Turkish Rice Recipe: Easy & Homemade Pilaf
How to make Turkish rice: butter-coated rice simmered in hot stock until tender, rested 5 minutes, then fluffed. The everyday pilaf served across Turkey.
Turkish rice, or pilaf, is the everyday side dish that goes with almost everything on a Turkish table. You coat washed rice in butter, simmer it in hot stock until the liquid is absorbed, then rest it off the heat before fluffing and serving.
Pilaf is the side dish you will see beside stews, beans, and grilled meat all over Turkey. The technique is simple, but two steps make the difference between sticky rice and separate, tender grains: coating the rice in butter before any liquid goes in, and resting the pan off the heat at the end.
Pilaf pairs naturally with the slow-cooked dishes Turkish cooks make at home, like white bean stew, and it sits at the center of so many meals that it is part of the wider story of Turkish cuisine. For more to cook at home, browse the full Turkish recipes collection.
If you would rather taste Turkish home cooking the way locals eat it, our Taste of Two Continents food tour runs across both sides of Istanbul, from a Spice Market breakfast to a ferry across the Bosphorus and the food stalls of Kadıköy.
Turkish rice recipe
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
- 4 tablespoons unsalted clarified butter
- 1 ½ cups rice, washed, soaked, and drained
- 2 ½ cups hot chicken stock or water
- Salt and black pepper
Method:
- Heat the butter in a heavy saucepan set over medium heat. Add the rice and stir with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes, until the rice is coated with butter. Pour in the chicken stock and season with salt and pepper. Bring the liquid to a boil, then lower the heat, cover the saucepan, and cook gently for about 15 minutes, until the rice has absorbed all the liquid.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat, and let the pilaf stand, covered, for 5 minutes; then stir the rice and serve.
