Rice Cooker Saffron Rice

Rice cooker saffron rice is my little secret for spending NO TIME on a side dish that feels extra-fancy. With no additional prep time and just a couple extra ingredients, you can transform your plain white rice into an elegant and fragrant side dish! 

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In general, I don’t stock up on single-function appliances, but my rice cooker is a life saver. My rice comes out perfectly cooked every time, and I never have to worry about setting the burner to the perfect temperature and leaving it in for the right amount of time to cook but not burn the rice.

I just throw in my ingredients, hit the “cook” button, and boom. Done.

But just because it’s easy doesn’t mean it has to be boring.

You can do almost anything to your rice as it cooks and make it more interesting – substituting some or all of the water for broth or tomato sauce, or even adding a crushed-up bouillon cube. Salting the water is a must, and adding spices also goes a long way to a more flavorful side dish.

This rice cooker saffron rice has recently become one of my new favorite go-to side dishes. It doesn’t take any longer to prepare than plain white rice cooker rice, and it tastes about a million times more interesting.

You just make your rice — I used regular long-grain white rice, but it would be amazing with jasmine or basmati rice too — but substitute out some of the water for chicken broth and lemon juice. Add a big pinch of salt, a generous pinch of saffron threads, and a little butter, and you’re good to go.

If you don’t typically use a rice cooker, use the same ingredients and cook as you’d normally cook your rice in a saucepan.

You don’t need to spend a lot of money to get a great rice cooker if you don’t have one already. I have this super-cheap one and it’s never failed me in years. Perfect rice every time.

I love the light, slightly floral aroma of the saffron, and I find this rice cooker saffron rice to be the perfect accompaniment to salmon or some baked bone-in chicken.

A jar of saffron threads is a bit of an initial investment. I did have a little sticker shock at the $15 price tag I paid — but a little goes a long way and it’s been worth every penny for me to be able to add that one-of-a-kind flavor to rice, paella, pasta, and tomato sauces.

I got my saffron at our regular grocery store, but if your grocery store doesn’t carry it, you can order the same kind I have from Amazon. Be wary of saffron that is too cheap, because they frequently use filler material and you won’t get the same quality of flavor.

Next up for my jar of saffron? I want to recreate an amazing saffron-infused gelato I had in San Gimignano, Italy! Would you try it?

Dressing up your rice cooker saffron rice

The recipe below is for the ultimate lazy rice cooker saffron rice, where you literally just throw it all in and press the button, but if you have a few extra minutes and don’t mind an extra dish or two, you can make it even more flavorful with one or both of these extra steps.

  • Crush your saffron threads with a mortar and pestle, and then pour a small amount of very hot water over them. Let it soak for about 10 minutes until the water is a rich golden color. Crushing and infusing the spice first releases extra flavor so you get more bang out of the buck you spent on your saffron! Mix the saffron water into the ingredients before cooking your rice, and add an additional pinch of un-crushed saffron threads on top.
    Feeling EXTRA fancy? Make a little aluminum foil envelope containing your saffron threads and toast the envelope in a pan before crushing and soaking the threads. Toasting them releases even more flavor!
  • Dice half an onion and sauté in olive oil first, then add the cooked onion to your rice before you cook it. You can slightly undercook the onion if you’d like, as it will continue to cook along with the rice.

And that’s it! Go forth, dress up that boring white rice, and enjoy this no-fuss, no-prep side dish that will make you feel extra fancy.

For an easy meal, make it with:

Rice cooker saffron rice is my little secret for spending NO TIME on a side dish that feels extra-fancy. With no additional prep time and just a couple extra ingredients, you can transform your plain white rice into an elegant and fragrant side dish!
4.25 from 16 votes

Rice Cooker Saffron Rice

Easy rice cooker rice doesn’t have to be boring! With no additional prep time and just a couple extra ingredients, you can transform your plain white rice into an elegant and fragrant side dish!
Print Recipe Save Recipe
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Yield: 6 cups
Calories: 206kcal
Prep Time:5 minutes
Cook Time:25 minutes
Total Time:30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups uncooked rice use long-grain, basmati, or jasmine
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 1 to 1-1/4 cups water see recipe note
  • Generous pinch saffron threads
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • Large pinch kosher salt to taste

Instructions

  • Add all ingredients to a 6-cup or larger rice cooker and stir. Hit the cook button and do nothing until it’s finished. 
  • Fluff with a fork and mix to make sure saffron threads are evenly distributed throughout the rice before serving.

Notes

If you don’t have a rice cooker, combine all ingredients and cook the rice as you would normally cook it on the stovetop. 
Add all ingredients to the pot including the rice, bring to a boil, reduce to the lowest heat possible, cover, and cook about 10-15 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed.
Note about water: Long-grain rice suggests a rice-to-water ratio of 1:2 while jasmine and basmati rice suggest a ratio of 1:1.5. Use 1 cup water if using jasmine or basmati rice but 1-1/4 cups if using long-grain rice. 
Tried this recipe?Mention @pinchmeimeating or tag #pinchmeimeating on Instagram!

Nutrition

Calories: 206kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 10mg | Sodium: 180mg | Potassium: 96mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 118IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 17mg | Iron: 1mg

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9 Comments

  1. 3 stars
    The flavor was good, but the rice was very mushy. It seemed like a lot of liquid to me, but I wanted to follow the recipe exactly. Will try again with a lot less liquid!

    1. Hi Lindsay, so sorry your rice was mushy! What kind of rice did you use? I am adding a recipe note to reduce the amount of liquid when using jasmine or basmati rice, since the ratio of liquid to rice is a little less for those than when using long grain rice. Thanks for bringing this to my attention!

    1. Hi Paige, what kind of rice did you use? a 1:2 or 1:1.5 ratio of uncooked rice to liquid is pretty standard, so I’m not sure why your rice turned out mushy, since the ratio in this recipe is just over 1:1.5. If you’re not sure how much liquid to use for your particular variety of rice, you can check the general instructions on the bag and adjust the amount of water in this recipe as needed.

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