Mushroom Rice Pilaf

Mushroom Rice Pilaf – an easy homemade rice pilaf with lots of fresh mushrooms!  Ditch the box mix, because this easy side dish is ready in minutes! Great side dish recipe for chicken, fish, pork, or beef.

Homemade vs Store Bought.  That is the question with a lot of things.  Do you have the time, is it worth the cost, how much work is it?  All questions that go into whether or not you make something homemade or just buy it at the store.  Homemade Brownies are hands down worth making to me. So much better than the store.  A lot of things you can make at home with almost no extra work.

Cheeseburger Macaroni Skillet is a homemade hamburger helper. It probably takes 3 extra minutes to measure out the spices compared to the box mix.  So worth making homemade for me.  Now how about a box rice mix?  I am all about easy side dishes and the boxes make it pretty easy.  But I am here with this rice pilaf to show you, it will take you no more time and you can have an even tastier version if you go the homemade route.

I don’t know about you, but I struggle with side dish recipes.  I can come up with main dishes for dinner, but coming up with what to serve with it is a different story.  We almost always have fruit on the table, but often times you need something else.  My guys aren’t huge on just veggies, so roasted green beans don’t always fly.

I grew up with having the  rice side dishes from a box.  You know the flavored ones.  So I took a queue from that, and came up with my own homemade rice pilaf.  I am all about easy side dishes, so I loved the box mix.  But wanted to make a homemade version. I love mushrooms and had a lot to use up, so some kind of mushroom rice was what I had in mind. Easy Sauteed Mushrooms is another favorite when I have mushrooms on hand.

So the question is.  What is Rice Pilaf?  Well, simple.  It is a rice dish that is usually simmered or cooked in a seasoned broth.  So the different between white rice and white pilaf is really just how it is cooked. This rice pilaf recipe cooks in a chicken stock, so that is what makes it rice pilaf.  Fancy name or something super easy!  Told you I liked easy side dishes!

I took this from a basic rice pilaf to something special by just adding mushrooms.  You could take out the mushrooms, you could add peas at the end of cooking instead. You could add green beans or asparagus. Really anything goes. I just like mushrooms, and thing they go really well with the wild rice blend I used.  But this is really more of a method and you can make your rice pilaf your own!

If you like mushrooms, you will love this mushroom rice pilaf.  I used a brown and wild rice blend, so the cooking time was a little longer.  But you can use any rice blend you like, and adjust the cooking time accordingly.

The hands-on time for this rice is very easy and minimal.  Slicing and sauteing the onions and mushrooms is about it.  After that is just letting the rice cook in the liquid.  This mushroom rice is full of flavor because I cooked it in chicken stock instead of just water.  Such an easy switch that can give any rice dish you are making to much more flavor!

5 from 6 votes

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Mushroom Rice Pilaf

Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

45 mins

Total Time

50 mins

 

Mushroom Rice Pilaf - an easy homemade rice pilaf with lots of fresh mushrooms! Great side dish recipe for chicken, fish, pork, or beef.

Course: Side Dish

Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 1 Tbls olive oil
• 1 onion , finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic , finely chopped
• 2 (16 oz) packages mushrooms (1 used 1 white, 1 baby bella)
• 2 cups brown and wild rice blend
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 tsp fresh thyme
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Instructions

1. In a large skillet heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add onions, mushrooms and garlic. Saute until tender and mushrooms are browned. Stir in rice. Add chicken stock. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to simmer. Cook for 30-45 minutes (depending on rice blend) or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed. Season with salt and pepper, and stir in thyme. Adjust seasoning as necessary and serve.

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

For a quick version you can check out this Brown Rice Pilaf with Pecans from Cooking Light