This Lemon Rice recipe is so good, you will want to eat it plain, straight out of the pot! It’s a Greek Rice made with sautéed onion and garlic, rice cooked in chicken broth then finished off with lemon and herbs.
Serve this Greek Lemon Rice with your favourite Greek food like Greek Chicken, Gyros Chicken, Greek Meatballs or Souvlaki!
Greek Lemon Rice recipe
I made this Lemon Rice Pilaf as a side for a Greek Feast that I shared in my Chicken Souvlaki recipe. And I promise, it is so good, you honestly will want to eat it straight from the pot.
The reason this is not just “another flavoured rice” is because it’s made as a pilaf.
A pilaf is simply a rice dish that starts like risotto – sautéing garlic and onion in olive oil (or butter), then stirring in the rice grains until they become translucent with the oil, then cooking the rice in a broth.
Cooking rice in this way transforms plain rice into a flavoured dish that is tasty enough to eat plain.
In fact, there are many rice dishes around the world that are made this way, loaded up with even more flavour and with proteins added. From risottos, to Spanish Paella, Indian Biryani and Jambalaya.
This Lemon Rice is a side dish so I’ve kept it quite simple. Pictured above, as a side dish with some juicy Garlic Prawns (Shrimp).
While some Lemon Rice recipes cook the rice with the lemon juice, my preference is to stir the lemon through the rice once it is cooked. I find that the lemon flavour is fresher, and also I stir it through while the rice is hot so it sucks in all that fresh flavour.
YUM!
Greek Lemon Rice is super versatile, but especially perfect for Mediterranean dishes. Think: Greek food, Spanish, Italian. And of course seafood. This goes fabulously with any form of seafood.
Enjoy! – Nagi x
Try this Greek Lemon Rice with…
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Greek mains – Greek Chicken , Gyros Chicken (skip the pita bread, or stuff the rice inside it!), Greek Meatballs, Souvlaki
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Garlic Prawns (pictured)
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Crispy Pan Fried Fish – or try it with this amazing Lemon Butter Sauce
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Super Quick Crispy Garlic Chicken or sticky Honey Garlic Chicken
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Don’t forget greens! Can’t go past a Greek Salad
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Lemon Rice Pilaf
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tbsp extra virgin oil (or butter)
- 1 garlic clove , minced
- 1/2 onion , finely chopped (white, brown, yellow)
- 1 1/2 cups long grain white rice , uncooked (Note 1)
- 1 1/4 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup water
- 1 large lemon (1 tsp zest + 3 - 4 tbsp lemon juice)
- 3 tbsp finely chopped parsley
- 3 tbsp finely chopped dill (or sub with parsley, oregano, basil chives, mint)
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Heat oil over medium heat in large saucepan or small pot.
- Add garlic and onion. Cook for 5 minutes or until translucent and sweet.
- Add rice and stir until rice turns mostly translucent.
- Add broth and water. Place lid on, bring to simmer then turn heat down to low.
- Cook for 12 minutes or until water is evaporated.
- Remove from from stove and rest for 10 minutes (keep the lid on).
- Remove lid. stir through lemon zest, lemon juice, herbs and salt and pepper to taste.
- Lovey served warm or at room temperature.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Try this Greek Feast!
Complete with Chicken Souvlaki with Tzatziki, Easy Soft Flatbreads (No Yeast), Greek Salad and this Lemon Rice Pilaf.
Never made a pilaf before and now this will be the only pilaf I ever make! Simple, healthy, and so good! It paired perfectly with my gyros for my Greek dinner party! Thank you!
Perfect combo Freda!
Hi Nagi, I am so glad that I discovered your blog. I am going to make this rice to dat with garlic honey chicken. Must the rice be washed before cooking?
Hi Michelle, no need to rinse the rice. I hope you love it!
Thanks Nagi. I am sure I will love it. I love everything that has lemon in it.
This was delicious it will be a new favourite. My fussy husband even loved it
That’s the best compliment Debbie!
Hi, Nagi, I love to cook but I have a problem with rice. I can’t get plain rice right. It’s always hard and mushy at the same time. Can you please post a recipe for plain rice? Thanks a lot, I love your cooking.
You’re not going to believe this….. my “how to cook rice” recipe is coming out TOMORROW!!!! N xx
Nagi your recipes are looking very tasty!! Thanks for posting them! I am doing lemon rice tonight!!!
Love to know what you think Joan, keep me updated!
Can this be done in a rice cooker?
Can I just double the recipe in the same pot ifni need it for 10 people?
Hi Alexis, yes you can, you may just need to adjust the cook time sightly so keep an eye on it – N x
OMG – this is the best. I made it pretty much like the recipe said – used one of your suggested subs for the dill – fresh basil because I have basil in the garden and no dill right now. Did exactly what you said to do with the heat. Did use Jasmine rice and might have increased onion and garlic because I don’t exactly measure that stuff. I also used bottle lemon juice instead of fresh because that is what I had — seriously, this was the BEST RICE EVER. Ate the leftovers cold last night and I couldn’t stop at a normal portion, Scary good.
Woah that’s awesome Marianne!!
I’m eager to try this recipe- it looks so good! Could this be made in an Instant Pot? And if so, how long would I let it cook for in there?
Hi Lindi, I haven’t tried sorry! – N x
Nagi!! This is a beautiful dish! I doubled the recipe and at the end putting the lemon juice in I felt it was a lot, but I said to myself, trust Nagi 😂 and it is so good! The rice soaked it all up and wasn’t mushy at all, can’t wait to feed it to my guests, thank you for becoming a food blogger 😊
Wahoo I’m glad it worked our for you Laura!
I need to make enough for a large party. Would using a Dutch oven be okay? Will it cook thorough?
That should be fine Dina!
I made the rice for our church Community Group gathering, the menu was Greek food. Everyone loved it, and only a large spoonful left. I will definitely be making this again for my own meal preps during the week.
Fantastic Alicia!
My sister made this for a family potluck Greek dinner and all of us LOVED it! We now all have the recipe! I can’t wait to make again!
That’s awesome to hear!!
Great recipe. Having it with smoked lamb roast & salad.
Excellent! 👌 This was my first time ever making a rice pilaf, and this recipe made it easy! It turned out absolutely perfect! My wife asked for seconds, and then thirds! 😎
Wahoo! I’m so happy it was a hit!
I didn’t add water, and instead cooked my rice in chicken stock, and some cooking white wine. The rice started to look like it was cooking too fast so I put it in the freezer so it didn’t turn into mushy rice. It came out perfect, and I am super picky about rice. Will be using again.
I’m so glad it worked Jen!
Well I’d already committed to this recipe before I realised that I had no chicken stock and that all the lemons on the tree were tiny and green. Ended up substituting dashi and 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar instead, then mixed through some of the pan juices from the lamb I’d cooked. It was really good!
That’s great Arwen! I’m so happy it worked out!
Wow! I love this recipe! It was sooooo good! I combined with your lemon rice and it was a hit! How long can I keep the leftover sauce in the fridge?
BTW, this is the 4th recipe that I try from you! Keep it going!!!
I have a couple of jars of homemade preserved lemons I put up a few months ago and am wondering if Ican I use Preserved Lemon instead of lemon juice? If so how much?
Hi Margarita! Unfortunately I’m not sure. I must confess I’m not a fan of preserved lemons so I am not the best to ask about something like that. Sorry!
Just made it, it is incredibly delicious! Thank you!
Terrific to hear you enjoyed this!! Thanks Lora! N x