Greek Lemon Rice
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Bright and zesty Greek Lemon Rice is super tasty and so easy to make. With just a few simple ingredients and less than 30 minutes, you can turn a pantry staple into a flavorful side dish for your favorite meals!
Rice lovers right this way! You’ll enjoy my popular Shrimp Fried Rice, Pork Fried Rice, Super Easy Mexican Rice (Spanish Rice), Cilantro Lime Rice, and Cajun Dirty Rice.
Are you sick of the same old, same old white rice? We totally were too, which led me to do some experimenting and research into new ways to spruce up white rice. Our favorite? This lemon rice recipe! A riff on greek rice, this recipe is so easy, only taking 25 minutes to make, which is about the same amount of time it takes to make regular rice anyway! A pinch of this, a dash of that, and you’ll have a new favorite, easy lemon rice recipe to add to your meals.
Ingredients
- Long Grain Rice
- Butter
- Fresh-squeezed Lemon Juice
- Chicken Broth
- Turmeric (spice)
- Salt
- Fresh Herbs – optional (like dill, mint, or basil
Here’s How You Make It
You’re just a few steps away from the best lemon rice recipe ever!
- First, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. (photo 1)
- Next, stir in the rinsed rice for 1 minute, then stir in the turmeric. (photo 2)
- Now stir in the broth, lemon juice, and salt and bring it all to a boil. (photo 3)
- Reduce the burner to a high simmer, cover, and let the greek rice cook for 20-25 minutes, stirring once or twice throughout. (photo 4)
- Finally, fluff with a fork and serve. (see below)
Why This Recipe Works
Easy — It doesn’t get any easier than melt, stir, add, boil, and simmer. The directions for this rice really are very simple and the process is so fast!
Lemon — You can’t have lemon rice without lemon of course. But seriously adding fresh-squeezed lemon juice to this Greek rice dish is key to giving it the most perfect, citrusy flavor.
Butter — The trick to this lemon rice is first stirring/cooking the rice in the butter so that the rice really absorbs some of that buttery flavor grain by grain. Plus, it helps release a bit of a nuttier flavor in the rice.
Turmeric — A lesser-used spice for sure, but turmeric adds a lovely flavor and color to this lemon rice that you won’t want to skip!
How to Cook Rice
Cooking rice isn’t that complicated, but it does require a few steps to get it just right. Here are the steps I follow when making any rice at all, but in addition this lemon rice.
- First, I measure out the rice (the ratio is 2 cups of water (or broth) for every 1 cup of rice).
- Pour the rice into a fine-mesh strainer in the sink and give it a rinse for about 30 seconds or so to get rid of some of the starches that can cause rice to stick together.
- Add the correct amount of water to the pan, then add the rice.
- Bring the rice and water to a boil. Add salt and butter if desired.
- Once it’s boiling, add a lid to the pan and turn the burner down to a high simmer.
- Check the rice after about 15 minutes to check for doneness. If there is still water on the top, allow the rice to cook for another couple of minutes or so until it’s soaked up all the water.
- Turn off the burner and let the rice rest for a couple minutes, then fluff with a fork and serve.
Ideas for Serving Lemon Rice
- This is the recipe I use for the rice in my Greek Lemon Chicken and Rice Gyros and it is AMAZING!
- I love to serve this lemon rice with a side of healthy baked chicken.
- This dish also goes great with pork tenderloin.
- For veggies that go with Greek rice, try my roasted broccoli, oven roasted Brussels sprouts, or an easy green salad.
- If you’re feeling seafood, then a Healthy Baked Salmon or grilled shrimp would make the perfect accompaniment to this easy rice recipe.
Expert Tips
- This lemon rice will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- You can freeze this easy rice recipe for up to 2 months but I don’t think it tastes as good once it thaws as the rice can get a little mealy.
- For the butter, I use unsalted butter, then add salt later to taste. If you use salted butter, you might not want to use as much actual salt. But it’s totally a personal preference!
- If you want to add a little something “extra” to this lemon rice, try fresh herbs like parsley or oregano, a cup of frozen peas, a can of diced tomatoes (drained), or some toasted pine nuts.
- Do add butter (or you can use oil) to the grains before adding the water. The rice will soak up the oils/fat and help to coat the grains and allow them to slide past each other and not be so sticky.
More Amazing Rice Recipes
For more delicious, easy side dishes featuring rice, hop on over to my recipes for Super Easy Mexican Rice, Cauliflower Fried Rice, and Easy Chicken Fried Rice.
- Instant Pot Chicken and Rice
- Cajun Shrimp and Rice Skillet
- One Pan Spanish Chicken and Rice
- One Pan Lemon Herb Chicken and Rice
- Sheet Pan Chicken Fried Rice
Did you make this recipe? FANTASTIC. Please rate the recipe below and be sure to tag me on social when you share a photo on social – I love seeing what you’re up to in the kitchen!
Greek Lemon Rice
Ingredients
- 1 cup long grain white rice, rinsed (see note)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 cups chicken broth
- ¼-⅓ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice, to taste
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh herbs, optional (dill is my favorite!)
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt butter.
- Stir in rinsed rice for 1 minute, then stir in turmeric.
- Stir in the broth, lemon juice, and salt and bring to a boil.
- Reduce to a high simmer, cover, and cook for 20-25 minutes, stirring once or twice throughout. Fluff with a fork, stir in fresh herbs if desired, and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I have to agree with some of the negative comments here. Does not work with basmati and it’s way too lemony – and I even reduced the suggested amount of lemon. It overpowered the tumeric which could have been increased. As others have noted – way too mushy.
If you use Basmati rice it will be mush as the recipe is designed for long grain white which needs more liquid. Cut the broth to 4 cups and the lemon juice to only 1/2 a cup for basmati and it will be much better. The next time I plan to drop the broth even more and use less than 4 cups.
Absolutely fantastic as written.
Easy, tasty, loved it, used fresh dill from my garden
Thanks for the recipe! The taste was great BUT like other reviews, mine turned to mush. I used basmati rice so I understood that it would come out a bit softer. I will try again because the taste was great. Next time I will try it in the rice cooker or at a lower simmer as opposed to a high simmer as directed.
Pretty bad. Way too strong of a lemon flavor. Too much tumeric and not enough salt. Would not cook again.
Followed recipe exactly. Came out as mush
The flavor was excellent, but it turned into mush for me. I did the first steps in a skillet, then transferred to a rice cooker for the step you add in liquid. It looks more like mashed potatotes than rice.
I went a little lighter on the lemon juice (fresh) just because I only had one lemon and just a little light on the turmeric. Better flavor than previous attempts I’ve made at greek rice. But…something in the method just made it fall apart.
Great recipe!
This is perfect for busy weeknights as well as when you have more time. And it is flexible! Everyone has different dietary needs/preferences, so switching this up to say, Vegan, takes no more effort.
Butter < Olive Oil
Chicken Broth < ‘Not’Chicken broth (we all have something we love to sub)
Et voila! Vegan!!
*Rice pot users? Just toast your rice in a skillet and start all the other ingredients in the pot at the same time.
*No fresh herbs? Dried work too. Dill, parsley, oregano – think Mediterranean/Middle Eastern
(Yes, that smidgen of garlic you just scraped out of your press will taste delicious cooked in there)
*Don’t like/have turmeric < It won’t be yellow, but don’t use it
*Fresh Lemon < Lemon juice
Flexibility is what makes a perfect recipe for this over 65 y/o who regularly cooks for multi-generations with a full spectrum of dietary needs. Including a need to NOT make a trip to the store!
😬