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Hungry Healthy Happy » Recipes » Side Dishes

Easy Greek Rice

Oct 28, 2024 · Written by Dannii Martin · This post may contain affiliate links which earn us commissions if purchases are made · 13 Comments

336 shares
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Diet: Gluten Free / Low Fat
Jump to Recipe
A bowl of Easy Greek Rice with a text title overlay.

Greek Rice is an easy, light and fresh side dish that is ready in under 30 minutes. Light and fluffy rice mixed with a generous amount of lemon, some shallots, garlic and then oregano and parsley for lots of added flavour. Perfect with grilled chicken or fish, and a delicious addition to a BBQ. Rice dishes don't need to be boring!

A large bowl of cooked rice, topped with chopped herbs and slices of lemon.

Greek rice is all your favourite light and fresh flavours from Greece, stirred into rice. A simple side dish that is bursting with flavour. Just a few ingredients and minimal effort, this side can be eaten hot or cold and it will bring a little bit of sunshine into your life.

If you want to try some other recipes that make rice a little more exciting, then why not try our Easy Coconut Rice, Cilantro Lime Rice, Turmeric Rice, The Best Spanish Rice or Mediterranean Rice Salad?

Jump to:
  • Why You Will Love It
  • Ingredients and Substitutions
  • How to Make Greek Rice - Step by Step
  • Serving Suggestions
  • Extra Tips
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • More Rice Recipes
  • Recipe
  • Feedback

Why You Will Love It

  • Delicious Greek flavours
  • Just a few ingredients
  • Easy to adapt
  • Perfect for a BBQ
  • Can be eaten hot or cold

Ingredients and Substitutions

All the ingredients needed to make this recipe with text overlay labels.

A full ingredients list, along with US Customary and Metric measurements, can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.

  • Rice - We have used white basmati rice for this recipe. You could swap it for brown rice, which would give it a bit of a nutty flavour.
  • Oil - Try to use the best quality olive oil that you can, as you really will be able to tell the difference. Extra virgin olive oil is always the best way to go. You could leave the oil out if you wanted to, and just cook the onion and garlic in a little water, but it wouldn't have the same flavour. You could use butter.
  • Shallots - You could swap these for a small brown onion, however we find that shallots add a nice subtle sweetness to the dish.
  • Garlic - Fresh garlic is always best.
  • Stock - We used chicken stock for this recipe, as we find it has a richer flavour. However, if you wanted to keep this dish vegetarian/vegan then you could use a vegetable stock instead. Try to use the best quality stock, and go for low salt if you are making this for little ones.
  • Lemon - This is what really gives the whole dish it's flavour. It adds a punchy a zesty flavour, and the more lemon the better we say! We used juice and zest from fresh lemons to make it extra lemony.
  • Oregano - It isn't a Greek dish without oregano, right?
  • Parsley - We always use fresh herbs, as it really lightens up the finished dish. You could swap it for dried if you prefer, but it won't have the same flavour. If you don't like parsley, then you could swap it for dill which also goes really well. Or, use a mixture of the two.

More ingredient substitutions and variations can be found in the recipe card.

How to Make Greek Rice - Step by Step

A large pan with chopped shallots in it.
  1. Step 1: Add the oil to a large pot and add the shallots and garlic.
Cooked shallots in the pan.
  1. Step 2: Gently soften, about 3-4 minutes.
Rice added to the pan.
  1. Step 3: Add the rice.
Part cooked rice in the pan.
  1. Step 4: Stir and cook for about 1 minutes more, until the rice starts to go translucent.
Stock and oregano added to the pan.
  1. Step 5: Add the stock, oregano and half the lemon juice. Bring to the boil then simmer on a medium heat, with the lid on, for 15 minutes. Turn the heat off and leave with the lid on for 10 more minutes.
Chopped parsley and lemon zest added to the cooked rice.
  1. Step 6: Assemble and serve!
Everything mixed together in the pan.
  1. Step 7: Mix well.

Serving Suggestions

This side dish goes with pretty much anything. Grilled chicken or fish, or anything on a skewer. It's also nice to serve up at a BBQ and makes a nice change from potato salad. Here are some of our favourite recipes to serve alongside this:

  • Greek Chicken Skewers
  • Grilled Halloumi Flatbreads
  • Greek Turkey Burgers
  • Tzatziki
  • Greek Lamb Souvlaki
  • Spiced Lamb Flatbreads
  • Spiced Lamb Burgers

Extra Tips

  • The lemon flavour of this dish will really depend on how juicy your lemons are. If you lemons don't have much juice in them, then you may need to use another one.
  • You don't have to "toast" the rice in the pan before you add the stock, but we finds it adds a little bit of a nutty flavour which we love.
  • Don't skip the step of leaving the pan off the heat with the lid on. The rice needs those extra 10 minutes to cook and give you the best light and fluffy rice.
  • If you want to adapt the recipe to make more or less, just remember that rice should have a 1:2 ratio of rice to liquid.
  • To finish this dish off, you could crumble on some feta. The perfect addition to any Greek dish.
Cooked rice mixed with chopped parsley and lemon zest. A lemon slice is on top.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Greek rice the same as ‘spanakorizo’?

Spanakorizo is a Greek style rice pilaf, which is very similar to what we have made here, but it also has lots of spinach in it. You could add some chopped spinach to this at the same time as the stock.

Can you make Greek rice with a packet of microwave rice?

Yes, if you are short on time then you can use a packet of microwaveable rice (that can also be fried in a pan). Just heat some oil in a pan, add the rice, garlic and shallots and cook for 2 minutes and then stir in the lemon and parsley.

What other herbs can I use?

We love parsley and lemon together. However, you could swap the fresh parsley for dill, rosemary or tarragon. 

Can I make this in advance?

Yes, you can make this Greek rice in advance. Allow it to cool and then put it in an air tight container in the fridge. When reheating, cook it in a frying pan for 3-4 minutes.

How long does Greek rice last for?

If you have leftovers, then it will store in an air tight container in the fridge for 2 days.

More Rice Recipes

  • Mediterranean Rice Salad in a large round serving dish.
    Mediterranean Rice Salad
  • A bowl of cilantro lime rice next to coriander leaves and limes
    Cilantro Lime Rice
  • A blue bowl full of turmeric rice topped with chopped herbs.
    Easy Turmeric Rice
  • Spanish Rice in a blue bowl topped with chopped parsley
    The BEST Easy Spanish Rice

If you’ve tried this Greek rice recipe, let us know how you got on in the comments below.
Tag us in your creations on Instagram @hungryhealthyhappy - Use the hashtag #hungryhealthyhappy too.

Recipe

A bowl of easy Greek rice topped with chopped parsley and slices of lemon.

Easy Greek Rice

By: Dannii Martin
Greek Rice is an easy, light and fresh side dish that is ready in under 30 minutes. Perfect with grilled chicken or fish, and a delicious addition to a BBQ.
A circular logo saying GF.
Gluten Free
the words low fat in a white circle.
Low Fat
4.90 from 29 votes
Pin Print Save recipe Saved!
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Greek
Prep: 2 minutes mins
Cook: 20 minutes mins
Standing time: 10 minutes mins
Total: 32 minutes mins
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 286kcal
Allergens:
No Common Allergens

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon Olive oil
  • 4 Shallots
  • 2 Garlic clove
  • 200 g (1 cups) Long grain white rice
  • 1 teaspoon Dried oregano
  • 1 pinch Sea salt and ground black pepper
  • 6 tablespoon Lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon Lemon zest
  • 500 ml (2 cups) Chicken stock
  • 15 g (0.25 cups) Curly parsley - finely chopped

Instructions

  • Heat 1 tablespoon Olive oil in a large pan and gently soften 4 Shallots and 2 Garlic clove, for about 3-4 minutes.
  • Add 200 g Long grain white rice and stir and cook for about 1 minutes more, until the rice starts to go translucent.
  • Add 500 ml Chicken stock, 1 teaspoon Dried oregano half of the 6 tablespoon Lemon juice and 1 pinch Sea salt and ground black pepper. Bring to the boil and cook on a gentle heat, with the lid on, for 15 minutes.
  • Turn the heat off and leave with the lid on for 10 more minutes.
  • Remove the lid and fluff up the rice with a fork and add the remaining lemon juice, 1 tablespoon Lemon zest and 15 g Curly parsley and mix well.

Recipe Tips

  • The lemon flavour of this dish will really depend on how juicy your lemons are. If you lemons don't have much juice in them, then you may need to use another one.
  • You don't have to "toast" the rice in the pan before you add the stock, but we finds it adds a little bit of a nutty flavour which we love.
  • Don't skip the step of leaving the pan off the heat with the lid on. The rice needs those extra 10 minutes to cook and give you the best light and fluffy rice.
  • If you want to adapt the recipe to make more or less, just remember that rice should have a 1:2 ratio of rice to liquid.
  • To finish this dish off, you could crumble on some feta. The perfect addition to any Greek dish.

Nutritional Information

Serving: 1portion | Calories: 286kcal | Carbohydrates: 51g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 4mg | Sodium: 180mg | Potassium: 326mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 335IU | Vitamin C: 58mg | Calcium: 70mg | Iron: 15mg

The nutritional information provided is approximate and is calculated using online tools. Information can vary depending on various factors, but we have endeavoured to be as accurate as possible.

As all appliances vary, cooking times are a guide. Please note that by changing the serving size, the cooking time may also need to be altered.

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Comments

  1. Bridgette says

    June 16, 2023 at 12:11 am

    5 stars
    Just what the doctor ordered! Very happy to have found this! Light, fragrant, super fresh and tasty. A great side to Greek meatballs. I used half rice& half Quinoa and washed my lemons well and sliced some of the lemon peel and put it in with the rice for extra yum. Thank you for this!

    Reply
  2. Beth says

    May 03, 2021 at 9:42 pm

    5 stars
    I love all the flavors in this rice! So delicious and an easy side! My hubby and I love pairing this rice with fish, and it's so tasty!

    Reply
  3. Diana Reis says

    April 30, 2021 at 10:40 pm

    5 stars
    Love how the lemon zest brightens this up. It turns out just right.

    Reply
  4. Tara says

    April 30, 2021 at 9:42 pm

    5 stars
    Oh yum! I love how the rice comes together so easily. Definitely perfect for summer grilling season and beautiful styling too.

    Reply
  5. Sharon says

    April 30, 2021 at 9:39 pm

    5 stars
    This rice comes out so fluffy. The shallots and lemon zest add so much flavor.

    Reply
    • Michelle says

      May 02, 2021 at 4:10 pm

      5 stars
      Love all the fresh bright ingredients in this rice. And it goes with everything so we'll be making with our grilled meats all summer long.

      Reply
  6. Liz says

    April 30, 2021 at 9:17 pm

    5 stars
    I love the flavors in Greek food and I'm always looking for more side dish ideas! This is perfect!

    Reply
  7. Tania says

    April 30, 2021 at 8:56 pm

    5 stars
    Amazing! I followed your step by step directions and it came out just perfect.
    Will definitely keep this recipe.
    Thank you!

    Reply
  8. Adrianne says

    April 30, 2021 at 8:43 pm

    5 stars
    I love the simple ingredients for this recipe! Am making fish on the weekend so will give it a go with that, cheers.

    Reply
  9. Emily Flint says

    April 30, 2021 at 5:14 pm

    5 stars
    This rice was so easy to make and the flavors were perfect! I served this with chicken and had zero leftovers!

    Reply
  10. Nathan says

    April 30, 2021 at 5:12 pm

    5 stars
    My roommates and I eat a lot of rice, but we've definitely not tried anything like this Greek rice! Looks super tasty, I'll definitely be putting this on our list of recipes!

    Reply
  11. Wanda says

    April 30, 2021 at 4:47 pm

    5 stars
    This will be perfect with our favourite chicken kabobs! Can't wait to make this rice recipe!

    Reply
  12. Kyndra Holley says

    April 30, 2021 at 4:39 pm

    Love all the fresh herbs. This looks delicious and like it would pair perfectly with so many main dishes.

    Reply
4.90 from 29 votes (17 ratings without comment)

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My name is Dannii. Here you will find easy family recipes with a healthy twist.

Established in 2011, Hungry Healthy Happy has become one of the UK's most popular food blogs, with two successful recipe books published.

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