Simple Mediterranean Yellow Rice

Our favorite, simple recipe for yellow rice – with no artificial colors! Perfect with chicken, beef, fish, or vegetable curry – a savory, flavorful bed for any Meditteranean or Eastern-inspired dish.

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A few years ago, my husband and I started strength training. You know what they say about bodybuilders – how all they eat is chicken and rice? While we aren’t obsessive gym rats, it turns out the chicken and rice thing isn’t half bad. In fact, it is fairly inexpensive. All you need is the right seasonings to turn simple meal elements into something special.

That is why instead of plain dry rice, we make this easy Mediterranean Yellow Rice.

Mediterranean Rice Ingredients:

• Rice (white or brown)
• Water (or broth)
• Garlic powder
• Turmeric powder
• Salt
• Pepper

The resulting rice is savory, flavorful, and the perfect bed for any Meditteranean or Eastern-inspired dish. We serve it with chicken, beef, fish, or a simple vegetable and lentil curry.

Simple Yellow Rice

This rice is:

• Gluten-free
• Dairy-free
• Egg-free
• Flavorful
• Bright yellow with no artificial coloring!
• Perfect for the Instant Pot
• Or Stovetop
• Leftovers are delicious!

If you don’t like dinner repeats, toss the leftovers into a pot of Hamburger Vegetable Soup (the beef or vegetarian version).

Instant Pot Brown Rice

If you haven’t tried making rice in the Instant Pot (affiliate link), you are missing out!

I always struggled to make good brown rice until I made it in the Instant Pot. It turned out undercooked, overcooked, or just mealy – like trying to eat a bowl of erasers.  Now my brown rice is tender, flavorful, and perfect every time.

Reason number 1,435,782 to love the Instant Pot!

If you’re not sure whether the Instant Pot will help you save money and eat healthy, check out our experiment here!

This rice is featured in several recipes in my eBook, Dinner for a Dollar: Real food recipes for under $1 a serving.

If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and tag a photo #cheapskatecook and mention us @cheapskatecook on Instagram or Facebook. Cheers, friends!

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Mediterranean Yellow Rice

Every rice is different, so follow the cook time and rice-to-water ratio that came with your rice. This recipe is for a basic white rice.

Servings: 4 people

Author: Steph Jenkins

Ingredients

• 1 cup white rice (or 1 cup brown)
• 2 cups water or broth (2 1/4 cups for brown rice)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp turmeric
• 1/8 tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp black pepper

Instructions

Stovetop:

1. Place water and salt in a small saucepan over high heat. When it boils, add rice and seasoning. Let the water come to a boil again, stir it quickly with a fork, then cover the pan and reduce heat to low. Cook 20 minutes (45 for brown rice).

2. Turn off heat and allow rice to sit for 5 minutes (15 for brown rice), covered. This step is very important!

3. Uncover, fluff the rice with a fork, and serve.

Instant Pot:

1. *For white rice, use 1 1/2 cups water or broth.

   * For brown rice, use 1 1/4 cups water or broth. 

2. Plug in your Instant Pot. Pour in all of the ingredients and stir them briefly. Put the lid on the Instant Pot and turn it until it beeps. Then press and twist the button at the top to seal it (see Instant Pot manual).  

3. For white rice, select the “Rice” setting. It should read around 12 minutes. Press Start and let the appliance do its thing.

4. For brown rice, select the “Pressure Cook” setting. Manually set the time to 22-28 minutes and the pressure to high. Press Start and let the appliance do its thing.

5. When the rice is done cooking, and the Instant Pot beeps, allow the pressure to release naturally. Fluff with a fork and serve.

Recipe Notes

Serve with:

Chicken, beef, fish, veggies, or vegetable curry.

What You Can Do Now:

Did you grow up eating yellow rice?

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