Seasoned Rice is a homemade version of the flavoured boxed rices like Rice-A-Roni and Uncle Ben’s! A quick way to add flavour to white rice to make it super tasty, this is a rice side that’s economical, simple to make, and goes with literally everything.
Make a big batch and refrigerate 4 days or freeze 3 months.
Buttery Seasoned Rice
I tell my friends this is the rice version of Potato Salad – you make a big batch, stash it in the fridge and bring it out night after night to serve with everything.
Except unlike Potato Salad, this rice recipe can also be frozen. Whip it out of the freezer, pop it in the microwave for a couple of minutes. Anyone for a 2 minute instant side – that didn’t come from a box??!!
Rice Side Dish for everything!
Don’t get me wrong, plain rice has its place in this world. Doused with saucy stir fries, smothered in spicy curries. But you do need a sauce.
So how do you make plain white rice so tasty, you will want to eat a meals’ worth straight out of the pot?? Cook it with stock powder/bouillon, some spices and add a good wack of butter!
Flavourings and spices for seasoned rice
Here’s what goes in this seasoned rice. You can make this with any white rice other than speciality rices like risotto, paella and sushi rice. Also see the recipe notes for how to adjust this for brown rice.
Don’t worry if you don’t have all the spices, there are plenty of alternatives! See below the photo for a list.
Substitution for spices
You could skip one of the spices and it will still taste similar. Or you can substitute as follows:
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Garlic powder – melt 1 tbsp (15g) butter and cook 2 finely chopped garlic cloves until golden, then add rice, water and all other ingredients and cook per recipe;
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Onion powder – add extra 1/2 tsp garlic powder instead;
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Paprika – just skip it, adds a touch of warm earthy flavour and a bit of colour, not critical;
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Thyme – not critical. Best sub is dried oregano, followed by basil. 1/4 tsp sage powder is SO GOOD as well.
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Parsley – optional, this is more for visual, to get the little green specks in the rice. Sub with basil, or stir through 1 cup finely sliced green onion, or 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley or chives.
How to make rice taste better!
Here’s how to make this flavoured rice which comes out beautifully fluffy – with the added bonus of no scorched pot base too!
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Place rice, water and all the seasonings into a large saucepan or small pot and give it a good stir;
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Bring to a simmer over medium high heat until there’s bubbles around the edges and the entire surface is rippling, and it foams a bit (you’ll see in the video);
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Place a tight fitting lid on, then turn down to medium low – or low for strong stoves. You want the water to still be simmering – if the heat is too low, then the rice just sits there in hot water, bloating, rather than absorbing. Too high, and it will bubble over and out the sides of the pot. NO PEEKING – the lid needs to stay on to trap the steam inside – this will ensure your rice cooks evenly;
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After 13 minutes, remove from the stove and let it rest for 10 minutes – the rice will finish cooking during this time (if you try the rice as soon as it comes off the stove, you’ll find the surface of the grain is wet and the inside is still uncooked);
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Add butter and fluff up the rice with a rubber spatula – the residual heat will melt the butter. I recommend using at least 3 tbsp (50g) for a lovely buttery rice, but you can reduce to 2 tbsp (30g) if you want. Or sub with extra virgin olive oil, or just skip the butter – it will still be very tasty rice!
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Pile onto serving platter, sprinkle with parsley or something green for presentation if you wish. Dig in!
How to properly store cooked rice
Cooked rice will keep for up to 5 days in the fridge (I say 4 to be safe). Cool the seasoned rice rapidly – tumble it out of the pot into a large bowl, or if you scaled up the batch then spread out on tray(s). Refrigerate within 2 hours of cooking.
The stories you may have heard about food safety and cooked rice revolves around large volumes of cooked rice sitting out for hours and hours, creating a cosy environment for bacteria to grow which can lead to food poisoning. This is typical of large scale cooking, not home cooking (because vast quantities of rice takes ages to cool down).
A single batch of this seasoned rice will cool to room temp in 40 minutes once in a serving bowl, so you’ll have no practical issues with storing.
What to serve with Seasoned Rice
This is a rice side dish that will pretty much go with any foods other than Asian food and curries (they’ve got enough flavour in them as it is!).
It’s tasty enough to eat plain without sauce, quick enough for midweek meals yet so good you’ll want it on the table of grander affairs too! Here’s a few suggestions for mains to serve with this:
It would also be terrific to make a meat-free meal out of things like these:
AND stuff them into BURRITOS!!
Now, kiss those boxed rices goodbye, and make a big batch of this rice and refrigerate for days, or freeze it! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Buttery Seasoned Rice
Ingredients
- 2 cups long grain white rice , uncooked (Note 1 for brown rice)
- 3 1/4 cups water (cold tap water)
- 2 tsp chicken powder / granulated bouillon , or 2 cubes dissolved in boiling water (Note 2)
- 1 tsp garlic powder *
- 1 tsp onion powder *
- 1 tsp paprika *
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme *
- 2 tbsp dried parsley *, optional
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Stir through:
- 50g / 3 tbsp butter, unsalted (or MORE!)
Instructions
- Place all Rice ingredients in a large saucepan and give it a stir.
- Bring to simmer over medium high heat (edges bubbling, entire surface rippling), put the lid on and turn stove down to medium low (LOW for strong stoves). It should be simmering gently.
- Cook for 13 minutes - do not lift lid!
- Tilt pot then QUICKLY peek to ensure all water is absorbed.
- Remove from stove, stand 10 minutes with lid on.
- Add butter and fluff rice with a rubber spatula. Serve!
- Storage - please read Note 4.
- Rice cooker - Same ingredients, water and rice ratio. Pop it all in your rice cooker and cook per manufacturer directions, stir through butter at end.
Recipe Notes:
- Garlic powder - melt 1 tbsp (15g) butter and cook 2 finely chopped garlic cloves until golden, then add rice, water and all other ingredients and cook per recipe.
- Onion powder - add extra 1/2 tsp garlic powder instead
- Paprika - just skip it, adds a touch of warm earthy flavour and a bit of colour, not critical
- Thyme - not critical. Best sub is dried oregano, followed by basil. 1/4 tsp sage powder is SO GOOD as well.
- Parsley - optional, this is more for visual, to get the little green specks in the rice. Sub with basil, or stir through 1 cup finely sliced green onion, or 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley or chives.
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
Dozer thinks the social distancing rules don’t apply to him – lucky police aren’t fining DOGS for non compliance with these new laws!!
Family loves this rice recipe.
Woo hoo Del that’s great! I am glad they like it! N x
Delicious – I add frozen mixed veges and call it dinner. My flate-mate loves it as do I.
Great idea Deidre!! Enjoy! N x
This was very good!! Needed something to serve with chicken. Had the ingredients and it was so simple to prepare and tasty. Will be saving this recipe.
Before this recipe I was a failure at making rice. Now it is perfect every time. Cooked perfectly and so much flavor. I can’t believe it is so easy.
Woo hoo I am glad that you liked it Marilyn! N x
Can this be adapted for a rice cooker? If yes…can you help with the amounts of ingredients?
Hi Antoinette,
I just wanted to let you know that I make this recipe in my rice cooker all the time. The standard size of the measuring cup for a rice cooker is 3/4 cup, but measure yours just in case it differs! So I do three scoops in the rice cooker which equals 2.25 C, water to the 3 line, everything else the same, just with rounded rather than level measures for the spices. White rice setting and off you go!
I don’t use one – sorry Antoinette! N x
At the “remove from stove, let it stand” part, I tossed in a big bunch of chopped fresh spinach. Let it wilt, and fluffed it up with the butter in the next step. Without a doubt, this is the best rice I’ve ever made!
Woo hoo!! I am so glad you enjoyed it Pete!! N x
Could have done without the social distancing commentary on the rice recipe.
I last minute searched for ways to make my brown rice interesting as I waited for my entrée to cook and this surpassed my expectations. Love how basic ingredients combined to make such a wonderful dish. Thank you for sharing!
BTW, I just discovered the scale bar that can be used to adjust the number of servings. BRILLIANT!!
I’m glad you like it! Very handy!! N x
BTW, I just discovered the scale bar that you can use to adjust how many servings. BRILLIANT!!
Sooo much better than packaged
rice-a-roni. Made tonight…yummy!! Used jasmine rice, extra yummy!!!
Loved love this yummy rice. It goes great with everything. Cooking tips and storage an added bonus. Ty for such an easy rice dish.
OMG! the smell when you take the lid off says it all! This rice was so tasty and came out perfect. Definitely going to make it again. Maybe I’ll add some toasted pine nuts or almonds.
Early morning barbecue pork is in the oven. Decided to warm up my already cooked rice/butter with a little sea salt. Not very tasty after warming up. Found this site, added several ingredients and now my rice is tasty, all by itself. Will do the whole recipe in the next few days. Like having food already prepared with just a warm up. Thank you 6:59 am
Amazing flavor! I added 1 tablespoon of Lipton onion soup seasoning and it was so delicious. The only thing I will change next time is more water. My rice was just a bit crunchy and I think another 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water would’ve done the trick.
Mmmmmm…..delish as always. I’ve never cooked rice this way with just 13mins cooking and let stand for 10mins. Rice came out perfectly cooked and fluffy.
Nothing worse than overcooked rice!!! N x
I LOVE YOU! I’ve been to nice restaurants but this is by far the best rice ever!!! Mmmm 😋
This rice is amazing!!!!! The spices are perfect!
I have made this a few times now as written. Decided to use chicken broth today instead of water and the taste was even better!
So I am cooking this right now!! On low on my stove top….. Followed everything to the T. Let’s see how it turns out!!
This rice is very flavorful. Thanks for another delicious recipe.