Fast and Easy Persian Saffron Bean and Rice Skillet! The golden notes of saffron weave through creamy beans and plump rice, delivering comfort food vibes without fuss.
Here’s a cozy, crowd-pleasing Persian Saffron Bean and Rice Skillet that feels like a warm hug straight from the stove. This fast and easy skillet braises white beans with aromatic saffron and fluffy rice, creating a wholesome and hearty meal. Perfect for weeknight dinners or a lazy weekend meal, this skillet-style Persian-inspired dish nods to tradition while keeping preparation simple, accessible, and deeply satisfying.
Whole Food Plant Based, Vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, no highly processed ingredients and gluten free.
Hi there, Ameera here!
If you love saffron, then you will enjoy this dish! This recipe makes it easy to savor the world’s most expensive spice in a approachable, everyday skillet, with every forkful offering a warm, homey texture and fragrant depth that will have you reaching for seconds.
You gotta give this one a try!
Tips for Success:
- Flavor Profile: This Fast and Easy Persian Saffron Beans and Rice Skillet is a cozy skillet stew filled with warming saffron, white beans, and rice. It is hearty, delicious, and comforting. This dish is a nod to the traditional Persian dish that features the world’s most expensive spice.
- Saffron: Saffron is expensive. It has delicious flavor, beautiful color, and has a beautiful aroma. It is often used in the Persian cuisine. It is considered a luxury spice. Saffron is mentioned in the Bible in the Song of Solomon 4:14 as a precious spice with poetic beauty.
- Amount of Saffron: A little bit goes a long way. We enjoyed an intense amount of saffron in this dish (1/2 teaspoon – gently laid on the measuring ½ teaspoon, not packed or crushed). If unsure, start with ¼ teaspoon and build from there.
- Healthy Benefits of Saffron: Saffron is best known to support cognitive function, often helping individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and depression. It is a mental health and mood booster as well as being rich in powerful antioxidants and helps lower anti-inflammatory conditions. It helps lower high blood pressure and works to protect the eyes against free radical damage and age-related macular degeneration.
- White Beans: We used Great Northern Beans; however, feel free to use your favorite white bean like chickpeas, cannellini beans, etc.
- Amount of Servings: The amount of servings is directly related to how much cooked rice that is added to the dish. If you are looking for a saucier dish, then only use ½ cup, but if you are looking for a stew-like dish (less ‘gravy’, then use 1 cup of cooked rice.
- Cooked and Refrigerated Rice: Cooked and refrigerated rice works best when making this dish. If you use recently cooked rice, it will be too gummy and sticky. Using cooked and refrigerated rice (preferably made the day before or earlier in the day) allows the rice to dry out enough to showcase distinct individual grains of rice making a better textured dish.
- Table Salt: If using table salt, you should use less table salt than the amount listed in the ingredients as sea salt crystals are larger than table salt crystals. Since table salt crystals are very fine, less table salt is required to season a dish. We would suggest starting with about 1/4 to 1/2 the amount of sea salt listed. You can always add more salt but cannot take it away. We recommend using sea salt as it is less refined than table salt.
Leftovers and Freezing:
Leftovers will generally keep 5 days in the refrigerator. Store in a covered air-tight container.
This stew freezes well.
Pantry Products:
- Vegetable Stock: We use Pacific Organic Low Sodium Vegetable Stock. We love this brand because it is Whole Food Plant Based compliant, as it does not contain MSG, has no oil, and does not contain any highly-processed ingredients. Feel free to use your favorite vegetable broth.
- Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
Kitchen Equipment:
- Large skillet with a lid
If you try this flavorful dish, we would love to know if you enjoy it as much as we do! Please leave us a review! Post a picture on Facebook or Instagram and tag us! We would love to hear from you.
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Fast and Easy Persian Saffron Bean and Rice Skillet
- Prep Time: 10 Minutes
- Cook Time: 30 Minutes
- Total Time: 40 Minutes
- Yield: 3 3/4 Cups 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Persian Saffron
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Here’s a cozy, crowd-pleasing Persian Saffron Bean and Rice Skillet that feels like a warm hug straight from the stove.
Ingredients
Base Ingredients:
- 1 medium yellow onion, fine dice *
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth *
- 1 cup water
Spice/Herb Ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon saffron (+/-) *
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ to 1 teaspoon sea salt (+/-) *
- 1 bay leaf
Other Ingredients:
- ¼ cup tomato sauce
- 1 – [ 15.5 oz. can ] white beans, drained and rinsed *
- ½ to 1 cup cooked and refrigerated brown rice (or rice of choice) *
Optional Toppings:
- Chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
Instructions
- Place the Spice/Herb Ingredients (except the bay leaf) in a small bowl, mix well, set aside.
- In a large skillet, add the finely diced onions, sauté over medium-high heat for 7 to 9 minutes, add a splash of water, if needed to avoid burning.
- Then lower the heat to medium, add the minced garlic and ginger, sauté, stir constantly for one minute.
- Then add all the remaining Base Ingredients and the Spice/Herb Mix to the skillet, stir to incorporate, bring to a boil, then lower to a low-percolating simmer. Simmer for 3 minutes.
- Add all the Other Ingredients (except the cooked rice) to the skillet, stir well, then tuck in the bay leaf and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the cooked rice to the skillet, stir and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Remove the pot from the stove, cover with a lid, and allow to sit for 5 minutes to allow the flavors to marry. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Serve topped with chopped fresh cilantro or parsley.
Notes
Please reference the blog post for Tips for Success, Pantry Items Used, Storage and Freezing, and Kitchen Products Used.
Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
Servings: 3 (makes 3 ¾ cups)
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