Garlic Butter Rice – Mel’s Kitchen Cafe

Garlic butter rice is the perfect side dish! It is incredibly flavorful and has the liquid to rice ratio just right for the best fluffy rice.

This garlic rice is incredible. It really is a delicious side dish for just about anything. Stir fries, Mexican- or Greek-style fare, alongside slow cooked or grilled meats. It is ultra-yummy eaten just by itself, too!

How to Make Perfect Fluffy Rice

There are a lot of opinions about whether rice should be rinsed prior to cooking or not. I’m not going to dive into that (because there are times I’m a rice rinser and times I am not), but I will say that for this recipe, you do not need to rinse the rice.

The added butter, in addition to the perfect ratio of liquid to rice, produces the best, fluffiest rice ever.

Let’s talk butter, garlic and rice (which kinds, substitutions, etc)

1. BUTTER: I know some of you are going to want to ask me if you can cut the butter down in this recipe. I’d like to say: you do you. But what I’m really here to say is: you only live once. Just go for it. The 4 tablespoons butter adds the perfect amount of flavor – without it (or with less), you’ll get rice, but not garlic buttah rice, if you know what I mean.
2. GARLIC: fresh garlic is delicious in this recipe. The frozen cubes of fresh garlic (I grab them from Trader Joe’s) work wonderfully well, too. Garlic powder will also sub in a pinch. The garlic flavor won’t be quite as pungent, but it’s still worth using if you don’t have fresh garlic on hand. Sub in 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder for the garlic cloves.
3. RICE: I have tested this recipe with long grain white rice and white jasmine rice, both of which work great. I have not tested it with basmati rice. Additionally, this recipe will not work with brown rice without adjusting liquid and cooking time (feel free to experiment).

And that’s basically it! Follow the recipe, and you’ll have some of the best garlic butter rice of your life!

This rice is just so remarkably tasty. It takes every day steamed rice and elevates it into the “irresistible” category. Not only that, it is the perfect side dish when you want something easy…but also a little bit special.

Garlic Butter Rice

Yield: 5 to 6 servings

Prep Time: 5 minutes mins

Cook Time: 20 minutes mins

Resting Time: 5 minutes mins

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 cloves garlic, finely minced, about 1 tablespoon (see note for variations)
• 1 ½ cups long grain white rice or white jasmine rice (see note)
• 2 ¼ cups low-sodium chicken broth or stock (see note)
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• Chopped, fresh parsley for garnish (optional)

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

• Melt the butter in a 4- or 5-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 30 to 45 seconds, stirring constantly, until it smells fragrant (don’t let it burn or it can turn bitter-tasting).

• Add the rice and cook, stirring constantly, for about a minute, until the grains are evenly coated in butter.

• Add the broth/stock and salt and stir.

• Increase the heat to medium-high, bring the liquid to a boil, stir once (scraping up any rice on the bottom of the pan), immediately cover the pan and reduce the heat to medium-low so the rice maintains a simmer but not a vigorous boil.

• Cook for 16 minutes. At the end of cooking, DO NOT LIFT THE LID. Remove the pan from the heat and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Fluff and serve, topping with chopped, fresh parsley, if desired.

Garlic: this recipe calls for fresh garlic, but it also works really well with the frozen cubes of fresh garlic (I buy them at Trader Joe’s but they are in a lot of grocery stores). Garlic powder will also work in a pinch. The garlic flavor won’t be quite as pungent, but it’s still worth using if you don’t have fresh garlic on hand. Sub in 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder for the garlic cloves.
Rice: this recipe will not work with brown rice without adjusting liquid and cooking time (feel free to experiment). I have tested the recipe with long grain white rice and jasmine rice, both of which work great. I have not tested it with basmati rice. There is no need to rinse the rice before using in the recipe.
Stock/Salt: if using full-sodium chicken broth/stock, you may want to decrease the salt amount to 1/2 teaspoon.

Author: Mel

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American, Western

Method: Stovetop

Serving: 1 serving, Calories: 303kcal, Carbohydrates: 46g, Protein: 6g, Fat: 10g, Saturated Fat: 6g, Cholesterol: 24mg, Sodium: 572mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 0.2g

Recipe Source: from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe