
This Buttery Rice Pilaf recipe is absolutely delicious on its own – without any spices or herbs whatsoever. But it’s also a wonderful “blank canvas” for bringing any extra flavors to the meal you’ve got in mind. When I’m serving the Rice Pilaf with a main attraction that’s packed with flavor, I go with the “co-star” approach, leaving it unadorned with any spices or herbs. Seriously, the buttery flavor makes it a delicious side dish or co-star.

It’s worth noting, again, that this Rice Pilaf is amazing as it is (pre-spices) – with just a little Kosher salt. Taste before adding spices – you just may want the buttery version unadorned.
Tips for Rice Pilaf Success:
- You could, conceivably, use a vegetarian broth in place of the chicken broth for this recipe. Unfortunately, veggie broth doesn’t have the same amount of flavor that chicken broth does, so I hardly ever recommend substituting it for its more flavorful cousin. However, in this case, the generous (obscene?) amount of butter has its back.
- After the cooking process, fluff the rice pilaf with a fork instead of a spoon. Why? A spoon or spatula (or even my beloved Rachael Ray Spoonula – Amazon link) leads to more of a mashing than a fluffing… and, as we all know, rice is all about the fluff.
- Real butter is better than margarine here – and, really, just about everywhere.
- You can easily add onion to rice pilaf – I don’t when making this particular rice pilaf because… well.. because butter. I don’t want onion competing with butter in this dish because we all know what a competitor onion is. If you want to add 1/2 an onion, do so at the beginning. Add your pasta to the butter, then add your chopped onion and stir.
- Speaking of onions, if you want a hint of onion, go with shallots. One of my sons-in-law isn’t a big onion fan, so when I know he’ll be eating a certain meal, I use shallots instead of onions. They aren’t quite as “competitive” with the other flavors.
- If you’re serving more than 4 and this is the main dish, double the recipe. It doubles beautifully.