green onions, herbs or toasted pine nuts or almond slivers if desired.
Oven Baked Rice Pilaf
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons chopped onion or more, if desired
- 1 tablespoon butter (or olive oil)
- 1 3/4 cups reduced sodium chicken or vegetable stock
- 1 cup long grain rice preferably jasmine or basmati
- ½ tsp Kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C). Chop onion into small dice.
- Melt butter (or heat olive oil) in a medium sauce pan. Add onion and sauté for a few minutes until it is soft and translucent but not brown.
- Add the rice and sauté for another minute to coat the rice in the butter/oil.
- Transfer rice mixture to an 8 inch glass or ceramic baking dish. (I usually give it a quick spray with cooking oil first.) Spread it evenly in the dish.
- Add the 1 3/4 cups of broth and 1/2 tsp of salt to the saucepan and bring to a boil. (Note: The Swanson can that I use most often is actually a little shy of 2 cups so I add water to make up the difference.)
- Once the broth is boiling, add it to the rice mixture. Give it a quick stir and spread the rice evenly in the pan. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and and bake for 25-30 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed. Remove from oven and keep covered until ready to serve.
- Before serving, fluff with a fork. You can garnish with sliced green onions, herbs or toasted pine nuts or almond slices if desired.