This bright flavorful turmeric yellow rice recipe is quick and easy to make side dish. A great accomplishment with curries, seafood or any grilled meat dish. Add color to your meal and brighten your weeknight dinner with turmeric yellow rice!
Jump to:
Ingredients you’ll need
Here’s the list of ingredients you’ll need to make turmeric rice-
- 1 cup long grain rice (white or brown)
- 1 ¾ cup stock (vegetable stock or chicken stock)
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- Butter – 1 tablespoon (optional)
- 1 ½ teaspoon onion powder (can use white onion, minced)
- Garlic powder and ginger powder – 1 teaspoon each (can use fresh minced garlic and ginger)
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Cilantro or parsley
Ingredients additions & substitutions
Depending on the cuisine you are trying to approach you can add additional spices to get the flavors of the particular country.
Some of the ingredients that can be included in the recipe are:
- Substitute turmeric with saffron
- Ground cumin
- Ground coriander
- Few golden raisins (for added texture and sweetness) – for Cuban touch
- Sliced jalapeno – to get to Mexican touch
- Curry powder – Indian style
- Cayenne pepper and smoked paprika – to add heat and extra kick to the rice
- Fresh or frozen peas, carrots or corn can be added
- You can add chicken to yellow rice recipe
- Feel free to add canned beans(drained) to the dish.
What is yellow rice?
Yellow rice is traditional rice dish in cuisines like Indian, Spanish, Cuban, Indonesian, South African and many more. It’s basically long grain white rice that is colored with spice like turmeric or saffron. It’s a popular side dish which has mild flavors. Turmeric gives out somewhat peppery, warm and slightly bitter flavors to the rice making it not only delicious but also with many healing properties.
Is yellow rice healthy?
Yes, it’s definitely healthy.
Turmeric is an ancient wonderful healing spice. Apart from it’s inti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties turmeric is used for skin rejuvenation. It also aid in depression, boosts brain function, fights heart disease, arthritis, irritable bowel and more. It’s truly a miraculous spice! Including small quantities in your everyday meal will boost your health.
Store bought yellow rice mix is loaded with MSG and artificial flavoring agents. Why go for chemical loaded rice when you can easily make yellow rice at home with few basic pantry ingredients. Try it once; you’ll never want to buy boxed stuff anymore!
What kind of rice is best to use?
You need rice that has less starch, so you get non sticky rice once cooked. Long grain rice is the best choice. Any long grain rice like –
- basmati rice,
- long grain brown rice,
- extra-long grain white rice
- Jasmine white rice
- or brown rice are the ones you should be picking.
How to make yellow rice?
Rinse rice:
The debate whether to rinse rice or not; ever seems to settle. Have trust and take my word. Always rinse rice. This helps removes excess starch (surface starch) and keeps it from sticking together. Rinsing gets rid of any dirt. Place rice in fine mesh strainer or a bowl and rinse it for several times. Rinse by scrubbing rice gently with finger tips.
Sauté:
- Heat olive oil in deep bottom pan on medium heat. Add rinsed rice to oil and give a quick stir.
- It’s important to sauté spice powders in oil to help in bloom. Sautéing spice powders also enhances the taste of the dish. I do not sauté spice powders in hot oil directly, but rather add it along with rice or other ingredients like onion, garlic. That way spices won’t get burnt but bloom.
- Add onion powder, ginger powder, garlic powder to rice. Sauté it for 30 seconds.
- Later add turmeric powder, salt and pepper to taste. Sauté for 30 seconds more.
Cook:
- Reduce heat to low. Pour in stock or water. Stir well.
- Cover pot with lid and let it cool for 15 minutes. Note cooking time mentioned here is for long grain white rice. If you switch to long grain brown rice you have to increase the liquid and time to cook.
Stir:
- Remove from stove, stand 10 minutes with lid on.
- After 10 minutes, open lid. Add butter to rice. Butter is optional, but it helps in keeping rice soft and adds rich taste to the dish.
- Using silicon spatula fluff rice stirring butter into it.
- Garnish yellow rice with cilantro or parsley.
Serve as side dish with curries, seafood or any grilled meat.
Tips for best yellow rice recipe
- Have trust and rinse the rice. It helps in removing excess starch, prevent rice from sticking to each other, cooks rice perfectly with every grain separated.
- Saute rinsed rice and spice powders. Sauteing spice powders helps it bloom making the dish tasty.
- Use stock for more flavorful rice. Chicken or vegetable stock can be used.
- Once cooking is done, Remove from stove, stand 10 minutes with lid on. This will ensure the cooking process of rice is complete. If you try to stir rice soon as it’s cooked, you’ll find surface of grain wet and inside under cooked.
- Butter is optional but highly recommended for rich buttery rice.
FAQS
Yes, you can. Long grain brown rice will need extra liquids and longer cooking time than long grain white rice. Use 1:2 ratio of long grain brown rice to liquid ratio. Also cook long grain brown rice will need 23 to 25 minutes depending on it’s quality.
Depending on the cuisine you are trying to approach you can add additional spices to get the flavors of the particular country.
Some of the ingredients that can be included in yellow rice recipe are:
>Substitute turmeric with saffron
>Ground cumin
>Ground coriander
>Few golden raisins (for added texture and sweetness) – for Cuban touch
>Sliced jalapeno – to get to Mexican touch
>Curry powder – Indian style
>Cayenne pepper and smoked paprika – to add heat and extra kick to the rice
>Fresh or frozen peas, carrots or corn can be added
>You can add chicken to yellow rice recipe
>Feel free to add canned beans(drained) to the dish.
Leftover rice can be stored in container covered tight with lid in refrigerator for 3-4 days.
For longer storage, store yellow rice in freezer safe containers and freeze for upto 3 months.
Reheat rice in microwave or stove top. If needed add 1 to 2 teaspoon water while reheating to revive rice.
LOVE RICE ? DON’T MISS OTHER RICE RECIPES FROM THE BLOG –
- Best Cilantro Lime Rice
- Homemade Seasoned Rice
- Instant Pot Mexican Rice
- How To Make Steamed Rice
- Cooking Rice In Instant Pot
- Thai Pineapple Fried Rice
- Chicken Meal Prep
Don’t forget to Subscribe to CurryTrail Recipes below to get our newest recipes delivered straight to your inbox.
LOVE THIS RECIPE? KEEP IN TOUCH AND DON’T MISS OUT ON ANY OF CURRYTRAIL RECIPES! FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM, PINTEREST, FACEBOOK, TWITTER.
HAVE YOU TRIED ONE OF MY RECIPES? I’D LOVE TO SEE WHAT YOU’VE MADE! TAKE A PICTURE AND USE THE HASHTAG #CURRYTRAIL ON INSTAGRAM SO I CAN SEE! I’LL DO A HAPPY DANCE IF YOU TRY MY RECIPE AND SHARE IT WITH US!
📋 Yellow Rice Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup long grain rice white or brown
- 1 ¾ cup stock vegetable stock or chicken stock
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter optional
- 1 ½ teaspoon onion powder can use white onion, minced
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder can use fresh minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon ginger powder can use fresh minced ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Cilantro or parsley
Instructions
- Rinse rice. Place rice in fine mesh strainer or a bowl and rinse it for several times. Rinse by scrubbing rice gently with finger tips.
- Heat olive oil in deep bottom pan on medium heat. Add rinsed rice to oil and give a quick stir.
- It’s important to saute spice powders in oil to help in bloom. Sauteing spice powders also enhances the taste of the dish. I do not saute spice powders in hot oil directly, but rather add it along with rice or other ingredients like onion, garlic. That way spices won’t get burnt but bloom.
- Add onion powder, ginger powder, garlic powder to rice. Saute it for 30 seconds.
- Later add turmeric powder, salt and pepper to taste. Saute for 30 seconds more.
- Reduce heat to low. Pour in stock or water. Stir well.
- Cover pot with lid and let it cool for 15 minutes. Note cooking time mentioned here is for long grain white rice. If you switch to long grain brown rice you have to increase the liquid and time to cook.
- Remove from stove, stand 10 minutes with lid on.
- After 10 minutes, open lid. Add butter to rice. Butter is optional, but it helps in keeping rice soft and adds rich taste to the dish.
- Using silicon spatula fluff rice stirring butter into it.
- Garnish yellow rice with cilantro or parsley.
- Serve as side dish with curries, seafood or any grilled meat.
Video
Notes
- Have trust and rinse the rice. It helps in removing excess starch, prevent rice from sticking to each other, cooks rice perfectly with every grain separated.
- Sauté rinsed rice and spice powders. Sautéing spice powders helps it bloom making the dish tasty.
- Use stock for more flavorful rice. Chicken or vegetable stock can be used.
- Once cooking is done, Remove from stove, stand 10 minutes with lid on. This will ensure the cooking process of rice is complete. If you try to stir rice soon as it’s cooked, you’ll find surface of grain wet and inside under cooked.
- Butter is optional but highly recommended for rich buttery rice.
Comments & Reviews
Sarah says
Can this rice be frozen?
Jyothi Rajesh says
Yes you can
Ada G. says
This recipe was excellent!
I will admit I forgot to rinse my rice. After momentary panic and realizing I didn’t have enough to start over, I very lightly toasted the rice in the oil, adding the spices once the rice was just barely starting to show some golden edges. (Think of those packaged mixes). The rest went according to recipe, though I used the amount of water indicated by my package of rice rather than the larger amount called for here. It was delicious, the rice was fluffy, that extra butter was perfect and I will make this again for sure. My only change going forward will be to cut back a touch on the ginger, personal preference.