Easy Rice Pilaf with Peas – A Rice Pilaf with Vegetables Recipe

Easy Rice Pilaf with Peas is an simple side dish to complement your favorite dinner entrees. The recipe consists of five simple ingredients – white rice, broth, butter, onions and peas.  This Rice Pilaf with Vegetables recipe is an easy way to add some vegetables to your kids’ diet without complaints.

Easy Rice Pilaf with Green Peas Recipe

As a mom, I am always on a mission to find recipes that encourage my kids to eat vegetables – without a fight, without complaining, without having to plead and bargain.  Well as luck will have it, I stumbled upon this easy rice pilaf recipe in my tried and true Savory Samplings cookbook. It’s the perfect side dish.

Some of my favorite recipes have come from this same vintage cookbook, including my family’s absolute favorite Fresh Broccoli Casserole with 4 Ingredients.

This kid-friendly rice side dish is one that I go to often.  My oldest goes on and on about how much she loves it every time I make it, and she’s not a vegetable loving kid.  It’s almost like she forgets there are peas in the rice pilaf because she’s so focused on how flavorful and fluffy the rice is.

Simple Rice Pilaf

Many of these old-fashioned recipes have few ingredients that are pantry staples, and that is exactly why I fell in love with Easy Rice Pilaf with Green Peas.

This simple recipe only has 5 ingredients – white rice, onions, butter, chicken broth, green peas and water (we are calling this a freebie ingredient). It just so happens that I almost always have all of these on hand.

What is rice pilaf?

It typically is a rice that is cooked in a seasoned broth. Oftentimes, it is served as a vegetable rice pilaf which is what we do for this particular recipe. This recipe calls for green peas, but it is not uncommon to see it with carrots, mushrooms or other vegetables.

What goes with rice pilaf?

Rice pilaf is a great side dish alongside any entrée.  It’s a quick side dish if you’re firing up the grill, and it also complements old fashioned saucy casseroles too. Here’s our top five meals to serve with rice pilaf.

1. Chicken Crescent Bake,
2. Sheet Pan Ranch Chicken
3. Baked Cranberry Pork Chops
4. Grilled Pork Shoulder Steak
5. Old Fashioned Ham Balls

What to add to rice pilaf?

A basic rice pilaf includes white rice cooked in seasoned broth.  You can tweak the basic recipe by adding your favorite seasonings or vegetables.  Here are some easy additions to rice pilaf.

1. Sauté mushrooms, celery, onions, leeks, zucchini and/or carrots.
2. Swap beef broth or vegetable broth for chicken broth.
3. Season broth with smoked paprika, bay leaf, dried thyme, basil or parsley.
4. Add in raisins, currants or dried apricots and sliced almonds or pine nuts for a Middle Eastern-inspired rice pilaf.
5. Stir in fresh Parmesan cheese.
6. Add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
7. Stir in cooked peas before serving.
8. Top with fresh, chopped herbs before serving.

How to Make Vegetable Rice Pilaf

Step by Step Instructions

1. Heat butter in a large skillet; cook onions.
2. Add uncooked rice, and sauté for 5 minutes.
3. Turn down heat, and add broth; cover and cook for 25 minutes.
4. Add additional butter and cooked peas and stir.

Storage Instructions

Let leftovers cool completely. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.

For the full ingredient amounts and recipe steps for vegetable rice pilaf, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Rice Pilaf Ingredients

Long Grain White Rice (not instant)

Onions, diced

Butter

Chicken Broth

Green Peas

Recipe FAQs

• Be sure to use uncooked white rice for this recipe. Do NOT use the instant white rice.
• Only cook the onions until softened, not browned.
• During step two, you are only lightly toasting the rice in the butter and onion mixture; stir it frequently.
• The amount of peas in vegetable rice pilaf can be adjusted depending on what you have. I cooked my peas according to the package instructions in the microwave.
• I love how versatile this easy rice pilaf recipe is.  If you don’t love peas, swap in something else, or use up leftover vegetables that you already have cooked in the refrigerator.
• Rice casseroles are great side dishes.  French Onion Rice Casserole is another of our favorites!
• Check out our Amazon Store for our favorite pantry essentials, including white rice and broth!

What is the difference between rice and pilaf?

Rice is a grain commonly used as a staple food in many cultures, while pilaf is a method of cooking rice in seasoned broth. Pilaf can also refer to the resulting dish, which typically includes vegetables and other ingredients cooked with the rice.

Kid-Friendly Vegetable Dishes

Looking for some more ways to get your kids to eat vegetables. Try these:

• Sesame Broccoli
• Cheesy Cabbage Casserole
• Cheesy Squash Casserole
• Beef Fried Cauliflower Rice
• Baked Zucchini Fries from Served Up with Love

Linking up to Weekend Potluck.