Basil Rice with Roasted Garlic is made with brown rice and it’s an excellent fresh, and flavorful side dish. It’s also perfect to sit beneath saucy dishes like stews, to soak up the delicious flavors.
The flavors in the basil rice are a comforting combination that works year round and a fantastic side dish.
The fresh scent of basil blended with warm, creamy, slow roasted garlic is dreamy!
While the flavors are deep and developed, the recipe still comes together fairly quickly and easily.
Fresh Pesto Basil
What to Serve With it
- This basil brown rice is fantastic to have on hand as it’s perfect along side, or beneath almost any main course.
- I especially love it with stews, to soak up any sauce that didn’t make it into into my spoon.
Can you imagine it with this Braised Brisket Stew?
Or, oh my goodness, how about serving this Basil Rice recipe with Coconut Mango Baked Chicken!? I’ve done this a few times, and it’s definitely become a family favorite at my house.
That mango sauce seeping into the grains of basil brown rice is so aromatic and delicious — you won’t be able to get enough. 
Recipe Tips and Substitutions
- I like the nutty flavor from brown rice, but you can use any rice you like.
- You can use any variety you of basil love in this recipe.
- Make the roasted garlic ahead of time — up to a few days! This will make the basil rice even easier and quicker to prepare.
- Vegan or vegetarian? Use vegetable stock.
- All sorts of herbs are delicious in rice. For example, here’s a recipe for Italian Herb Rice. So feel free to mix it up.
Can you freeze cooked rice?
- Yes! And that means you can make much more than you need, and have it at the ready for other meals.
- If the rice is in an airtight container it can be frozen for about a month. (Longer is okay, but not ideal.)
- To thaw the cooked rice, place it in the refrigerator the day before you want to serve it, and in the morning leave it out at room temperature to continue to defrost.
- Before heating the rice, drizzle it with a bit of water to add back any moisture that might have been lost in the freezer. Then heat it, covered, over low heat on the stove.
Enjoy every last grain of this super yummy, easy Basil Rice with Roasted Garlic.
Here’s How to Roast Garlic.
More scrumptious recipes with basil:
- Basil Pizza with Pesto
- Baked Basil Sweet Potatoes
- Lemon Basil Vinaigrette (and Marinade)
- Watermelon Basil Salad with Avocado
Basil Rice with Roasted Garlic
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons roasted garlic* (click here for how to roast garlic)
- 1 cup yellow onion, finely chopped
- ½ cup basil leaves, washed and dried, finely chopped
- 1½ cups dry brown rice
- 3 cups vegetable or chicken stock
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Cook onions with roasted garlic. Coat the bottom of a medium-sized sauce pot with the oil and place it over medium heat. Add the roasted garlic and onions and cook until the onions are translucent and soft, about 5 minutes.
- Add rice and basil and sauté. Mix in basil leaves and rice. Stir to be sure all of the grains of rice are coated with the other ingredients, and then sauté for about 2 minutes, stirring almost constantly.
- Cook. Add the stock and salt, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to the lowest setting, cover the pot, and cook until all of the liquid has been absorbed, about 30 minutes.
- Serve!
Notes
Colette says
Delicious idea for boring ol’ rice, V.
Gonna try it tom night. Thanks! xo
Marivel says
Hi,
This recipe lsounds delicious, thank you for sharing!!
Wonder how long it will last stored in the fridge?, as I plan to make enough to last me severl days?
valentina says
Hi! It should be fine for up to 5 days — in a tightly sealed container. 🙂 Enjoy!
Kate says
Do you have to cook the rice before sautéing it. Is that what is meant by brown rice dry? Or is it sauté uncooked?
valentina says
Hi Kate, No, do not cook the rice before Sautéing it. When you sauté the uncooked rice for a few minutes before adding the liquid, it adds a nutty flavor to the rice. Enjoy! 🙂
tan says
Mmm
valentina says
Mmmm is right! Hope you try the recipe. 🙂
Anna says
Would this be a good side with grilled Salmon? Rice sounds amazing!
valentina says
Hi Anna, it would be lovely with grilled salmon! 😀
Bhawana says
Rice cooked with two amazing herbs sounds so aromatic and flavourful. Surely a must try and delicious with any gravy.
valentina says
Thank you. I hope you love it!
Julia says
This and the braised brisket stew together must taste unreal! Thanks for the inspiration!
valentina says
Thank you, Julia.:-)
David says
This does sounds delicious! I like the sound of that mango chicken recipe too.
valentina says
Thanks, David!
Mary says
I love everything with basil!
valentina says
I do too!
Jacqueline Debono says
I love the idea of this rice as an accompaniment to stews or as a side. It sounds super flavourful! Since I live in Italy, I grow mostly pesto basil. So, going to pin this for later when my basil is ready to be picked!
valentina says
Love that you grow the pesto basil. It’s one of my favorite varieties. Enjoy!
Eha says
I feel like a culinary idiot at the moment ! Eat brown rice at least three times a week, have a big pot of basil growing behind the kitchen door and would not know how to live without garlic . . . but this simple methodology has passed me by ! Well, tomorrow will be the first but certainly not the last to offer this at the table !!!
valentina says
I love that you have basil growing outside your kitchen, Eha. I always grow basil in my little “kitchen garden” (a big planter of sorts), but I seem to only grow enough to use it once or twice before planting more. I hope you love it! 🙂 ~Valentina