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…
-
Greek mains – Greek Chicken , Gyros Chicken (skip the pita bread, or stuff the rice inside it!), Greek Meatballs, Souvlaki
-
Garlic Prawns (pictured)
-
Crispy Pan Fried Fish – or try it with this amazing Lemon Butter Sauce
-
Super Quick Crispy Garlic Chicken or sticky Honey Garlic Chicken
-
Don’t forget greens! Can’t go past a Greek Salad
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
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.
Would this work with parboiled rice?
This is so good! I served it with grilled chicken and a cucumber feta salad and my family rated it 10/10.
I’ve made this 3 times now and absolutely LOVE it (i used the herbs option, not the dill). I’ll never boil my rice again 🙂
Loved this rice recipe.
The lemon and fresh herbs just make everything pop. Even my husband who routinely requires a sauce when served rice went back for seconds.
High praise indeed!!
An easy, flavorful side to our gyros! Thanks!
This rice was delicious! But there’s no way it would ever look crisp and white like the photos. Caramelizing the onions and garlic made the whole dish brown. It wasn’t a bad thing – just different than what this blogger has pictured. Thankfully, I served it with a generous helping of stifado on top, so color didn’t matter to me.
The recipe doesn’t call for cooking the onions long enough to caramelize them. It says: “Cook for 5 minutes or until translucent and sweet.”
Try not to caramelise the onion and garlic – just sauté over a low/medium heat so they soften but don’t get any colour to it. I’ve made this a few times, and it has always come out nice and white.
Great tip Mark—thank you! 🙂
This rice is amazing. So delicious I’m happy to eat it on its own!!
Thanks!! Will be a regular on the menu!
It’s the BEST, the absolute best!
Everybody who has tried this recipe at my home asks for Nagi’s page.
Also, my favourite green mix to date is Cilantro and Curly Parsley. No water, all chicken broth for me and it’s beautiful.
Nagi, you are the BEST!
I found this recipe after skinning and deboning a chicken and then not knowing what I was going to do. After cutting it in pieces, I marinated it for roughly 5 hrs and then panko crumbed and olive oil sprayed each piece and baked it in the oven. All I can say is YUM. Wasn’t sure how it would turn out but can highly recommend.
Another winner! This rice goes so well with Greek and Middle Eastern recipes. I sometimes add a can of chickpeas and cumin to serve with Chicken Shawarma. Thanks Nagi xx
So delicious. Perfect as a side to so many recipe. I often make it without the lemon and herbs just so it goes with other cuisines. Yum!
I’ve made this a few times – it’s delicious! I sometimes add crumbled Feta as well. So good.
Absolutely delicious! Perfect with kabobs.
I’m adding a pint of halved grape tomatoes to the sautéing onion and garlic. When the rice is done, fresh chopped mint, dill, and cilantro will be mixed in with the lemon juice (or maybe lime). BUT I’m washing and soaking the basmati rice first. Also, I’m adding an 8 oz. brick of feta either diced or crumbled, and 1/2 c. sliced green olives at the end.
On the side I’m making a tzatziki sauce with Greek yogurt, grated cucumber, garlic, parsley, and chopped scallions mixed in.
I might throw in a minced anchovy to the sautéing onion and garlic, plus 1-2 T. chopped capers mixed through the rice at the end. In which case, less salt.
Serve the pilaf with some extra virgin olive oil drizzled over.
So good! Didn’t have fresh herbs and used a little bit of dried instead. Also instead of 1/4 cup of the chicken broth I used 1/4 cup of white wine. I put it in after the rice turned translucent. Also I used basmati rice. Will be making again!!!
I could literally eat this rice on its own for dinner. That’s how much I love it. 😂 I add a little bit of butter at the end.
Hi Nagi
I want to do this for a family picnic to compliment souvlaki’s… but with little children, my mornings can be hectic… can I make & freeze this, then heat thoroughly just beforehand?
Hi Nagi,
This recipe was delicious! I could not stop eating it!! I used oregano as my spice and only put in 1 1/2 tbsps and it was plenty. The lemon zest and lemon juice really add to the recipe. My husband and I both enjoyed this. Thanks for such a great recipe.
I could seriously just eat a bowl of this rice for dinner. 😂
We love Mediterranean food!
I made this with chicken souvlaki and tsaziki along with a cucumber, avocado, tomato and red onion salad. So good!
Love your recipes!