Have lemon and parsley rice as a side or as the base of a saucy main. It’s a healthy dish that will add a delightful freshness to any meal.
I am a fan of rice but to be frank, I can’t eat it plain ALL the time. There are many simple ways to spice it up a little, and this fresh take also adds a ton of Vitamix C while we’re at it.
For a long time, parsley was really not my thing. I just couldn’t get over the texture and strong flavour. Once I started cooking and learned how to use it to my liking I have not looked back.
My approach is to always finely chop the parsley leaves and I leave the stems out. Let me be clear that this is not how I recommend you use it. This is just what I need to do to make it enjoyable for me. I think my picky eater also appreciates this approach.
Preparing Lemon and Parsley Rice
Ingredients
Rice: Any rice of your liking will do. If you use a more falvourful rice like wild rice you may want to add more parsley. Have a taste and see if there is enough of the parsley and lemon flavours and adjust as you see fit.
Parsley: Parsley is a bright green herb that is jam-packed with vitamin C. Use either flatleaf parsley or curly parsley in this dish. Some people say that flat-leaf parsley has a stronger flavour but I haven’t noticed this to be prominent.
Lemon: Lemon is a fruit that is quite sour and very fresh. We recommend half a lemon here however if your lemons are small feel free to use a whole one.
Butter: I use unsalted butter as a rule of thumb. If you use salted butter skip the salt altogether. Butter adds some fat to this dish making the dish less dry.
How to Make Lemon and Parsley Rice
A very simple preparation with no extra cooking than if you were just to make plain rice.
Start by cooking the rice. If you are using a microwave, place the rice, water, and salt into a microwave-safe dish and cover with a lid. Set the microwave time for 20 minutes and power level to 60%.
TIP for setting the power level on a microwave: Most microwaves have either a ‘power’ or ‘power level’ button. The power level will be entered in either single digits – 6 = 60% – or double digits – 60 = 60%. If you haven’t used this feature before a quick internet search will yield videos for your specific microwave oven.
If you are cooking the rice on the stovetop, pour the water, rice, and salt into a pot. Set it to medium and cook for roughly 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
CAUTION: Keep an eye out to make sure that the rice doesn’t burn. You want to cook it just until all the water is absorbed, which may be less than
the estimated 15 minutes.While the rice cooks, wash and chop the parsley. As I mentioned above I prefer the parsley finely chopped and I also remove all of the stems. With that said, you chop it to your liking.
Next, wash and juice one lemon. I use a handy lemon juicer. If you don’t have one, you can definitely hand squeeze the lemon.
TIP on how to juice a lemon by hand: Place the lemon on its side and using some pressure roll it back and forth a few time on the counter under your palm. This will help release the juices. Cut the lemon in half. If you have a small sieve, juice the lemon over the sieve into your dish. Alternatively, juice it into a separate bowl so that you can remove the seeds before adding it to your food.
Once the rice is cooked, using either method, add the lemon juice, butter, and chopped parsley. Stir to combine well and serve.
Substitutions
Rice: As mentioned above, you can use any type of rice for this dish. You can also skip the rice altogether. Try this dish with Quinoa or couscous and you’ll love just how versatile this recipe is.
Lemon: You can definitely use lime instead of lemon here however it changes the flavour profile of the dish greatly. Lime is more tart and can easily overpower your main dish. Err on the side of caution and add half the quantity if using lime and add more as you taste test. If you do use lime, I recommend that you also replace the parsley with cilantro.
Butter: I do not recommend substituting the butter. If you don’t have any, just skip it altogether. It’s not going to negatively impact the overall dish.
Parsley: You can use any type of parsley with this dish. If you only have cilantro, I recommend that you switch the lemon for lime as well. But note that at this point you have made a completely different dish. Not always a bad thing!
Serving Lemon and Parsley Rice
Lemon and Parsley rice makes a great side to most main dishes like beer can chicken or meatballs in a mushroom sauce.
It works great as a bed for saucy dishes as well just makes sure the flavour profiles match. I love this dish with our dijon chicken because the lemon and Dijon mustard work really well together.
Lemon and Parsley Rice Recipe
Equipment
- Juicer (optional)
Ingredients
- 1 cup rice
- 2 cups of water
- 1 tbsp butter optional
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 lemon
Instructions
Microwave Instructions:
- Add the rice, salt and water to a microwave safe dish with a lid. Stir to combine.
- Place the dish in the microwave. Set the time to 20 minutes and the power level to 60%.
- While the rice cooks, juice half a lemon and wash and chop the parsley.
- Once the rice is cooked let sit for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
- Add the lemon juice and parsley and mix. Cover with the lid until ready to serve.
Stovetop Instructions:
- Add the rice, salt and water to a pot. Stir to combine.
- Cook until the rice absorbs all the liquid (approx. 15 minutes) or per the package instructions. Stir constantly to prevent burning.
- While the rice cooks, juice half a lemon and wash and chop the parsley.
- Once cooked, remove the pot from the heat and let sit covered for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
- Add the lemon juice and parsley and mix. Cover with lid until ready to serve.
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