Garlic rice is easy to make and a quick side dish for any meal. Plain rice is boring; garlic butter rice has robust flavors from garlic and butter. This one-pot recipe is the perfect way to elevate plain rice!
Think rice is boring? Think again! You can pack so many flavors into rice with seasoned rice, plain pilaf, yellow rice.
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Why you need to try garlic rice recipe
1. When you can oomph up the flavor of rice, why would anyone want to settle for boring bland rice!
2. Yes, plain rice is boring! Elevate the flavor of rice with garlic and butter!
3. A one-pot recipe where everything is made in the same pot.
4. Super simple and easy to make. Anyone can cook it.
4. You’ll need less than 30 minutes to make a batch of rice.
5. Also popularly called as Filipino garlic rice (Sinangag) will give perfectly cooked rice every single time. Use any type of rice and we got your covered (check recipe notes for cooking instructions of different types on rice).
6. Recipe is completely customizable.
7. Make a big batch and store it away to have it as sides for any meals.
Ingredients
Garlic fried rice tastes best with long grain rice. Basmati rice or Jasmine rice can be used. They are fragrant long grain rice that has subtle nutty flavor and works very well for the dish. If you don’t have long grain rice, use medium grain rice. Preferably white rice is best to make garlic butter rice.
You can substitute white rice with brown rice. Remember to increase liquid ratio and increase cooking time.
General Thumb rule for cooking brown rice – 1 cup brown rice use 2 cups liquid. Cooking time for brown rice is approximately 20-23 minutes.
Feel free to increase butter to 3 -4 tablespoon for richer tasting rice.
Using stock either chicken or vegetable stock instead of water to cook rice makes garlic butter rice more flavorful.
Dried parsley is optional. You can substitute parsley with fresh cilantro or just skip it.
Frying garlic chips is optional step, bug highly recommend it. For amazing flavor and texture from garlic, you want to fry thinly sliced garlic to golden brown and add it to rice once cooked. The texture of garlic chips is unbelievable! It doesn’t add strong flavors of garlic, rather adds wonderful crunch with sweet caramel-y garlic flavor to rice.
How to make garlic rice
- Heat olive oil on medium heat.
- Fry thin sliced garlic in it until golden brown. This step is optional but highly recommend it.
- Remove golden brown garlic chips onto a kitchen towel.
- Into the same pan add butter.
- Sauté minced garlic in butter on medium low until flavor of garlic is infused into the butter. Approximately 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add long grain rice to the pan. Sauté rice to coat it with butter.
- Pour stock (chicken or vegetable).
- Season rice with salt and white ground pepper to taste.
- Stir and bring it to boil.
- Reduce heat to low. Cover pot with lid and cook for 15 minutes without disturbing the rice on low heat.
- Once cooked, turn off heat and let rice rest with lid covered for 10 minutes. Resting rice is crucial. It’ll help rice finish cooking and turn soft and fluffy.
- Open lid, fluff rice gently with rubber spatula or fork.
- Add fried garlic chips, dried parsley and green onions to the pan.
- Stir and mix it gently.
- Serve as side dish with any meal of your choice.
They are so good, you can eat it by the bowl just as it is.
Expert tips to make best garlic rice
- Garlic fried rice tastes best with long grain rice like basmati rice or Jasmine rice. They are fragrant long grain rice that has subtle nutty flavor and works very well for the dish.
- Using stock either chicken or vegetable stock instead of water to cook rice makes garlic butter rice more flavorful. Make sure to use low sodium stock as your rice make turn out salty.
- Golden fried garlic chips adds amazing flavor and texture to rice. Though this step is optional, it’s highly recommended.
- Sauté rice for a minute or two before you add stock.
- Cook rice on low heat without disturbing. Frequent opening of the lid while cooking will cause steam to escape and rice will not be cooked to.
- Resting rice is crucial. It’ll help rice finish cooking and turn soft and fluffy.
FAQS
Long grain rice is ideal for this recipe. Medium grain rice can be used. Do not use short grain or sushi rice to make garlic fried rice.
There are various reasons for it-
1. If you did not use the correct rice to liquid ratio.
2. You probably opened cover too many times during cooking to take a peek. Opening lid will cause steam to escape and rice will not be cooked perfectly. Allow the steam to do it’s magic, cook rice nice and fluffy!
3. Resting rice after cooking is done is another crucial step. It’ll help rice finish cooking and turn soft and fluffy.
If all instructions are followed correctly, garlic rice will be cooked to perfection, every grain cooked perfectly and no rice will get stuck to the pan at the bottom.
You can serve garlic rice with any meal, be it Indian, Mexican, Asian, or Mediterranean. We love to serve it along with meat (grilled chicken, pork, beef, sausages, fish, shrimp) and salad on green on the side.
With bacon wrapped chicken, lemon garlic shrimp it tastes amazing!
Cool garlic fried rice completely. Transfer to air tight containers and store in fridge for up to 3 days.
To make different variations of this rice you can add, flaked tuyo (smelly salted preserved fish, usually herring), a dash of soy sauce, soft cooked scrambled eggs can be toss with the rice, vegetables like sweet corn or peas works well too, or simply top the rice with fried eggs and serve it as stand alone dish.
OTHER RICE SIDE DISH RECIPES:
- Easy rice pilaf
- Homemade seasoned rice
- Steamed rice
- Thai pineapple fried rice
- Turmeric yellow rice
- Best Cilantro Lime Rice
- Instant Pot Mexican Rice
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📋 RECIPE: Easy Garlic Rice
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon butter
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 6 cloves garlic thinly sliced
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup long grain rice
- 1 ¼ cup stock low sodium
- Salt to taste
- ground white pepper to taste
- 2 teaspoon dried parsley (optional)
- ¼ cup scallions or green onions
Instructions
- Heat olive oil on medium heat. Fry thin sliced garlic in it until golden brown. This step is optional but highly recommend it.
- Remove golden brown garlic chips onto a kitchen towel.
- Into the same pan add butter.
- Sauté minced garlic in butter on medium low until flavor of garlic is infused into the butter. Approximately 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add long grain rice to the pan. Sauté rice to coat it with butter.
- Pour stock (chicken or vegetable).
- Season rice with salt and white ground pepper to taste.
- Stir and bring it to boil.
- Reduce heat to low. Cover pot with lid and cook for 15 minutes without disturbing the rice on low heat.
- Once cooked, turn off heat and let rice rest with lid covered for 10 minutes. Resting rice is crucial. It’ll help rice finish cooking and turn soft and fluffy.
- Open lid, fluff rice gently with rubber spatula or fork.
- Add fried garlic chips, dried parsley and green onions to the pan.
- Stir and mix it gently.
- Serve as side dish with any meal of your choice.
- They are so good, you can eat it by the bowl just as it is.
Video
Notes
- Garlic fried rice tastes best with long grain rice like basmati rice or Jasmine rice. They are fragrant long grain rice that has subtle nutty flavor and works very well for the dish.
- Using stock either chicken or vegetable stock instead of water to cook rice makes garlic butter rice more flavorful. Make sure to use low sodium stock as your rice make turn out salty.
- Golden fried garlic chips adds amazing flavor and texture to rice. Though this step is optional, it’s highly recommended.
- Sauté rice for a minute or two before you add stock.
- Cook rice on low heat without disturbing. Frequent opening of the lid while cooking will cause steam to escape and rice will not be cooked to.
- Resting rice is crucial. It’ll help rice finish cooking and turn soft and fluffy.
- Water rice ratio:
Long grain white rice: Use 1 cup water for 1 ¼ cup rice. If you choose to rinse and soak rice for 10 to 15 minutes prior to cooking, then adjust rice water ratio to 1:1.
Long grain brown rice: 1 ½ cup water for 1 cup rice.
Brown rice: 1.25 cup water for 1 cup rice. Brown rice will take about 20-23 minutes to cook.
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