How to Make the Best Pilaf at Home: An easy guide to a mouth-watering pilaf side dish. This recipe is made with tender long-grain rice and small pasta and seasoned with onion, garlic, salt, and butter.
Bonus: Both the stovetop and Instant Pot have instructions!
Best Pilaf Recipes
If you’ve ever thought of rice as an ordinary, no-frills side dish, this pilaf recipe will change your mind forever.
This pilaf is the best rice recipe ever. It’s the perfect combination of textures and flavors. The rice is tender and fluffy, the cooking time is essentially hands-free, and it’s delicious thanks to the addition of onions, garlic, and toasted noodles.
What is pilaf?
Pilaf is a simple but tasty rice dish made with long-grain rice and small pieces of baked pasta with sautéed garlic and onions.
How This Recipe Became a Staple
We were lucky a few years ago to have a great recipe developer on our team, Kelly. Kelly’s husband made a version of this rice that instantly became a favorite in their house and with friends and family, and then it went stale in mine! Kelly then shared this recipe with everyone and it was an absolute hit!
We use gluten free pasta and then quick fry it to turn it into something different with a wonderful toasted flavor. There’s nothing difficult to cook in this recipe, but it’s all about a few tricks to enhance the flavors to make the best rice ever.
This dish is delicious on its own, or in our house with two small children, topped with a fried egg, and happily served as dinner (and then recreated the next day into something new, like a stir fry).
What is pilaf rice made of?
- olive oil: All you need is a little olive oil to sauté dry spaghetti before proceeding with the recipe.
- Fettuccine: I use gluten free pasta, cut into 1 inch pieces.
- Fragrance: We’re creating the best flavor base possible with the classic combination of onion and garlic.
- rice: Be sure to use long grain rice. I use long grain white rice, but jasmine or basmati rice would work too; they just taste slightly different.
- water: You need 4 cups of water to cook rice and pasta.
- Salt: Enhance the taste of pilaf.
- butter: Butter is optional but does add a delicious depth of flavor.
How to make pilaf
This pilaf recipe is super easy to make. All it takes is 5 minutes of prep time!
- Wash the rice: Fill a large bowl with cold water and use your hands to move the rice around the water. Drain and repeat until the water runs clear. Set aside to dry.
- Sautéed Pasta and Spices: Heat oil in a large pot and add dry pasta. You need about 40 small pieces of spaghetti or 1.75 oz. Roast until lightly browned. Reduce heat, then add onion and garlic. Cook until softened.
- Combine and cook: Add washed rice, salt and water to the pot. Bring to a boil and cook until the water under the rice evaporates. Cover, reduce heat, and cook for 10 minutes.
- Fluff and serve: Fluff the rice with a fork and serve. Or, for crispier rice, reheat the rice on low heat for an additional 10-15 minutes!
Alternative method: Instant Pot!
First, rinse the rice as directed! This step is unchanged!
Next, follow these instructions to make this recipe easy with the Instant Pot.
- Press sauté on the Instant Pot, add the oil, and toast the pasta until lightly browned. Add onion and garlic and sauté until softened.
- Add rice, salt, and 2 cups of water, then cover. Press the rice button or manually pressure cook for 12 minutes.
- Use the quick release to release pressure, then fluff and serve.
Is pilaf gluten-free?
Yes! Since we’re using gluten-free pasta, this pilaf recipe is completely gluten-free. I love the Jovial brand. As always, verify the rest of the ingredients to make sure all are certified gluten-free.
What is the ratio of water to rice?
It depends on your cooking method!
- on the stove, The ratio is 1 cup of rice to 2 cups of water.
- In the Instant Pot, The ratio is 1 cup of rice to 1 cup of water.
Tips and Notes
- use Long grain white rice. Jasmine or basmati rice would also work. I do not recommend short grain or brown rice. Their cooking instructions are different.
- Rinse the rice. This is a crucial step! Rinse the rice until the water runs clear to remove excess starch from the rice grains. This produces more individual grains of rice with a better texture. Too much starch can make the final dish sticky.
- What a nice way to bake the noodles. The more you bake, the more flavorful your final dish will be; just be careful as they can go from fully baked to burnt very quickly.
- Finely chop the aromatics. The finer they are cut, the less bitter and pungent they will be.
- Let the water boil. This recipe instructs you to boil the water until the water has completely evaporated under the rice, then reduce the heat and cover. This is quite different from traditional recipes, but results in a more pleasing texture.
- For a crispy bottom, When the rice is cooked, remove the lid and continue heating for 10-15 minutes. It’s called pega…it’s basically crunchy fried rice, and it’s delicious!
Edible advice
This pilaf is delicious on its own, with fried eggs, stir-fried or as a side dish!
Now, there’s really no shortage of main dishes to pair with, but if you’re looking for some ideas, here are some favorites:
how to store
Leftover pilaf can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. It can also be frozen in single servings for up to 3 months and used anytime for easy weeknight dinners!
You can also make a big batch and freeze a small portion to whip out as needed as a quick dinner side dish.
To reheat, if frozen, thaw in the refrigerator, then place the rice in a medium pot with 2 tablespoons of water. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until rice is heated and moisture is absorbed.
More Easy Rice Recipes You’ll Love
rice recipes
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ⅓ cup dry GF spaghetti, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 40 spaghetti sticks or 1.75 oz)
- ½ small onion very finely diced (about ¼ cup diced onion)
- 1 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 2 cup long grain rice
- 4 cup water
- 1-1/2 to 2 teaspoon Salt
- 1 tablespoon butter Elective
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Rice washing: Put the rice in a large bowl, pour cold water, and stir the rice with your hands. Drain the rice and repeat this step until the water in the bowl runs clear.
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Heat a medium to large pot and add oil. Once the dry pasta is hot (you’ll need about 40 small pieces of pasta, or 1.75 oz), then toast until the pasta is lightly browned. Reduce heat to medium-low, add onion and garlic, and stir for 3 minutes, until slightly beginning to soften.
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Add the rice, salt, and water, then turn the heat up to high. Bring to a boil and continue cooking for about 10 minutes, until all the water under the rice has evaporated and the bubbles have disappeared.
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Cover, reduce heat to low and cook for 10 minutes.
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When done, fluff with a fork and serve immediately. If you want to make pega (crispy fried rice base), you can cook the rice for another 10-15 minutes on low heat.
- We really like the taste of 2 teaspoons of salt, but you can reduce it a bit to about 1-1/2 teaspoons if you prefer, although it will be milder.
- Cooking in the Instant Pot (note the amount of water added is different than on the stove top, all other ingredients remain the same):
- Rice washing: Put the rice in a large bowl, pour cold water, and stir the rice with your hands. Drain the rice and repeat this step until the water in the bowl runs clear.
- Press sauté on the Instant Pot and add oil. Once hot dry the pasta and toast until the pasta is lightly browned. Add onion and garlic and sauté 3 minutes, until slightly beginning to soften.
- Add the rice, salt, and 2 cups of water (this amount is different from the rest of the recipe), then press the rice button (or manual pressure cook for 12 minutes).
- Use the quick release when you’re done.
- Fluff with a fork and serve immediately or chill to use in meal prep.
- Rice will keep for about 5 days in the refrigerator. Or, you can freeze single servings for a quick weeknight dinner. To reheat, place rice in a medium pot with 2 tablespoons water, cover and heat over low heat. Cook for about 10 minutes, until the rice is fully heated through and the moisture has been absorbed.
