Rice is either the side or the whole dinner, and the recipe tells you which by how much liquid it uses. Two cups of broth to a cup of rice and the rice is the point. Four cups of broth with chicken in it and you have a one-pot meal. Day-old rice and a hot pan and you have fried rice, which is a third thing entirely.

Twenty-five recipes sorted that way: plain sides first, then fried rice, one-pot chicken dinners, sausage and beef skillets, casseroles, soups, three dishes from elsewhere, and two rice desserts. Every entry lists the real total time, the servings and the ingredient count, and says where day-old rice is required.

Simple Rice Sides

Four sides. Each one is six to ten ingredients and goes with almost anything.

Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Rice

Six ingredients and nineteen minutes: two cups of long grain rice with equal water, lime juice, cilantro, oil and salt. The one-to-one rice-to-water ratio only works under pressure, which is why this is the Instant Pot version. View the full recipe — 19 minutes · 6 servings · 6 ingredients

Buttery Garlic Rice with Parsley

Six ingredients: four tablespoons of butter, five cloves of garlic, two cups of rice and three cups of chicken broth. Cooking the rice in broth instead of water is the whole upgrade. View the full recipe — 35 minutes · 4 servings · 6 ingredients

Homemade Spanish Rice

A cup of rice toasted in oil first, then simmered in a cup of tomato sauce and a cup of water with cumin and chili powder. Nine ingredients, and the toasting step is why it stays fluffy. View the full recipe — 35 minutes · 4 servings · 9 ingredients

Mushroom Rice

A full pound and a half of mushrooms cooked down with butter and olive oil, then a cup and a half of rice in two and a quarter cups of broth. Substantial enough to be a light main. View the full recipe — 50 minutes · 6 servings · 10 ingredients

Fried Rice

Four. Three of them need cold cooked rice, which is not optional; the fourth uses cauliflower instead.

Hibachi Fried Rice

Eight ingredients: four cups of cooked jasmine rice with two eggs, carrots, onion, green onion and two tablespoons of garlic butter. Twenty-five minutes. View the full recipe — 25 minutes · 4 servings · 8 ingredients

Vegetable Fried Rice

Three cups of cooked jasmine rice with two eggs, carrots, frozen peas, onion and green onions, seasoned with soy sauce, oyster sauce and sesame oil. Twelve ingredients, no meat. View the full recipe — 25 minutes · 4 servings · 12 ingredients

Hoisin Cauliflower Fried Rice with Egg and Vegetables

Thirty-two ounces of frozen riced cauliflower with two cups of frozen mixed vegetables, two eggs, a third of a cup of soy sauce and two tablespoons of hoisin. No rice and no day-old anything. View the full recipe — 35 minutes · 4 servings · 9 ingredients

Hibachi Steak Fried Rice

A pound of sirloin marinated in soy, sesame oil and ginger, then four cups of day-old rice with eggs and mixed vegetables. Twelve ingredients and a full dinner. View the full recipe — 55 minutes · 4 servings · 12 ingredients

One-Pot Chicken and Rice

Four dinners where the rice cooks in the same pan as the chicken and absorbs everything it releases.

Creamy Paprika Chicken and Rice

A pound and a half of chicken breast with paprika, thyme and half a teaspoon of cayenne in a sauce of broth, half a cup of heavy cream and diced tomatoes, over three cups of cooked rice. Thirty-five minutes. View the full recipe — 35 minutes · 4 servings · 12 ingredients

One Pan BBQ Chicken and Rice with Chicken Thighs

Five ingredients: a pound of chicken thighs, oil, a cup of rice, two cups of broth and half a cup of barbecue sauce. The shortest ingredient list in this collection. View the full recipe — 45 minutes · 4 servings · 5 ingredients

Portuguese Chicken and Rice

A pound of thighs rubbed with sweet paprika, coriander and cayenne, then a cup and a half of basmati with two teaspoons of turmeric, red pepper flakes and frozen peas. Twenty-one ingredients. View the full recipe — 1 hour 5 minutes · 4 servings · 21 ingredients

One Pot Greek Chicken and Lemon Rice

Five bone-in skin-on thighs with four tablespoons of lemon juice and two full tablespoons of dried oregano, over rice cooked in broth under the chicken. The skin crisps while the rice steams. View the full recipe — 1 hour 15 minutes · 4 servings · 15 ingredients

Sausage and Beef Rice Skillets

Three one-pan dinners built on smoked sausage or ground beef. All three are forty to fifty minutes.

Garlic Butter Beef Rice Skillet

A pound of ground beef with a cup of rice, a cup and a half of beef broth, a cup of heavy cream, cheddar and parmesan, seasoned with a tablespoon and a half of Cajun seasoning. Fourteen ingredients. View the full recipe — 40 minutes · 4 servings · 14 ingredients

Smoked Sausage and Vegetable Rice

Fourteen ounces of smoked sausage with a cup and a half of rice in three cups of broth, plus bell pepper, onion and a cup and a half of frozen peas and carrots. Serves six. View the full recipe — 45 minutes · 6 servings · 12 ingredients

Cajun Sausage and Rice Skillet

Fourteen ounces of andouille with both red and yellow bell peppers, a cup of rice and two cups of broth with a tablespoon of Cajun seasoning. Ten ingredients, one pan. View the full recipe — 50 minutes · 4 servings · 10 ingredients

Rice Casseroles

Three bakes. Two take the condensed soup route and one builds a real sauce from a roux.

Broccoli Chicken Rice Casserole

A pound of chicken thighs with a sauce made from two and a half tablespoons of flour, two cups of milk and two cups of broth, plus a whole head of broccoli and two cups of cheese. No canned soup anywhere. View the full recipe — 45 minutes · 4 servings · 15 ingredients

Cheesy Ground Beef and Rice Casserole

Eight ingredients: a pound of ground beef with mushrooms, two cups of cooked rice, condensed cream of mushroom soup, milk and a cup of cheddar. Forty-five minutes, serves six. View the full recipe — 45 minutes · 6 servings · 8 ingredients

No Peek Chicken and Rice with Onion Soup Mix

Four chicken breasts over two cups of raw rice with two condensed soups, a packet of dry onion soup mix and a cup and a half of water, sealed with foil and never opened until it is done. The name is the instruction. View the full recipe — 1 hour 25 minutes · 6 servings · 10 ingredients

Rice Soups

Two soups, both serving six. One is clear, one is cream-based with wild rice.

Homemade Chicken Rice Soup

Bowl of satisfying Chicken Rice Soup with fresh herbs and vegetables

A pound and a quarter of bone-in chicken thighs simmered with four cups of broth and four cups of water, carrots, celery and a cup of rice. Sixteen ingredients, and the bones are what make the broth. View the full recipe — 1 hour 5 minutes · 6 servings · 16 ingredients

Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

A cup of wild rice blend in six cups of broth with two chicken breasts, thickened with flour and finished with a cup of heavy whipping cream, seasoned with fresh rosemary and thyme. View the full recipe — 1 hour 20 minutes · 6 servings · 14 ingredients

Rice From Around the World

Three dishes where the rice is cooked a completely different way.

Purple Jasmine Rice with Red Cabbage

Three cups of red cabbage cooked with a cup of jasmine rice in broth, which turns the whole pot purple. Nine ingredients and the color is real, not food dye. View the full recipe — 35 minutes · 4 servings · 9 ingredients

Coconut Lime Fish Curry with Jasmine Rice

A pound of cod or tilapia in a curry of two tablespoons of red curry paste, a can of coconut milk, two limes and fish sauce, with jasmine rice cooked alongside. Fourteen ingredients, forty minutes. View the full recipe — 40 minutes · 4 servings · 14 ingredients

Jamaican Rice and Peas with Coconut Milk

Two cups of rice cooked in fourteen ounces of full fat coconut milk with two cans of red kidney beans, allspice, thyme, bay leaves and a whole scotch bonnet left in for heat without breaking it open. Twelve ingredients. View the full recipe — 1 hour 5 minutes · 6 servings · 12 ingredients

Rice Desserts

Two. Both are mostly waiting, not working.

Creamy Baked Cinnamon Rice Pudding

Three quarters of a cup of medium grain rice baked slowly in four cups of whole milk with sugar, vanilla, raisins and cinnamon, finished with half a cup of cream. Eight ingredients, serves eight. View the full recipe — 1 hour 20 minutes · 8 servings · 8 ingredients

Thai Mango Sticky Rice

Six ingredients: a cup of glutinous rice soaked and steamed, dressed in sweetened coconut milk and served with two ripe mangoes and toasted sesame seeds. The soaking is most of the two hours forty. View the full recipe — 2 hours 40 minutes · 4 servings · 6 ingredients

Rice Questions, Answered

Which recipes need day-old rice?

Three: hibachi fried rice, vegetable fried rice and hibachi steak fried rice. Fresh rice is too wet and clumps in the pan instead of frying. If you only have fresh rice, spread it on a sheet pan and chill it for twenty minutes first.

What is the right rice-to-liquid ratio?

On the stove, two cups of liquid to one cup of long grain white rice, which is what most of these use. Under pressure it is one to one, which is why the Instant Pot cilantro lime rice uses two cups of rice to two cups of water. Wild rice and brown rice need more liquid and more time than either.

Why toast the rice first?

It coats each grain in fat, which keeps them separate as they absorb liquid, and it adds a nutty flavor. The Spanish rice and the buttery garlic rice both do this, and it is the single easiest way to stop rice from going sticky.

What is the fastest rice dish here?

Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Rice at nineteen minutes, then both fried rices at twenty-five. Of the full dinners, creamy paprika chicken and rice at thirty-five minutes.

Can I use brown rice instead of white?

Not as a straight swap. Brown rice needs roughly twice the cooking time and about a quarter more liquid, which breaks the timing on every one-pot recipe here. If you want brown rice, cook it separately and add it where a recipe calls for already-cooked rice.

Which rice dishes are a full dinner on their own?

The four one-pot chicken recipes, all three sausage and beef skillets, all three casseroles, both soups and the fish curry. That is fifteen of the twenty-five. The other ten are sides or desserts.

Why leave the scotch bonnet whole in the rice and peas?

Because you want its flavor, not its full heat. Left whole, the chili perfumes the coconut milk without releasing the capsaicin from its seeds and membrane. Pierce it or chop it and the dish becomes genuinely hot.