This Buttery Baked Rice is a vintage recipe that has been in my husband’s family for many decades. We love this kind of vintage cooking.
When I was first married, we lived close to my mother-in-law, who was living with her mother. We loved spending time with the Grandmas! I learned SO much from them in those early years of my marriage. They were both so kind and patient with me. My husband’s grandma, Grandma Pedersen was Hazel and Hazel was AMAZING! Seriously. Writing and thinking about this right now is making me teary. She passed away in December of 2006, a couple weeks after I had my 4th baby. I am SO grateful that my oldest 2 have solid memories of her.
Hazel was something else when it came to putting a meal on the table. We would sit down and she would keep coming back and forth with more and more and more. She was a product of her generation! This is SO different from my mom, and even my grandmother, who were both significantly younger than Hazel.
Rande & Hazel. June 30, 1936.
Her table had at least one main course – a roast, a casserole or soup. And then there was a simple green salad. and a cooked veggie, and then a plate or bowl of cucumber slices, and then a Jello, and some cut up fruit, and then some rolls with butter and then also some sliced bread. OK, this is an extreme version, and it wasn’t exactly like this every time, but close to it! AND NOTHING was EVER served in the pot or dish it was cooked in (unless it was a casserole or something like that). Everything was on pretty serving plates. As I was growing up mom would put the saucepan with the cooked beans on the table and pot of rice, straight from the stove and another pot with the chicken gravy. NOTHING wrong with that! However, I LOVED how much care Hazel put into the presentation of a meal.
If you want to maybe get some pretty baking dishes that will also go well on the table Check out our Baking Must Haves shop HERE.
And now my kids tease me the same way that Hazel’s grandkids teased her about dirtying extra dishes. However, I DO have my mom in me too! Some nights we do dish up straight from the stove, and this is something Grandma Pedersen would never have done, although her daughter, my MIL, would have had no problem with that.
The first time I ever tried this rice was at a Sunday family dinner. Either my MIL or Grandma Pedersen made it. I thought it was just regular rice like my mom and grandma made, steamed in a pot on the stove. I could tell with the first bite that it was different and just SO GOOD! How? Why?
this place and time so we could have a chat.
Luckily the first or second Christmas after we got married, my MIL had typed up all of her family recipes and made books for each of us! This has been a gift that has kept on giving for 3 decades now! One recipe I was so happy to see there was this baked rice recipe. I know. Really? YES! Really! IT. IS. GOOD.
Butter baked rice became a BIG thing in the 60’s & 70’s. Several recipes like this went viral during the Covid pandemic when everyone was home cooking and trying old recipes.
This rice is so easy to make and it goes good with everything. If I need a little extra something for a side dish, I will make this. It does take a while to bake, but I just get it going right away and then take my time preparing the rest of the meal while the rice is baking.
Begin by boiling water and salt. Remove from heat, pour in raw rice. Cover with a tight lid. Let it sit and soak for 30 minutes.
Rinse the soaked rice in a mesh strainer. Melt the butter in the pot used for soaking the rice, or a skillet. Add the minced garlic and slightly brown the garlic. Add the rice slowly so as not to splatter the melted butter. Stir over medium heat for a few minutes to toast the rice.
Scrap the rice to a 9×13 baking dish and pour the chicken broth over the rice. I love to keep this Better Than Bouillon Chicken Soup Base on hand. Add it to hot water and it is good to go. I use it often, especially in soups and casseroles.
Cover tight with aluminum foil and carefully slide into the oven. Bake 325 degrees for 1 hour and 20 minutes, unless you are halving the recipe. Cook for 45 minutes. See recipe notes.
Remove the foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes or until the liquid has cooked out.
Serve on the side of your chosen entree. We especially love this salmon for some reason. I made it one with salmon and now my kids don’t want to eat salmon without this rice.
Good pairings for this Side Dish –
- Shrimp Stuffed Salmon
- Salmon in Phyllo with Dill Sauce
- Chicken Gloria
- Sweet & Sour Chicken
- Crockpot Beef Stroganoff
- Rosemary Pork Loin
- Oven Roasted Chicken Breast
Buttery Baked Rice
Equipment
- Medium sized pot with fitted lid
- 9×13 baking dish
- Medium-large skillet
- wire mesh strainer
- Aluminum Foil
Ingredients
Soaking Solution
- 4 tsp salt
- 4 cups water
Baking Prep
- 2 cups long grain rice (we use Basmati)
- ½ cup butter (1 stick)
- 2 tsp minced garlic 2 cloves
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 3½ cups chicken broth
Instructions
- Boil 4 cups of water with 4 teaspoons of salt. Rinse 2 cups of long grain rice.
- Bring the water to a boil and let boil for a minute or two. Remove the pot from the heat, turn the heat off. Stir in the rice. Place a fitted lid on the pot and let it sit and soak for 30 minutes.
- While the rice is soaking (near the end of the 30 minutes) melt the butter with minced garlic in a large skillet.
- Preheat the oven to 325 ℉.
- Rince the soaked rice in a mesh strainer and then add rice to the melted butter. Stir and lightly toast over medium heat for a couple minutes.
- Use a rubber spatula to scrape the rice into a 9×13 baking dish. Pour the chicken broth over the rice in the baking dish. Cover the top with aluminum foil, pinching down around the edges to close it tight.
- Carefully move to oven and gently slide it in. Bake for about 1 hour and 20 minutes or 80 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes.
- Use a spoon to scoop through the center. If there is still liquid in the bottom place back in the oven for 5 minutes increments until the rice is dry. Fluff with a fork and garnish with parsley if you wish.
Notes
- 2 tsps. salt and 2 cups of water.
- 1 cup long grain rice
- 1/3 cup butter
- 1 tsp garlic
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 3/4 cups chicken broth