Yellow Rice

Yellow Rice-1-17Rice is one of my favorite side dishes and I love serving it with many of the main courses that I cook up. It’s so quick, healthy and we love the taste too. I usually make some type of rice pilaf, keeping it plain or adding some garlic and parsley, or carrots and onions, etc. I have a really easy, foolproof recipe for perfect rice, and that is my go-to method. Since we live in Florida, we are also familiar with yellow rice, which is common in Spanish, Mexican, Latin American, etc. cooking. It’s served as a side dish in many local restaurants. Let me tell you, it has earned a praiseworthy reputation for a very good reason.

I used my basic rice recipe as the foundation of this dish and then added all the ingredients that I have loved whenever I tried this dish. This is by no means an authentic recipe, but my version of it. I love the flavors that are added to the rice by using 3 different types of peppers, tomatoes, onions, garlic, spices and herbs. Using chicken broth instead of water really adds another dimension of flavor to the rice as well. It’s very easy to make, looks stunning and reheats beautifully. 

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 small red bell pepper, chopped

1/4 green bell pepper, chopped

1 jalapeño, chopped

2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

1 Tablespoon tomato paste

1 dry bay leaf

1/2 –  1 teaspoon ground turmeric

2 cups long grain white rice

3 cups chicken broth, boiling

salt, pepper to taste

fresh scallions, cilantro

Instructions:

Yellow Rice-1While you are sautéing all the vegetables, bring the chicken broth to a boil in a small saucepan and keep it hot and ready to be added to the rice.

In a large skillet or a medium pot, heat the olive oil on medium high heat. Add the onion, season with salt and pepper and cook for 3-5 minutes, until it is tender and translucent. Yellow Rice-1-3Add the chopped peppers, season with salt and pepper and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Yellow Rice-1-4

Yellow Rice-1-5For the jalapeño, I like to charr it in the oven first, peel off the skin, remove the seeds and then finely chop it. Yellow Rice-1-2You  can simply chop up the jalapeño without charring it first. Also, you can use as much or as little of the green and red peppers as you like. I usually use one small bell pepper and only 1/4-1/2 of a green pepper.

Add the chopped tomatoes and garlic to the skillet and cook for 2-3 more minutes. Yellow Rice-1-6Add the tomato paste and the turmeric. The turmeric is what will give the rice it’s gorgeous yellow color, so don’t omit it, or you will not have yellow rice, you will have regular rice pilaf with vegetables. Mix to combine and cook for about a minute. Yellow Rice-1-7Add the rice to the skillet, increase the heat to high and cook the rice for about 2 minutes, making sure to mix the the whole time and get it coated and throughly mixed with all the other ingredients in the skillet. Yellow Rice-1-8

Yellow Rice-1-9Add the dry bay leaf to the skillet. Pour in the boiling chicken broth, the rice should come to a boil right away. Yellow Rice-1-10Decrease the heat to low, and cook, covered, for 15 minutes. Yellow Rice-1-11Fluff the rice with a fork, discard the bay leaf and garnish the rice with fresh herbs.Yellow Rice-1-12

Yellow Rice-1-17

Yellow Rice
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Sides
Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 small red bell pepper, chopped
  • ¼ green bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 jalapeño, chopped
  • 2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
  • 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 dry bay leaf
  • ½ - 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 2 cups long grain white rice
  • 3 cups chicken broth, boiling
  • salt, pepper to taste
  • fresh scallions, cilantro
Instructions
  1. While you are sautéing all the vegetables, bring the chicken broth to a boil in a small saucepan and keep it hot and ready to be added to the rice.
  2. In a large skillet or a medium pot, heat the olive oil on medium high heat. Add the onion, season with salt and pepper and cook for 3-5 minutes, until it is tender and translucent.
  3. Add the chopped peppers, season with salt and pepper and cook for another 2-3 minutes. For the jalapeño, I like to charr it in the oven first, peel off the skin, remove the seeds and then finely chop it. You can simply chop up the jalapeño without charring it first. Also, you can use as much or as little of the green and red peppers as you like. I usually use one small bell pepper and only ¼-1/2 of a green pepper.
  4. Add the chopped tomatoes and garlic to the skillet and cook for 2-3 more minutes.
  5. Add the tomato paste and the turmeric. The turmeric is what will give the rice it's gorgeous yellow color, so don't omit it, or you will not have yellow rice, you will have regular rice pilaf with vegetables. Mix to combine and cook for about a minute.
  6. Add the rice to the skillet, increase the heat to high and cook the rice for about 2 minutes, making sure to mix the the whole time and get it coated and throughly mixed with all the other ingredients in the skillet.
  7. Add the dry bay leaf to the skillet. Pour in the boiling chicken broth, the rice should come to a boil right away. Decrease the heat to low, and cook, covered, for 15 minutes.
  8. Fluff the rice with a fork, discard the bay leaf and garnish the rice with fresh herbs.

21 Comments

  • Joyce

    Want to make this one for dinner tonight along with some chicken. Yum and can’t wait. For once I have all the fixings to make it.

  • Shirley David

    Hey Olga….thanks for the recipe. I m pregnant n was dying to have yellow rice after seeing ur Instagram pic… I have some complications n on bed rest …..I will ask my mom to cook the same for me…thanks for d post.

  • Tallya

    Oh my. cilantroents gave me a laugh 🙂 looks like a mix of cilantro and ingredients. I was wondering why the ingredient list was so long. Love these kinds of typos

  • anya

    Thank You Olga for this wonderful recipe, I made it for my husband for lunch today and he loved it, said it was healthiest rice next to plain he has ever tried. God Bless you 🙂

  • Faith

    I made this rice without turmeric(we didn’t have any) and it was delicious!! =)
    I made it yesterday and we ate it all in 1 day 🙂

  • Mariya

    Olya, how do u “char” the jalapeño? Can u please explain how many degrees u her up the oven to, and how long u keep them in, thanks! I’m trying to make this rice right now :)) looks delish! <33

  • Valentina

    Yum. I made this yesterday for dinner to go with my favorite Mexican dish and it turned out amazing. I’ve tried about 10 different Mexican style rice dishes at home and this one is by far my favorite.

    • olgak7

      Wow, that’s awesome, Valentina! I’ve looked for the perfect recipe for this recipe for a while too:). I’m so glad you liked my recipe. Thanks for taking the time to write.

  • Nancy

    Hi Olga,
    I so enjoy your website, it’s full of lots of tips, tricks, idea and wonderful Russian recipes. Not to mention your sharing your beautiful family. Have you ever done a video on how to cook brown rice? Something I’d really like to see. I look forward to many more of your contributions.
    Nancy 🇨🇦

    • olgak7

      Thank you for the kind words, Nancy. I’m so happy to hear that you are enjoying my website.
      I haven’t done a video on cooking brown rice yet, but I do have a detailed recipe with step by step photos of how I cook Brown Rice. RECIPE

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