Greek Rice

My Greek rice recipe is the side dish that will rock your dinner table! Delicious, fluffy long grain rice flavored with fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, dill, and chicken broth. Simple, easy to find ingredients, come together to make something far more delicious than the sum of their parts would ever suggest!

What I Love About This Greek Rice Recipe

Fluffy rice you can make right at home that doesn’t take hours to make and gives you actual FLAVOR? This recipe is king! It goes with almost everything, and it doesn’t have to be Greek.  We really love rice in our family. It’s funny because I didn’t grow up eating much rice. My Dad pretty much hated it. (weird-right?) My husband’s family ate rice all the time. In fact, when I was first married, my MIL’s rice pilaf was one of the first recipes I learned to make.

You can also use this rice as a main meal too! Add some chicken to make a chicken and rice casserole or chicken and rice soup for a heartiness that can’t be beaten. Here are a few more of my favorite rice recipes: Restaurant-style Mexican rice and my coconut rice. I promise both recipes, as well as this Greek rice, are keepers!

Let’s cook some rice!

Greek Rice Recipe Notes

• Rice: I use long grain rice for this recipe, but feel free to experiment! Carolina Gold  (which I use in my Hoppin John Recipe) or Basmati would make interesting tweaks.
• Better than Bouillon (BTB): If you’re a regular reader, you know I love this stuff. I first learned about it from Cook’s Illustrated. When they endorsed it, I knew it had to be good stuff. What it does in this recipe is to fortify the chicken broth with a whole lot more chicken flavor. I heat the broth first then add the BTB so it dissolves well before the chicken broth is added to the rice.
• Dill: If you’re not a big fan of dill or if you just don’t have any on hand you can omit it from the recipe. The rice is, honestly, really delicious with or without it!
• Salt: For my taste, the chicken broth adds enough salt to this recipe. Wait until the end of the recipe to taste the finished dish to adjust the salt.

How Long Can You Keep This In The Fridge?

Keep your Greek rice recipe in a sealed container in the fridge for up to six days. If it’s a little dry when you pull it out, add a sprinkle of water before you reheat it. Then just fluff with a fork and dig in!

Can You Freeze This Greek Rice Recipe?

Yes! This is a great way to have flavorful rice on hand when you need it. Follow the recipe below, then just seal and freeze for up to six months.

When ready to use, thaw in the fridge overnight, then reheat! You may need to add a little water before you heat it up to rehydrate some of the grains.

Make Ahead Tips

This Greek rice recipe keeps so well, if you need to make it ahead of time to have it on hand, go for it! It tastes just as good the next day as it does fresh.

Serving Recommendations

Now, the moment you’ve been waiting for — what do you serve with such tasty rice??

Greek chicken, of course! That’s the obvious main dish and the one that best complements the Greek rice recipe.  The flavors balance each other so well! If you want, you can also wrap some chicken and this rice in a pita for a delicious take on a sandwich!

If you want to veer away from Mediterranean mains, it’s amazing with my grilled flank steak or try whipping up grilled cilantro lime chicken! The citrus pop of the chicken goes wonderfully with the citrus pop in the rice. A match made in heaven! And, it goes fabulously will a good grilled steak

Recipe Variations

I’ve mentioned a few variations above, but what else can we do? Read on!

1. Add turmeric powder or saffron. Up that flavor with Greek-inspired spices! Adding turmeric or saffron gives you Mediterranean rice, something very similar to the famous yellow greek rice.
2. Turn this into a soup. Scoop this rice into your Greek lemon rice soup.

More Greek and Mediterranean Recipes

Looking for more recipes to add heaps of flavor to your weeknight meals? Look no further!

• Greek Pasta
• Greek Pasta Salad
• Greek Dip
• Greek Moussaka
• Mediterranean Salad

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Greek Rice

Fluffy and flavorful -- my Greek Rice brings you a citrus-zesty side that goes with any savory main meal or ups the yum in your favorite soups!

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time30 minutes mins

Servings: 4 -6 servings

Author: Kathleen

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 cups chicken broth
• ▢ 1 heaping tablespoon chicken flavor better than bouillon
• ▢ 2 cups long-grain rice, rinsed and drained
• ▢ 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ▢ 1 cup yellow onion, finely chopped
• ▢ 4 clove garlic, minced
• ▢ 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (2-3 lemons)
• ▢ zest of 1 lemon
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• ▢ 1 teaspoons dried dill
• ▢ 3 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
• ▢ 2 tablespoons butter
• ▢ salt to taste

Instructions

• In a microwave-safe measuring cup, heat chicken broth to a boil. Add better than bouillon and stir until dissolved; set aside.
  
• Heat olive oil in a pot with a tight-fitting lid, uncovered, over medium-low heat.
• Saute onion and garlic, uncovered until soft and translucent.
  
• Add rice to the pot and continue to saute, stirring constantly, until rice is slightly toasted.
  
• Stir in chicken broth with dissolved better than bouillon, lemon juice, and black pepper. Bring to a roiling boil, stir, reduce heat to low, and cover tightly. Cook until rice is tender, about 20 minutes.
  
• When rice is tender, remove from heat, stir in lemon zest, dried dill, fresh parsley, and butter and allow to sit, covered for 10 minutes. Stir again, adjust seasonings as needed. Serve.
  

Fans Also Made:

• 
  Campbells Chicken And Rice
• 
  Chicken and Rice Casserole
• 
  Instant Pot Chicken And Rice
• 
  Taco Rice

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Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 425kcal | Carbohydrates: 79g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 440mg | Potassium: 297mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 279IU | Vitamin C: 23mg | Calcium: 54mg | Iron: 1mg

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