Greek lemon rice takes just six ingredients in BlutoNYC’s family recipe on Allrecipes, which home cooks rate 4.8 out of 5.
Greek lemon rice starts with a classic pilafi
In Greek cuisine, pilafi (πιλάφι) is rice boiled in a meat stock or broth. It should turn out fluffy and soft, but never soupy or sticky, according to Wikipedia’s entry on the dish. The same entry adds that Cretan cooks finish their wedding pilaf, gamopilafo, with lemon juice.
This Greek lemon rice follows the same idea on a smaller scale. BlutoNYC, the Allrecipes member who shared it in May 2019, describes it as the lemon rice of their childhood. As the title My Mom’s Greek Lemon Rice suggests, it is a family recipe.
Lemon and rice also meet in other Greek kitchen staples. Greek City Times has shared a traditional avgolemono recipe, the egg and lemon chicken soup made with rice. It has also published a simple homemade spanakorizo of spinach and rice.
Unlike those dishes, this pilafi is a plain side. Allrecipes lists 156 calories, 26 g of carbohydrate and 3 g of protein per serve. Each serve also has 580 mg of sodium.
Ingredients for the buttery pilafi
Because the recipe makes 12 serves, Greek lemon rice suits a family lunch or a big Sunday table. In addition, every ingredient for this pilafi is easy to find at the supermarket.
- 1/2 stick (about 55 g) butter
- 2 cups converted long-grain white rice
- 1 container (32 fl oz, about 950 ml) chicken broth
- Juice of 1/2 lemon, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 bay leaves
BlutoNYC specifies converted rice, another name for parboiled rice, which producers soak, steam and dry in the husk. Still, other grains work too. One cook made this Greek lemon rice with jasmine rice, while another used regular long-grain rice.
Bay leaves give the pot a herbal aroma. According to Wikipedia’s entry on bay leaves, the ancient Greeks used them for flavouring. The leaves remain a fixture of Mediterranean cooking.
As for the lemon, one community answer explains that the recipe means the juice of half a real lemon. Cooks who want a milder pilafi can use less.
How to toast and simmer the grains
Allrecipes lists five minutes of preparation, 40 minutes of cooking and 10 minutes of resting. The most important step comes first, since the pilafi grains toast in butter before any liquid goes in.
- Melt the butter in a pot over low heat.
- Add the rice and stir until every grain has a coating of butter.
- Cook gently for about 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until the rice is toasted but not burnt.
- Pour in the broth and lemon juice, then add the salt and bay leaves.
- Bring the pot to a rapid boil and keep it boiling for 5 minutes.
- Turn the heat down to a simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes.
- Finally, take the pot off the heat and leave it covered for 10 minutes before you fluff the pilafi with a fork.
According to Allrecipes, toasting the rice in butter gives Greek lemon rice extra nutty richness. One reviewer, by_the_coast, added that stirring more often stops the rice burning on the base of the pan.
Tips from home cooks
Fifty home cooks say they have made this Greek lemon rice on Allrecipes. Of its 49 ratings, 41 are five stars and none is a one-star rating. Allrecipes member Donna3d wrote: “Best rice I’ve ever had!”
However, salt drew several comments. Leslie Wentzell left it out because the broth already contained salt. By comparison, by_the_coast used chicken bouillon without the salt and said the full amount would go in next time.
Other cooks changed the flavour of their pilafi. In particular, OrangeBean6648, author of the most helpful positive review, sautés diced onion in the butter first. That reviewer wrote that Portuguese cooks make rice the same way. Lynn E suggested dried herbs with the broth, or white wine instead of lemon juice.
For a vegan pilafi, mariecc used dairy-free butter and vegetable broth and said it turned out great. Linda drizzled extra fresh lemon juice over the cooked rice, while plates4u added chopped parsley for colour.
Not every review was glowing, though. Elizabeth Currier found the rice a little dry and bland.
Overall, reviewers served Greek lemon rice with Greek chicken and with pork tenderloin, given that its mild flavour sits well beside meat.
It would also suit the Greek City Times recipe for lemon chicken legs with yiayia’s potatoes. The original recipe on Allrecipes includes step-by-step photos.
Source: Allrecipes
The post Greek Lemon Rice: An Easy 6-Ingredient Pilafi for Any Dinner appeared first on Greek City Times.