Top 10 Easy Rice Side Dishes
Top 10 easy rice recipes you can mix and match as quick and easy side dishes for 40 different dinner ideas!
One of my best meal planning strategies is to start with picking my main dish and then rotate through my easy starchy side dishes: pasta, potatoes, bread, and rice.
When I'm serving a saucy main dish, rice is the perfect side dish choice since it soaks up all that deliciousness.
A rice side dish is also an elegant pick for a holiday dinner or to dress up a simple main dish like chicken or fish.
You can stock up on a big budget-friendly bag of rice at the store and then be able to turn it into several easy side dishes for dinner that will keep things delicious and interesting.
I pulled together some of our very favorite easy rice side dish recipes that use items you likely have in your pantry right now! These are the recipes our family turns to again and again.
Jasmine Rice
Everyone needs a basic white rice to use for countless easy dinners throughout the year.
My Instant Pot jasmine rice is foolproof and makes perfect, tender rice each and every time.
You can use chicken stock, butter, olive oil, and dried herbs to boost the flavor but I leave it plain when my main dish has a flavorful sauce.
Jasmine rice pairs really well with Asian-inspired dishes like my beef and broccoli, butter chicken, or my popular teriyaki meatball stir fry.
It's also a great base for my sheet pan Hawaiian chicken with roasted pineapples and peppers.
Herb Butter Rice
The next step up from plain jasmine rice is this very simple Instant Pot herb butter rice.
By adding butter and dried herbs to the cooking water, the flavors infuse within the rice as it cooks.
This is a delicate side dish that pairs perfectly with simple chicken and seafood dishes.
I love to spoon my apricot chicken over the rice, the sauce pairs so well with the herbs and butter.
It would be a great choice for serving baked fish, baked shrimp scampi, or our family's favorite macadamia crusted halibut with parmesan roasted asparagus.
Rice Pilaf
Growing up, chicken flavored Rice-a-Roni was my all-time favorite side dish. I was thrilled when mom would make it.
This copycat Rice-a-Roni Instant Pot rice pilaf is the perfect homemade version to serve with baked chicken or pork.
You could serve this easy rice side with my roasted pork tenderloins, roasted chicken with vegetables, or even a festive slowcooker turkey breast.
Wild Rice Pilaf
When you want your rice side dish to stand more on its own on the dinner table, you can take plain rice and dress it up with tender veggies and herbs.
This easy wild rice pilaf is so delicious and elegant, I usually serve it as a Christmas side with ham or turkey.
However, it is so popular with my family, I love to make it for regular dinners all year long. My recipe includes both stovetop and Instant Pot cooking instructions.
For the holidays, I pair it with my Crockpot spiral ham or my easy slowcooker boneless turkey breast. If you're making my make ahead oven roasted pork loin, the green peppercorn sauce drizzled over the top tastes amazing with the wild rice.
The tender veggies in the mix add a lot of flavor to a seasoned oven baked salmon, too.
Sticky Butter Rice
While rice can be a lighter side to serve with dinner, it can also be used to make a decadently rich and utterly delicious side, too.
When I'm needing some seriously buttery comfort food, this Instant Pot sticky butter rice is ready to go. Made with French onion soup mix and tons of butter, it is a sticky rice side that pairs really well with heavier dishes like beef or pork.
You could serve this as a mouthwatering side to pair with my festive cranberry blue cheese stuffed pork tenderloins or my tender roasted pork in applesauce for an easy holiday dinner.
For a busy weeknight, try my extra flavorful Cajun blackened chicken thighs or my saucy bourbon chicken which would both be great with the buttery rice.
Chimichurri Rice
When pulling together leftovers for dinner one night, I combined some leftover white rice with a jar of cilantro chimichurri sauce I had in the fridge and this simple chimichurri rice side was the perfect quick fix.
You could serve this as an herby side dish to pair with my grilled chimichurri steak or air fryer chicken breasts. It would work with shrimp or pork, too.
If you want to build a delicious veggie rice bowl, you could spoon additional cilantro chimichurri sauce over roasted vegetables like my roasted zucchini or air fryer green beans to serve on top of a bed of this rice.
Fried Rice
Chicken fried rice can be an entire dinner all by itself on a busy night. I make a big batch of my jasmine rice earlier in the day and then use shredded chicken or a rotisserie chicken to finish the dinner later.
However, if you want to use fried rice as a side dish, you could skip the chicken mixed in and then just prep the veggie fried rice as a side.
There's a pineapple cashew fried rice recipe in my cookbook, too.
My tender honey garlic chicken thighs or broiled chicken tenderloins brushed with thick teriyaki sauce would be a perfect main dish to serve with veggie fried rice.
If you wanted to bulk up my spicy pork egg roll bowls, you could serve a scoop of that next to the fried rice for a make-your-own takeout type dinner.
Baked Red Rice
Every summer we head to the beach and as soon as I spot red rice on the menu, its exactly what I'm ordering.
This easy baked red rice with bacon is the perfect rice casserole side dish to serve with seafood or chicken.
Pop a pan of red rice into the oven and then serve it with my spicy blackened mahi sandwiches or use it as a bed of rice for baked Alabama BBQ chicken breasts with Alabama BBQ sauce drizzled over the top.
Season some frozen shrimp and cook it in the air fryer. My blackened seasoning would be the perfect pick. Or bake a batch of frozen crab cakes to serve with remoulade sauce and red rice.
Mexican Rice
Many of my readers look for new side dishes for tacos and this homemade Mexican corn rice is my very first suggestion.
But you don't need to wait for Taco Tuesday, you could serve this tomato-based rice dish alongside any of your favorite Mexican food classics.
I turn to this rice side dish for turning my baked chicken tacos or air fryer chicken chimichangas into a full blown meal.
It also pairs well with jerk chicken quesadillas or as the base for a rice bowl with Mexican pulled pork carnitas spooned over the top.
Mediterranean Spinach Rice
While my Mediterranean spinach rice with shrimp is meant to be cooked as a full dinner, you could skip the shrimp in the recipe and just make the delicious garlic and spinach rice as a side dish instead.
While the rice cooks in the Instant Pot, you could prep my 5-minute spicy shrimp, grilled tilapia, or seasoned chicken tenderloins in the air fryer.
If you want a completely vegetarian-friendly dish, load up the spinach rice with a pan of roasted broccoli and carrots.
Alfredo Rice Casserole
My rich and creamy chicken alfredo rice casserole is an easy dinner for a busy night because you can use rotisserie chicken and frozen veggies to make it quickly.
However if you skip the chicken, the alfredo rice would make an awesome Italian-inspired side dish for a special meal.
You could pair this as a side for crispy baked chicken parmesan or as a bed for some Romano chicken meatballs with lemon sauce. A pan of tender roasted frozen shrimp would be a perfect protein pick, too.
Or, keep it easy and just make my Instant Pot shredded chicken and bake the casserole as directed.
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