Seasoned white rice or flavored rice is a simple, delicious rice which you can prepare at home, that goes great with any side dish of your choice. Instead of making plain white rice,try this easy, flavored or seasoned white rice that you can quickly make with the staple from your pantry. Seasoned white rice makes a nice flavorful rice side dish for your dinner if you like rice. It also makes a nice side dish for potlucks, holiday party etc.
Seasoned white rice can also be served as one of the main rice dishes when you serve it with other vegetables or side dishes like this roasted broccoli, roasted cauliflower, buttered cabbage, boiled eggs, roasted potatoes, corn on the cob etc! Another great option to make your seasoned or flavored rice more tasty is to add eggs like topping with a fried egg like over easy eggs or sunny side up eggs or you can mix scrambled eggs with it!
I make seasoned rice all the time, and mix up different varieties of spices to make different kinds of simple flavored rice.
I actually like to serve this rice with a simple dal like this moong dal fry and some simple vegetable side dishes.
Adding spices is an easy way to season your white rice quickly, which easily adds flavor to the white rice. And the best part is that you can add the spices of your choice and experiment with to see what kind of seasoned rice you like the best. Adding turmeric is a great idea if you want to make yellow rice instead of simple seasoned white rice which adds some color to the rice, but if you want the rice to be white rice itself, do not use the turmeric.
what is seasoned rice or flavored rice?
Seasoned rice is taking the plain cooked white rice to the next level. Seasoned rice or flavored rice is simply seasoning the regular white rice with seasonings or spices of your choice so the rice is more flavorful.
You can use veggie broth or plain water for preparing seasoned rice. Plain white rice is great, but seasoned white rice is even more great because the rice itself will have much flavor and you will feel satisfied even if you only have one side dish or even no sides at all. When you are busy, and if you are planning to make a quick rice for side dish or the main meal, you can try seasoned rice!
how to flavor or season white rice?
There are different ways you can season white rice.
- One thing I recommend is to use butter in the recipe, since using butter adds so much more flavor to the recipe. If you are vegan, you may try vegan butter or use olive oil or coconut oil if you like. If you like the flavor of sesame oil, you can also use sesame oil.
- Another way is to use broth for liquid, instead of plain water. I like to use both water and vegetable broth to prepare seasoned rice depending on what flavor I want for the rice.
- If you want some color for your rice, add a pinch of turmeric powder (¼ teaspoon to ½ teaspoon for 1 cups & 2 cups rice respectively).
- However, if you do not want yellow rice, do not use the turmeric powder, since it will change the color.
- Make sure to use salt to your taste!
- I highly recommend using garlic & onion to flavor the rice.
- I also like to add an Indian seasoning to the rice sometimes (using fried cumin seeds, curry leaves, dried chilies, peanuts or cashews etc) but you do not have to do it if you are not used to making this.
- As I mentioned, you can try with different kinds of spices and see which flavors you like the best. However, try not to skip the butter for the best flavored rice. Also add some chopped cilantro leaves if you like (for garnishing) once you prepare the rice.
how to make seasoned or flavored white rice?
We use the following ingredients to make this simple, easy & delicious seasoned white rice.
Ingredients used to make flavored or seasoned white rice
- white basmati rice - I prefer to use white basmati rice which is long grain white rice as this is a very good quality, aromatic rice on its own.
- water or vegetable broth
- salt
- butter
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- bay leaves (for fragrance & flavor)
- cinnamon stick (for more flavor & fragrance!)
- chopped cilantro leaves 1 tablespoon (optional, use only if you wish to garnish)
I also use cumin seeds sometimes. If using cumin seeds like I do, we need to lightly fry the cumin seeds in the butter before adding the rice, as the raw cumin seeds will not taste very good. I used a simple seasoning of garlic, butter & onion powder in this recipe along with bay leaves and cinnamon stick for adding more fragrance and flavor but the recipe is very flexible and you may adjust the spices or seasoning based on your preferences. Also I used dried garlic powder and onion powder to keep it very simple and easy to do.
If you want to use fresh garlic or onions, use about 2 cloves of garlic which is finely chopped and also use about 2 tablespoons of finely chopped onions (can use shallots or pearl onions also). However, if you use fresh onions & garlic, you need to lightly fry them in the butter until they are slightly browned, before adding the rice. You may also use dried minced onions and dried minced garlic instead of powdered ones, and if you use the minced variety also, I recommend lightly frying them in the butter until slightly browned before you add the rice.
step by step instructions
- Add the butter to the a medium sized pan or pot (should be large enough to hold the cooked rice.
- When the butter melts, add the rice (I also like to fry some cumin seeds, about half teaspoon in the butter before I add the rice).
- I rinse the rice few minutes before and wait for the rice to dry before using in the recipe.
- Stir fry the rice in the butter for few seconds, make sure its not browning or sticking.
- Add the following - garlic powder and onion powder, stir well to mix with the rice and stir fry the contents for another one minute.
- Add the liquid - water (or broth), enough salt and mix well.
- Add the bay leaves & cinnamon stick also and bring the mixture to a boil.
- Once it starts to boil, cover the pan with lid and cook in low flame for ten minutes until the rice is cooked and the water is evaporated.
- Garnish with chopped cilantro leaves if you are using cilantro leaves (or use parsley flakes if you wish).
- Fluff the rice with a fork and its ready to serve.
- If you are serving the rice after some time, gently mix the rice after few minutes in intervals, so the rice will remain fluffy.
- You can discard the bay leaves & cinnamon sticks before serving, but keeping them in the rice even after the rice is cooked will add even more flavor to the rice.
So here is how you can make delicious and easy seasoned rice following this simple and easy recipe.
Also see how to cook perfect white basmati rice in instant pot and how to cook white rice without rice cooker.
Seasoned White Rice - Flavored White Rice With Seasonings
Ingredients
- 1 cup white basmati rice
- 2 cups water or use vegetable broth
- salt as needed
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 small cinnamon stick
- 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro leaves optional, for garnishing
Instructions
- Add the butter to the pan and as the butter melts, add the rice (I also like to fry some cumin seeds, about half teaspoon in the butter before I add the rice).
- Lightly stir fry the rice in the butter.
- Add garlic and onion powder, mix well and stir fry for another 1 minute (make sure the rice is not burning or sticking at the bottom of the pan).
- Add the water (or broth), enough salt, mix well. The water should be salty or it won't be enough once the rice is cooked.
- Place the bay leaves & cinnamon stick on top and bring the mixture to a boil.
- Once the mixture starts boiling, cover the pan with lid and cook in very low flame for 10 minutes until the rice is cooked well and the water is all evaporated. Garnish with chopped cilantro leaves if using.
- Fluff the rice with a fork or a good quality spatula and enjoy the delicious seasoned rice with any other side dishes you like. If you are serving the rice after some time, gently mix the rice after few minutes in intervals, so the rice will remain fluffy and won't stick to each other as it cools down. You may discard the bay leaves & cinnamon sticks before serving, but keeping them in the rice even after the rice is cooked will add even more flavor to the rice.
Anonymous says
There is a typo in your instructions. "ma discard the bay leaves..."
Recipe Garden says
Thank you so much for pointing it out! I have corrected it now 🙂