Simple Saffron Brown Rice
When you want the nourishing goodness of whole grains with the comforting taste of saffron rice, turn to this Simple Saffron Brown Rice recipe. The key is our signature combination of seasonings slowly simmered with the goodness of brown rice.
Table of contents
What is Saffron Rice?
Saffron is the world’s most expensive spice and is harvested in the fall from a specific type of crocus. Various versions of saffron rice can be found throughout the Middle East, South Asia, the Mediterranean and in other parts of Europe in one form or another. It is generally made with white rice, broth or veggie bullion and saffron.
Why We Love This Recipe For Simple Saffron Brown Rice
This brown saffron rice was inspired by a Paella my family used to make. We used to make it in an enameled cobalt blue paella pan using a good amount of saffron threads, fresh seafood, chicken, sausage and rice. The process was labor intensive but always was a festive way to celebrate with family.
For this saffron rice recipe, I wanted to develop a simple side dish recipe that was easy to prepare but had similar flavors. It is naturally dairy-free, gluten-free and vegetarian so you can add it to your menu when you need a healthy, festive side that everyone can enjoy.
I published this recipe on October 30, 2014. I have updated some of the text to share it with you again today.
Ingredients For Brown Saffron Rice
- Saffron: You can find saffron in most grocery stores in the spice aisle. This spice is the key to the sweet and mildly floral flavor and taste and distinctive yellow color of the final dish.
- Brown Rice: At Healthy Seasonal Recipes we are big on using whole grain alternatives to refined grains. While saffron rice is typically made with white rice we prefer to use brown rice which has numerous health benefits and it gives it a little more bite and nuttiness.
- Olive Oil: 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Garlic: One of the main flavors in this dish is the garlic. You’ll need a whopping 5 cloves! Peel and mince it finely.
- Onion: Along with the onion you’ll use a small amount of onion to form the base flavors of this healthy saffron rice. I have made it with sweet onion or red onion, and both are great. You can also use a yellow onion or Spanish onion if that is all you have on hand. If you need refresher, here is how to dice onion.
- Spice: The key to making this side dish stand out is a touch of dry thyme and smoked paprika. This gives the rice a bit of smoky flavor which is evocative of the fire cooked paella its meant to mimic. You’ll also need salt to season the rice.
- Broth or Stock: For the liquid, you can use vegetable broth or veggie stock. Chicken broth or chicken stock also works perfectly well.
- Chopped parsley: To add freshness and green color to the final dish.
Chef Katie’s Pro Tips
Money Saving Tip: Saffron is one of the most expensive spices on the market. If you want to make your saffron extend a little further, cut the amount in half and augment with a little turmeric (1/4 tsp). Though it doesn’t taste the same, it will add a strong yellow color to your rice. Use the rest to make a batch of this Chicken and Vegetable Stew with Saffron and Preserved Lemon to take a trip to Morocco in your own kitchen!
Veggie Vibes: At HSR we always love adding veggies to our meals. For this rice dish, you can add 1 chopped red bell pepper with the onions and stir in 3/4 cup thawed green peas with the parsley to add three servings of veggies!
How to Make Healthy Saffron Rice
Step 1: Cook garlic & onion
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring until fragrant and just starting to brown, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add onion, stirring to coat. Cook, stirring often until the onion is starting to brown and soften, 3 to 5 minutes.
Step 2: Add Aromatics
Add the saffron, thyme, smoked paprika and salt and cook, stirring until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Step 3: Add Broth and Rice
Pour in the broth and increase the heat to high. Stir thoroughly to make sure the saffron threads are evenly distributed, and bring the broth to a simmer. Add the rice and return to a simmer.
Step 4: Cook The Rice with Lid On
Cover, reduce heat to medium-low or low to maintain a simmer, and cook until the broth has been absorbed and the rice is very tender about 50.
Step 5: Add Parsley
Remove from the heat and stir in parsley.
Healthy Menu Ideas For Saffron Rice
The flavors of this dish are great with Spanish-inspired foods and seafood. It is also wonderful with curry and Moroccan-inspired cuisine. Try with one of these meals:
- Our braised Moroccan Lamb Shanks with chickpeas or Lamb Tagine with Prunes would be excellent with this recipe.
- Make our Classic Roast Chicken or Spice Roasted Chicken for a Sunday supper. Pair with a simple veggie dish like these cooked baby carrots or sauteed spinach.
- For a vegetarian dinner, try saffron brown rice with Mushroom Frittata and a green garden salad.
- To amp up the Paella vibes add on grilled sausage or seared shrimp. Serve cooked peas on the side to round out the meal.
FAQs and Expert Tips
Any leftover rice you end up with can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for the next day.
Saffron should taste fresh, florally and sweet. Avoid any saffron that has a plastic or metallic taste. Learn more here in this guide to purchasing saffron.
If the rice is still too tough at the end of the cooking time, add a little extra water, 1/4 cup at a time, and continue cooking, another 5 to 10 minutes.
Additional Rice Recipes to Try
- This Easy Chicken Rice Soup Recipe is made in one pot and finished within 40 minutes.
- My Chickpea Burgers with Brown Rice recipe has fun ingredients like shredded carrots, parsley and a lemon tahini sauce!
- I love this Chicken and Wild Rice Soup for chilly fall days.
- This Chicken and Rice Casserole is simple to make and everyone always loves it.
- This One Pot Chicken and Rice with Spring Veggies couldn’t be easier.
- My Brown Rice and Sweet Potato Salad is made with orange zest, dried cranberries and lots of other goodies.
- If you like risotto you have to try my Brown Rice Kale Risotto with Cheddar, Brown Rice Pumpkin Risotto and this Brown Rice Risotto with Peas.
At Healthy Seasonal Recipes, we specialize in cooking with fresh veggies and creating weeknight meals. Sign up HERE to get more produce-forward dinner ideas for FREE! If you make this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review. I would love to hear what you thought! Happy Cooking! ~Katie
Print
Brown Saffron Rice
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 5 cups, 4 entree servings or 6 side dish 1x
Description
Simple recipe for brown rice cooked with smoked paprika and saffron. Vegan and gluten-free.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 small sweet or red onion
- 1 teaspoon loosely packed saffron threads, 1/2 g
- 1/2 teaspoon dry thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cup brown rice
- 3 1/2 cups vegetable broth, such as imagine no-chicken
- 3/4 cup chopped parsley
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring until fragrant and just starting to brown, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add onion, stir to coat. Cook, stirring often until the onion is starting to brown and soften, 3 to 5 minutes.
- Add saffron, thyme, smoked paprika and salt and cook, stirring until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Pour in broth and increase heat to high. Stir thoroughly to make sure saffron threads are evenly distributed, and bring to a simmer.
- Add rice, and return to a simmer.
- Cover, reduce heat to medium-low or low to maintain a simmer, and cook until the broth has been absorbed and the rice is very tender, 50 to 60 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and stir in parsley.
Notes
Cooking Tip:
If the rice is not quite tender at the end of the cooking time, add a little extra water, 1/4 cup at a time, and continue cooking, another 5 to 10 minutes.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Side dish
- Method: Stove top
- Cuisine: Spanish
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 1/4 cup each for an entree serving. 2/3 cup for
- Calories: 164
- Sugar: 5 g
- Sodium: 963 mg
- Fat: 8 g
- Saturated Fat: 1 g
- Carbohydrates: 21 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 3 g
What a great recipe! Had to add a bit more stock towards the end. Loved by all. I have found my go-to elevated brown rice recipe!
Thank you Elsa. I have this on my menu for the weekend. I am glad you found it and liked it.
I made the recipe and it was great. I adopted a technique from my mom, also an adventurous and excellent cook. For dishes of this type, she always threw the rice in with the garlic and onion, and cooked it on med. or med. high until at least half of the rice “popped”, by which point the onions and garlic would be done too. The grains turn a more opaque light shade and actually make a little popping or cracking sound. This adds a really interesting nutty flavor, If you “pop” most of the rice you will need to reduce the cooking time a bit.
Hi Karen- I love that idea! It sounds like it only adds more flavor, so I’m sure it’s good! Thanks for the comment and rating!
Great blog! Loved the story :). I made this yummy recipe for dinner last night after deciding to transition over to whole grains from refined…yes, white rice is sadly refined. (I didn’t know!) Instantly, this reminded me of a delicious paella. The flavor was incredible, but I couldn’t help being a bit disappointed by the texture. After about 55-60 min. of cooking (no resting the rice), mine turned out somewhat “wet” and more like a heavy risotto then the fluffy drier rice I was hoping for. I’m not sure what I did wrong, so what is the finished outcome of the texture supposed to be? Is there any way to improve the fluffiness or is brown rice just heavier and wetter? Thanks for posting! This is a brilliant idea and much needed representation of brown rice in a white rice world!
Thank you! So glad to hear it. I’m not totally sure but it is possible that your summer was a little lower than mine. The liquid should absorb. In the future, try a slightly hotter burner and keep an eye that it absorbs all the liquid.
I love this recipe! My husband jokes that he lived on yellow rice (the nasty packet kind) before he married me. I’m glad to make this healthy version to serve him (alongside meat and veggies). I’ve been making this recipe for a couple years now. However, I’m addicted to my new Instant Pot. Do you know if this is adaptable? I use a recipe for plain brown rice now that takes 2 cups of rice and 2 and 1/2 cups of water (I use bone broth). I’m going to try to merge both recipes, so we’ll see how it goes as I could not find a saffron brown rice recipe for a pressure cooker… I would totally give this recipe 10 stars if it had adaptations for a pressure cooker or multi-cooker.
I made it in my instant pot last night to go with enchiladas. It was awesome! I used the sautee function for the onions. I added the spices with 2 cups of brown rice and 2 and 1/2 cups of beef bone broth. Set to pressure cook on high for 15 minutes and let it release pressure on it’s own and it was perfect! I also added a little regular paprika, cumin, coriander, chili powder, and oregano (or marjoram). So flavorful!
Big tip: Don’t put the garlic in to “brown” as suggested above. You don’t want to do that or the garlic will get bitter. Sautee the onions first until brown, then add garlic and sautee for 1 more minute before adding spices. Also, toast the rice a bit with the onions, garlic, and spices before adding the broth. Delish!
Thanks Joanna!
I wish I’d known your mother was such a good cook! I would have begged her to teach me. When we all lived in Wycombe, I was trying to branch out and do more “exotic” and flavorful cooking. My mother was a basic cook, though I have never been afraid to make white sauces or tackle a pie crust. Was her mother a good cook? In my family, it seems like good cooks skip generations!
Yes my mom’s mom was also a great cook. She was a pioneer, serving up meals and fancy parties from the pages of Gourmet to her cronies in West Texas. I have heard that though about skipping a generation some times, as if the child reacts to the bad cooking, and takes matter into their own hands as a coping mechanism. Ha ha. Love thinking about all the history there.
I can tell you right now that this recipe is going to become a regular one for me. I’m making an effort to eat more brown rice and I love everything about this version. I even have smoked paprika. I really loved reading about your Dad and your cooking antics with him. Very entertaining!! Great post, Katie!
So glad you liked it Bill. My dad really is one of a kind.
Katie, this brought back soo many memories from my childhood- my mum makes saffron rice as the vehicle to all her Persian dishes- Now I’m craving paella.
I am sure her dishes were better than my Dad’s though. ha ha. Glad to bring back fond memories.
Aw man. Dads are the best aren’t they? Pickle Paella? Um, even as a steadfast lover of pickles I don’t know if I could go down that road!! 😀 This saffron rice sounds wonderful!Oh- and my father-in-law always adds celery to his salads, too! He says he likes the crunch!
I know, I love pickles too, but seriously Dad? Ha ha. Funny about the celery. I love it when he serves it, but I never think to do it on my own. It is kinda good/strange.