Easy golden rice pilaf is a vibrant, flavorful, Mediterranean side dish made with turmeric and toasted pine nuts. It will make any meal just a little bit tastier, and it’s so easy to make!
Easy rice pilaf
I’ve been making this easy golden rice pilaf for as long as I’ve been married…maybe longer. The secret to the “golden” part of the rice, is turmeric.
Why Turmeric?
While saffron is traditionally used in pilaf, turmeric is often used as a saffron substitute, as they both give rice a beautiful golden color.
Using turmeric in place of saffron gives the pilaf a nice golden color at a fraction of the price. Turmeric is a known anti-inflammatory and has quite a few additional health benefits. See more health benefits of turmeric here.
Rice Pilaf Substitutions
You can easily substitute brown rice in place of the white rice; just make sure you adjust the cooking time. I use chicken broth for the liquid, but you can substitute vegetable broth for a vegetarian or vegan side dish.
Pine nuts add a bit of texture and protein, but you can also use slivered almonds. Sometimes I add a handful of grated parmesan cheese…just because. I often serve this with a Mediterranean Burger, Rosemary Shrimp or Lamb Sliders.
Sauté onions for 2-3 minutes over medium heat.
Add turmeric, rice and garlic, and stir for another 2 minutes.
Stir the rice until it is well mixed with onions, turmeric and garlic.
Add broth and bring to a boil. Add 1/2 teaspoons of kosher salt and reduce heat to lowest temperature. Cook an additional 15 minutes, or until all liquid is absorbed.
I like to use a saucepan with a glass lid so I can check on rice without lifting the lid. Here’s the one I have. Let sit covered for 5 minutes then add toasted pine nuts and chopped parsley if desired. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper.
Here is the easy golden rice pilaf recipe. Enjoy!
Some of the items used in this post are available at my Amazon store.
This simple Mediterranean Rice Pilaf is the prefect side dish for American, Greek or Middle Eastern dishes. Makes 3 cups cooked rice.
- 1 cup long grain white rice
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts or slivered almonds
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper more to taste
- 2-3 Tablespoons fresh chopped parsley for garnish.
Heat oil and butter in a sauce pan over a medium heat. Add onions, and sauté 2-3 minutes, add rice, turmeric and garlic, and continue stirring, 2 to 3 minutes. Don't let garlic burn
Add broth and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt. Bring to a boil. Turn down heat to low, cover and cook rice until tender and liquid is absorbed, about 15-18 minutes.
- Stir in toasted pine nuts or almonds and adjust seasoning to taste. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley.
Easy Peasy Life Matters says
We love turmeric at our house! I’m so excited to give this recipe a try!! 🙂
Nancy M Padulsky says
Taking loooong to cook and my stove runs hot…almost 30 mins. Still not done!
Cynthia says
Did you double the recipe? What kind of rice did you use? I find that different rices have more starch and that could affect the cooking time.
Cynthia says
I love using basmati rice. I often double the recipe since my family loves it so much!
Cynthia says
hmm. I shouldn’t take more than 20-25 minutes to make…did you double the recipe? Did you use a tall sauce pan or one with a broader base?
Christina | Christina's Cucina says
I want to use more turmeric and this is a great way to do it! Not only do we get the health benefits, but it looks gorgeous as well! What a way to add color to a plate! Great recipe!
Maria says
WOW! Love how simple this recipe is and how much flavor is packed into it:)
Patricia @ Grab a Plate says
What a great side dish! Love the color, and love the pine nuts, too 🙂 This would be perfect with so many things!
Catherine says
Dear Cynthia, what a delightful side dish…it looks beautiful and hearty. Perfect for fall. xo, Catherine
Kendra says
Can you use brown rice instead of white?? This looks delish!
Cynthia says
sure! But you’d have to adjust the cooking time accordingly.
Crystal says
Hello, how many does this recipe serve?
Cynthia says
Hi Crystal, It should make about 3 cups, so it could serve 6 1/2 cup portions.
Jess says
We cook all our rice in our Instant Pot, and this was so easily adapted for that. We used 2 TBS of ghee instead of the 3 TBS of fat, and turned the pot to sauté and added the onions. We then added the turmeric and garlic, and then added well-rinsed basmati rice. Admittedly we didn’t sauté the rice very long because it wet (and if you opt to sauté the rice for the 2-3 minutes, maybe toss in that extra TBS of fat). We added only 1 cup of low sodium broth (instant pot rice is usually a 1:1 ratio) and cut the salt back to about 1/4 of a tsp. We did 7 minutes for the rice (5-7 minutes for basmati seems to be a good window for us) with 10 minute natural release, and added the toasted pine nuts after. It was so freaking good! Thank you for the easy-to-follow recipe—it made it that much easier to adapt it to our preferred cooking method!
Cynthia says
Thanks for the info Jess! I have not gotten on the Instant Pot bandwagon yet!