French Onion Rice Pilaf Recipe

French Onion Rice Pilaf is full of savory flavor! It's a side dish that's as easy to make as it is delicious with only a little bit of work at the beginning an then you let your stove do it's thing so you can attend to the rest of your meal!

French Onion Rice Pilaf

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We are totally a rice packet family. Up until very recently, I've never actually made rice pilaf on my own. I always just made the packets because they were so darn easy and pretty tasty.

But I finally decided that it's time I made my own rice pilaf. Now you'll notice I used one of those tasty french onion soup mix packets (hence why it's called a french onion rice pilaf recipe). Gimme a break on this. They're an excellent short cut to get tons of flavor with minimal effort.

Common questions about making rice pilaf with orzo:

• What is rice pilaf? Traditionally, rice pilaf is rice cooked in seasoned broth. It's often fried in oil first until golden. You can add various veggies and spices.
• Is orzo rice? No, orzo is a short-cut pasta that goes well in rice pilaf. You can also use vermicelli, just make sure you cut it down first.
• How long does rice pilaf cook? Recipes will vary, but my recipe takes around 35-40 minutes total. But don't worry, 30 minutes of that is inactive time for you.
• Can you substitute olive oil? Yes. The flavor will be a little different but still totally delicious!

Helpful Tools:

1. Saucepan
2. Measuring spoons
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French Onion Rice Pilaf Recipe

Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

35 mins

Inactive time

30 mins

Total Time

40 mins

 

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Servings: 4 servings

Author: Jessy Freimann, The Life Joli

Ingredients

• 4 Tablespoons salted butter
• 1 cup long grain white rice
• ⅓ cup orzo pasta
• 1 14.5 ounce can beef broth (you can also use chicken broth if you prefer)
• 1 packet french onion soup seasoning

Instructions

1. Melt butter in a medium pot over medium high heat. 

2. Add rice and orzo and cook until they start to get golden stirring often, about 5-7 minutes.

3. While the rice cooks, bring the broth to a boil in another pan.

4. Add the onion soup seasoning to the rice and stir to combine.

   
   

5. Slow pour the boil broth into the rice (be careful because it bubbles up quite a bit).

   
   

6. Cover and reduce heat to medium low.

   
   

7. Simmer for 20 minutes and then turn off the heat and let the covered pot sit on the hot burner for another 10 minutes.

   
   

8. Remove the cover and fluff the rice with a spoon. Serve immediately.

If you tried this recipe please comment and rate it 🙂 I love hearing your feedback and answering your questions!

Other favorite rice side dishes are:

Cheesy Broccoli Cheddar Rice Casserole

Harvest Rice Salad

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