Fluffy seasoned rice and oven roasted vegetables, all baked in one pan? YES YOU CAN! The veggie juices drip down into the rice while it’s baking so it absorbs all that extra flavour. It’s like free vegetable broth. While this Oven Baked Rice and Vegetables is great as a side, I usually have it as a meal!
And the next free eCookbook is….. drumroll please….. ASIAN TAKEOUT AT HOME!!! I’m trying to ramp up the excitement, but it won by quite a margin and everyone could see the results of the poll at anytime. So rather than a drumroll, a more appropriate sound effect was probably pfffffffff ( <– The sound of a deflating balloon, totally obvious, no? 😉)
It will largely be a collation of recipes already on my site, but I’ll add some extras that I haven’t published. And for everyone on my mail list, this new eCookbook will be emailed to you once it’s done! (And if you’re not yet on my email list, you can join at anytime. It is 100% free, always will be, no strings attached, and I pay a premium service provider too much money to protect the email details of everyone on my list so no one can ever use it. Except me – to send you recipes. And free e-Cookbooks. ❤️)
I probably should be sharing an Asian recipe to be on theme, but I’m so overdue on this Oven Baked Rice and Vegetables, I must share it today! This is a reader request – well, I should say readerS. After sharing my Oven Baked Chicken and Rice earlier this year, I had an astonishing number of people requesting a vegetable version. So here it is!
When it comes to this Oven Baked Rice and Vegetables, there is only one rule – you have to use LOTS of veggies. And I’m not just saying that to sound cheeky, I’m being serious. Because you need enough to cover the rice entirely while it’s baking. This serves 2 purposes:
-
Acts as a cover for the rice, allowing it to essentially “steam” like it does when cooked on the stove; and
-
The juices that drip from the veggies while they are roasting on top adds flavour to the rice. It’s like free vegetable broth that is all sucked up by the rice.
I used carrots, zucchinis, corn, capsicum/bell peppers, onion and cauliflower, all of which are standard for my weekly shop. I’m sure you can make yours much more exciting than mine. 😉
When you bake the rice and roasted vegetables in one pan, the reality is that there is only so much veggies that get the benefit of the beautiful oven roasting char. So when you are spreading the veggies across the top of the rice, make sure to be fair! Get a bit of each type of veggies on the surface so you get some char.
And for those veggies that can live without being roasted, like carrots, broccoli and peas, cook them IN the rice, rather than on the surface, or shove them down under the other veggies. Leave the surface for veggies that really benefit from being browned in the oven – in my world, that includes: onions, zucchinis, cauliflower, capsicum / bell peppers.
As for the rice?
It’s seasoned. It’s fluffy. It’s sucked up all those vegetable juices.
Frankly, it’s the best part of this recipe. 😉 But we must eat our veggies! – Nagi x
PS I expect many people may think of this as a side dish to pair with a protein, but in all honesty, I have it as a meal. I don’t think I’ve ever made it as a side.
PPS You won’t need a sauce with this if you serve it fresh. The roasted veggies are juicy and the rice is flavoured. But if you want a sauce, a simple yoghurt + lemon one would pair great with this. Recipe in the notes.
PPPS Those who are fans of the Oven Baked Chicken and Rice may notice that this recipe doesn’t call for the step to “oven saute” onions before adding the rice. The reason is because this recipe gets extra flavour from the veggie juices that drip into the rice while baking. 🙂
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
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Oven Baked Rice and Vegetables
Ingredients
Rice:
- 1 1/2 cups basmati or jasmine rice , uncooked (Note 1 for other rice types)
- 1 1/2 cups (375ml) chicken or vegetable broth (I use chicken)
- 1 1/4 cups (315ml) water
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 2 medium carrots , cut into 1 cm thick slices, larger pieces halved
- 30g (2 tbsp) unsalted butter (optional)
Roasting Vegetables (Note 2):
- 1 red onion , halved and cut into wedges
- 1 capsicum / bell pepper , cut into 2.5cm / 1" pieces
- 1/2 small cauliflower , broken into florets
- 2 zucchini , cut into 2cm / 4/5" chunks
- 2 corn cobs , each cut into 3 (6 small cobs)
- 1/4 cup olive oil , plus more for drizzling
Spice Mix:
- 1 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1 1/2 tsp thyme or other dried herb of choice
- 1 tsp garlic powder (or onion powder)
- 1 tsp salt (Note 3 for low sodium)
- 1 tsp pepper , plus extra
Garnish (optional):
- Finely chopped parsley
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200C/390F (standard) / 180C/350F (fan / convection).
- Mix Spice Mix in a small bowl.
- Place Rice ingredients in a baking dish (including the carrots), about 23 x 30 cm / 9 x 13". Add 1 1/2 tsp Spice Mix. Stir, cover with foil, bake for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, place Roasting Vegetable ingredients in a large bowl, drizzle with 1/4 cup olive oil. Sprinkle over remaining Spice Mix. Mix well - hands are best for this.
- Remove rice from oven.
- Turn oven UP to 220C/430F (standard) / 200C/390F (fan / convection).
- Take off foil. Spread the Roasting Vegetables on top of the rice. Make sure there's a bit of each type of vegetable on the surface. Push corn mostly under.
- Drizzle with more oil (optional), sprinkle with more pepper.
- Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, rest for 5 - 10 minutes.
- Sprinkle with parsley if desired. Push vegetables aside, fluff rice and toss it through the vegetables a bit (rice gets more flavour). Serve!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
His current favourite toy. I bet this doesn’t surprise anyone.
Whole family loved it! Great spice mix. Added some chorizo with the veggies.
I love your recipes and this one looks delicious! I have to cook for a lot of,people, would it be ok to just double the recipe?
Delicious. That’s all that needs to be said!
Delicious! I used brown rice it took longer and Added ms dash seasoning. I made some white sauce on the side. I will cook this again.
Have made this with an extra garlic clove (so good). Had leftover raita from previous meal and it went perfectly with this rice dish! Thank you 🙂
Hi! My rice is taking forever to cook, I used basmati like you suggested – 1 hour later and it’s still mostly uncooked- any tips!? I followed everything you said. The veggies taste soooo bomb !
Oh no Brijette, what type of basmati dd you use? Was it possibly brown – that takes longer to cook! N x
It was white basmati rice, I saw your notes on brown rice. After 1.5 hours the rice was half cooked. I did use a Dutch oven instead of a casserole dish :/ could this be why? I’ll be trying this recipe again. Thanks! 🙂
This recipe is a new family favorite. The leftovers are delicious, too. I just found your site recently and I’m going to try your other recipes. Thank you for sharing this!
We absolutely loved it! A new family favourite!!
Love this! Made it multiple times with whatever veg is on hand and it’s delicious! Question, is it possible to pre-bake the rice and then finish later in the day? I’m in classes late and want sometime quick when I get back so want to meal prep – but am scared of soggy rice!
Hi Cari, you can’t half cook it as it will end up with mushy rice – I’d cook the whole way through and then just reheat – N x
Hi Nagi, Was at Woolly’s today getting the ingredients for your Oven Baked Rice and Vegetables as well as your KFC Baked Oven Fried Chicken Tenders and 1 of the cashiers asked where I got the recipes from. Your should get a new subscriber from Victoria Point soon. By the way, Love your site.Thanks
Hi Nagi, I have a couple of bags of mix veg in the freezer (cauliflower, carrots, beans and broccoli mix), and I’m hoping to use them in this recipe. Will it work? What about oven duration? If not, could you suggest some recipes on your blog that could use these veggies.. thanks!
I made this last night and it was amazing!! Kids absolutely demolished it and asked if I could make it again next week. 😊 it even tasted better today for my lunch. Thanks Nagi! I’ve been cooking your recipes for a while now and haven’t found one that didn’t taste great. You are my go to person for all recipes.
Nagi! LOVE your recipes! You are my go to!!! Quick question about the rice and vegetable bake….can I bake the rice/carrots then finish with the vegetables a little later? This is a great potluck recipe and wondering if I can finish the last 40 minutes 2-3 hours later…after the rice bakes?
Thank-you!
Hi Marty, that won’t work unfortunately, the rice will become stodgy if only partly cooked then left to cool. N x
I’ve made this one before and I am making it again tonight as my family loved it. However, when I take my rice out of the oven there is still a lot of liquid in the roasting dish, unlike in your video, Nagi. Most of the rice is actually covered by the liquid in the pan. I’ve checked and double checked my quantities, I’ve used the right type of rice and my pan is roughly the size you suggest. Am I doing something wrong???
I had the exact same issue! But by the end of it the rice soaked up most of the liquid and ended up okay 🙂
I’ve made this a few times now. It’s a really great way to use up the veggies in the fridge. The flavour is amazing! Seriously an awesome dish. Am serving our with pan fried Barramundi.
The rice and vegetables were really, really, really good. There was a bite to the rice which was perfect and the corn was the star of the yummy veggies. I served it with grilled chicken and it was a feast for all! Thank you, Nagi!
I’ve got this in the oven right now, I’m wondering, could it be eaten cold the next day for lunch ?
You could Andrea, although I find the texture of cold rice slightly off-putting so I’d prefer it warm. N x
Oooh this was sooooo good!! My list of favorite ❤ RTE recipes is just growing and growing. I added a parsnip and a few baby potatoes that needed to be eaten. Will certainly keep it in mind when I have spare leftover veggies. Perfect as a meal on its own.
I made this dish for my family this evening and paired it with chicken satay skewers. Everybody LOVED the rice and vegetable combination and went back for seconds. You are one talented lady Nagi!
This is in the oven right now and smells delicious! Thanks for a great recipe Nagi 🙂
Trying this tonight, just put rice in the oven. I believe it will be delicious!!
Love to know what you think once it’s finished Trish! N x
Outstanding. I added a lot of celery, a potatoe, baby red and yellow peppers, orange pepper. No corn (next time)