Butter Rice Recipe

Every meal needs a good side dish recipe, and we love cooking something up that barely takes any time yet tastes great whenever we set it down on the dining table. When it comes to side dish cuisine, there’s almost nothing easier to whip up than buttered rice. This recipe instantly turns any bowl of plain rice into something magical that pairs fantastically with virtually any meal. 

Butter rice is an absolutely delicious recipe to serve for dinner time tonight and every night. Learn how to cook this super simple rice dish here.

Can You Add Butter to Rice?

You can never go wrong when it comes to side dish recipes that include a stick of butter. Rice is a super simple base side dish for any recipe and, when you add this ingredient, it will instantly become more flavorful and taste better even on its own.

Should I Butter My Rice?

If you want to switch things up and add a bit of flavor to your side dish, turning regular rice into buttered rice is a fun treat that adds even more complexity to the flavor of your meal recipe.

How to Make This Butter Rice Recipe

With a super quick prep time and only a few ingredients to stir together, buttered rice takes barely any time to make and is one of those rice recipes you’ll want to go back to again and again. 

While the easiest version of this buttered rice recipe simply calls for only 2 ingredients to add to your plain white rice, adding in some chicken broth or vegetable broth while making rice will upgrade the flavor profile of your recipe completely.

• Buttered Rice Prep Time: 10 Minutes 
• Buttered Rice Cook Time: 20 Minutes 
• Buttered Rice Yield: 4 Servings
• Nutrition Calories: 459 calories

Butter Rice Ingredients

• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, finely diced
• 1 1/2 cups long grain white rice
• 3 cups chicken stock or vegetable broth
• Salt & pepper to taste
• 2-3 bay leaves
• Fresh garlic, optional
• Dried parsley, optional

Directions

1. Melt butter over medium heat in a large saucepan or rice cooker. Add in onion and saute gently for 5-6 minutes. Add rice grains and stir to coat in butter.
2. Pour in the remaining ingredients. Cover the pan, bring rice to a boil, then reduce heat, put on low heat, and cook rice for 5 minutes less than what is listed on the rice package instructions (around 15 minutes).
3. Turn heat off rice, but keep on the hot burner for 10 minutes to steam and prevent scorching. Stir and fluff rice with a fork, remove bay leaves, and serve immediately. Top with dried parsley or fried garlic (optional).

Cooking Tips for Butter Rice

• While salted butter means you can skip adding salt to this side dish recipe, you can also use unsalted butter if you want to control the saltiness of your rice yourself.

• While you can mix and stir your buttered rice together after making rice, incorporating the butter into the cooking time of the recipe will make the rice fluffier and have the butter flavor spread equally into each rice grain instead of just being coated on top.

• Long grain rice is the best rice to use in this dish as it comes out fluffy and light, but you can also use jasmine rice, brown rice, or basmati rice depending on your preference. Simply change the liquid ratio and cook time according to the rice package directions.

• You can cook your buttered rice in water, but chicken broth or any other broth will add an even more complex flavor to your buttered rice dish.

• To add even more flavor to your buttered rice, simply add garlic into the rice mixture.

Final Note

Adding almost any flavor to a rice dish is super simple, but there’s something about buttered rice that we love to go back to. This particular side dish of buttered rice is so easy to whip up even when you barely have any ingredients left in the fridge, but it certainly packs a punch when it comes to adding flavor to any meal. Try this recipe out for yourself when you’re looking to upgrade your rice easily.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do Americans put butter in rice?

Adding almost any flavor to a rice dish is super simple, but there’s something about buttered rice that we love to go back to. This particular side dish of buttered rice is so easy to whip up even when you barely have any ingredients left in the fridge, but it certainly packs a punch when it comes to adding flavor to any meal. Try this recipe out for yourself when you’re looking to upgrade your rice easily.

Does butter taste good with long grain white rice and brown rice?

While buttered rice tastes good with any rice variety, we especially like how it cooks with long grain rice as this dish comes out fluffier and lighter, something to offset the fattiness of the ingredient. However, brown rice works just as well if you want to make this buttery rice dish just a bit healthier.

What can I add to rice to make it taste better?

There are countless ways you can upgrade your rice other than buttered rice. Want to learn more dishes to pair with your rice? You can check out our website for even more rice recipes.