Easy Lemon Rice is the perfect weeknight side dish to go with any meat you love the most!  This rice recipe is buttery, lemony, so flavorful and ready to eat fast!

lemon rice

Lemon Rice:

Sharing the easiest rice side dish with you all today!  This rice is amazing, and only takes a total of seven ingredients!  Most of which you probably happen to have on hand. You guys always ask me for more side dish recipes, and I wanted to do a simple kind of pantry staple one! I love sides like this that are light enough to make year round, but still super cozy for the cold weather too.  It’s ready fast, and only takes one pan, which is a huge win in our house.  It’s a great one to make while you are roasting up some Chicken Thighs or some Cajun Baked Salmon, those are our two favorite meals to have this rice with.  While there isn’t much to this dish it has tons of buttery, lemon, and garlic flavor that is mouthwatering!  I love that rice is kind of a blank slate and you can easily transform it with minimal work and ingredients!  This recipe makes a pretty big pot of rice!  It will serve 4-6 easily as a side dish, but leftovers always reheat well and you can just pop it in the microwave to have lunch leftovers!

photo of lemon rice in a pot

Recipe Ingredients and Notes:

  • We use a long grain white rice in this recipe!  Any kind of long grain white will work fine, I like jasmine rice a lot!  It has tons of flavor.  If you are using brown rice, you will need to adjust the liquid accordingly to the package directions.
  • The recipe calls for low sodium chicken broth, and stock would be fine too!  You can also just use vegetable broth if that’s what you have on hand.  I don’t recommend using just water because the broth gives the best flavor possible.
  • BUTTER!  We cook the onion and garlic in unsalted butter and it gives so much tasty extra flavor!  If you don’t have butter, oil will do, but the butter really is the best!  If you don’t have unsalted butter, leave out the teaspoon of salt and adjust to your own taste.
  • The rest is onion, garlic, and lemon juice of course!  I use a white or yellow onion, either is fine but of course a yellow has a sweeter flavor.  Be sure to use FRESH lemon juice in this recipe.  Trust me, the bottled lemon juice does not taste the same at all and fresh is always best here.
  • This rice is great because it usually makes leftovers!  Once cooled you can store it for up to a full 7 days in the fridge.  Just reheat in the microwave, or in a small pot on the stove with a dab of butter or a splash of broth if you want.

lemon rice on a plate with chicken

Enjoy!

~Nichole

5 from 18 votes

Easy Lemon Rice

Easy Lemon Rice is the perfect weeknight side dish to go with any meat you love the most!  This rice recipe is buttery, lemony, so flavorful and ready to eat fast!
Prep 5 minutes
Cook 30 minutes
Total 35 minutes
Servings 6

Ingredients 

  • 4 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
  • 1 Small Yellow Onion diced
  • 3 Cloves Garlic finely minced
  • 2 Cups Long Grain White Rice
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • 3 ½ Cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth
  • 1 Large Lemon Juiced

Instructions 

  • Heat the butter in a deep pot over medium heat then add the onion and cook until slightly translucent.
  • Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute or until fragrant.
  • Add the rice and salt, stir and fry for 6-7 minutes or until the rice turns an opaque white color, stirring the entire time to prevent burning.
  • Add the broth and lemon juice and stir to combine.
  • Bring the rice to a simmer then reduce the heat to low-medium and cover.
  • Cook for 18-20 minutes, or until the rice has cooked completely.
  • Remove the pan from the heat and leave the lid on the pan.
  • Let the rice rest for 10-15 minutes before fluffing and serving with extra lemons for squeezing over the rice as desired.

Notes

NOTE:  If you don't have unsalted butter and unsalted chicken broth, leave the one teaspoon of salt out.  Then, salt at the end to taste.

Nutrition

Serving: 0.75Cup, Calories: 316kcal, Carbohydrates: 51g, Protein: 7g, Fat: 9g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 20mg, Sodium: 433mg, Potassium: 198mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 1g, Vitamin A: 233IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 28mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
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Hey! Nice to meet you! I'm Nichole!

Welcome to The Salty Marshmallow! I'm a mom, animal lover, photographer, & kitchen mess-maker. Here you will find the result of my decades-long passion for chasing the best flavors in the kitchen, all meant to be cooked by regular people with busy lives just like you and me.

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15 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    I would love to make this recipe as a nice enjoyable side dish! It looks perfect and looks like it has perfect flavouring and taste. Thank you for sharing this recipe, I can’t wai tot try it out!