Oil Free Yellow Rice! Switch up your grain bowls with this vibrant and flavorful rice.
This tasty and fragrant Oil Free Yellow Rice makes for a fantastic side dish to accompany your main dish or pilled high in a veggie bowl. Antioxidant rich turmeric and cilantro make for a deliciously flavored rice that the whole family will enjoy!
Whole Food Plant Based, Vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, no highly processed ingredients and gluten free.
Hi there, Ameera here!
We are a rice eating family! I often eat rice for breakfast, I just love it so much! This tasty rice is filled with antioxidant rich turmeric! I wasn’t always a turmeric fan, but over the years I’ve developed a taste for it and now I really enjoy it.
You gotta give this one a try!
Tips for Success:
- Flavor Profile: This rice has a turmeric and jalapeno flavor base. If you are not a fan of turmeric (acidic bite), then either reduce the amount of turmeric or pass on this recipe. Freshly chopped cilantro rounds out the flavor.
- Rinsing the Rice: It is important to rinse the rice really well to remove excess starches and to clean it. If unsure of the cooking time (see ‘Rice’ note below), after rinsing the rice, place it in a bowl cover with cold water and allow it to sit for 30 minutes, then drain really well, being sure to shake off any excess water before using in Step 4.
- Rice: The key to creating a great stove top rice dish is resisting the urge to stir the rice while it is cooking. Stirring causes the rice to release starches and become more like a creamy risotto, which we don’t want. Just pull up a few rice kernels off the top of the dish to test for rice tenderness. If not tender, just continue to cook until tender. If all the liquid evaporates, then add a tablespoon of water and continue to simmer until tender. Repeat the process above until the rice is done. Please note that the timing of cooking dry rice is based upon several factors: 1) the type of rice selected 2) the brand of rice selected 3) the age of the rice and 4) the cooking method. Each plays a factor in how long rice takes to cook. Some brands of rice will not work with this dish as they take too long to cook, for example Lundberg rice takes too long. We used Uncle Ben’s Whole Grain Brown Rice as it works perfectly with this recipe.
Leftovers and Freezing:
Leftovers will generally keep for 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator. Store in a covered container. Reheating can be done on the stovetop or in the microwave.
This dish can be frozen.
Pantry Products Used:
- 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.
- Brown Rice: We used Uncle Ben’s Whole Grain Brown Rice for this dish.
- Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
Kitchen Products Used:
- Large ceramic/enamel lined skillet, or similar large stock pot with a tight-fitting lid
We certainly hope you give this deliciousness a try.
If you try this tasty rice, 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.
PrintOil Free Yellow Rice
- Prep Time: 10 Minutes
- Cook Time: 45 Minutes
- Total Time: 55 Minutes
- Yield: 4 Servings 1x
- Category: Side
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Mexican Inspired
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This tasty and fragrant Oil Free Yellow Rice makes for a fantastic side dish to accompany your main dish or pilled high in a veggie bowl.
Ingredients
Base Ingredients:
- 1 medium yellow onion, fine dice
- 1 small jalapeno pepper, seeded, fine dice (optional)
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 cup uncooked (dry) brown rice *
- 1 ¼ cup low-sodium vegetable broth *
- 1 cup water
- 1 Tablespoon lime juice
- 1 teaspoon tahini
Herb/Spice Ingredients:
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 2 Tablespoons dried minced onions
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ¼ to 1 teaspoon sea salt (+/-) *
Toppings:
- Freshly chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Rinse the rice really well, set aside.
- Place the Herb/Spice Ingredients (except the turmeric) into a small bowl, mix well, set aside.
- In a large ceramic/enamel lined skillet, Dutch oven, or non-stick skillet, add the finely diced onions and jalapeno, sauté over medium-high heat for 7 to 9 minutes to soften, then lower the heat to medium, add the minced garlic, sauté, stir constantly over for 30 seconds.
- Add the rice and turmeric and sauté, stirring constantly until all the rice has been coated with the turmeric, about 20 seconds.
- Add the remaining Base Ingredients and the Herb/Spice Mix to the skillet, stir to incorporate, bring to a boil, then immediately lower to simmer. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and simmer for 35 minutes untouched.
- After 35 minutes, remove the lid and pull up a few grains of rice from the top of the skill, check for rice tenderness. If the rice is perfectly tender, it’s ready to serve.If the rice is not tender, continue to cook until the rice is tender. (See additional notes under TIPS for Success.)
- Serve with freshly chopped cilantro.
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: 4
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This looks delicious. What are your thoughts on arsenic in rice? I have heard boiling it for 5 minutes, then draining it and adding fresh water removes the majority of arsenic from it. Then add this 5 minute drained rice to the onion turmeric mixture? Do you think this would work or is even necessary?
Hi there Janine,
Thank you for your question. As far as arsenic in rice, we tend to refer to Dr. Greger on things such as this. Here are some great videos on arsenic in rice.
https://nutritionfacts.org/video/how-risky-is-the-arsenic-in-rice/
https://nutritionfacts.org/2020/12/31/arsenic-in-rice-milk-rice-krispies-and-brown-rice-syrup/
https://nutritionfacts.org/video/how-much-arsenic-in-rice-is-too-much/
In regards to your question on changing the recipe, since we have not tested this ourselves, we don’t know. It sounds like it would work. If you test it, please let us know.
-Ameera and Robin