Stick Of Butter Rice - Cookies and Cups

By: Shelly
Posted: Jun 10, 2024

This delicious one pan Stick of Butter Rice recipe is the perfect side dish for any meal. Fluffy, flavor-packed rice with crispy, buttery edges. All you need is a stick of butter and a few simple ingredients.

Stick of butter rice baked in a glass baking dish fluffed with 2 forks

Why You’ll Love One Pan Stick of Butter Rice

This easy rice recipe is honestly one of the best side dish recipes that my mom used to make and that I continue to make for my family. Everyone loves it so much!

Easy Prep and Simple Ingredients! It literally only takes you 5 minutes to prep this baked rice recipe. It’s all made in one pan with no chopping or dicing! It’s made with 4 simple pantry ingredients that you might even have on-hand right now!
Delicious! Most importantly this rice is delicious. I’m not talking, it’s a side dish people take as an obligation…I’m talking a side dish that never has any leftovers. The perfectly cooked rice with the crispy, buttery edges keeps you coming back for more!
Adaptable! The great thing about this rice recipe is that it’s absolutely delicious as-is (which is how I make it most often) but is TOTALLY open to adaptability. You can even add a protein and make it a complete meal. Make sure to scroll down to my “Variations” section for some ideas.

From above a picture of of sliced butter, a box of beef broth, onion soup mix, and white rice in a measuring cup.

Ingredients / What You’ll Need

This rice only requires 4 simple ingredients, which makes it fantastic to make on busy nights. Make sure to scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of the post for the full recipe!

Rice. You can use any long grain white rice for this recipe, just don’t use Instant Rice. I usually use either Jasmine or Basmati.
Butter. I use salted butter in this recipe. If you are watching your sodium intake you can use unsalted.
Beef Broth. This recipe calls for UNSALTED Beef broth. The dry onion soup mix that you add has enough sodium that you don’t need to add more, and the beef broth is for added flavor. You can also use water in place of beef broth if you don’t have unsalted. You CAN use a low-sodium beef broth without it being “too much” if you don’t mind the extra salt.
Onion Soup Mix. You will find this down the soup aisle usually. It is the packets that you use for dips and soups. If you’re in a pinch and don’t have the dry soup mix you can use a regular beef broth (not unsalted) or Beef Consomme and add in some onion powder or dehydrated onions.

Can You Use Brown Rice?

Yes you can! Read the instructions on your box to ensure you don’t need to add more liquid, but brown rice will work perfectly for this recipe if that’s what you prefer.

Variations

This is a flavorful rice recipe on its own, but of course it can be added to! Here are a few ideas to make this a more robust dish:

Caramelized Onions. Simply slice up an onion and cook it in 2 tablespoons of butter on medium-low heat until the onions are golden and soft. Add this into the rice before baking!
Mushrooms. You can use fresh mushrooms, but for ease I like to buy a can of sliced mushrooms and stir those right in before baking!
Cooked meat! You can brown up some ground turkey or ground beef and stir that in when the rice is cooked. You can also shread a rotisserie chicken and add that in as well! You can cube up raw chicken in with the rice as well, but this isn’t my favorite way to prepare it because the chicken releases moisture when it’s cooking and can change the texture. The beauty of this rice recipe is the buttery, crispy edges and the perfectly cooked rice, so I don’t like to alter the recipe too much.
Seasoning! Add a few sprigs of rosemary or thyme to the rice mixture as it cooks to infuse the rice with flavor!

Serving A Crowd, Can I Double The Recipe?

Yes, you can easily double this recipe, and as a matter of fact, I do most of the time! Just double the ingredients and bake in a 9×13 baking dish.

Baked rice in a casserole dish being fluffed with 2 forks.

Storing and Freezing

You can store this baked rice in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat it in the microwave or oven. To freeze baked right, place it in an airtight container and freeze for up to 2 months. To bake, cover the dish with foil and bake at 350°F for 25 – 30 minutes from frozen.

What To Serve With Stick Of Butter Rice

This rice dish is the perfect side to most protein dinners. Here are a few ideas that work really well with a side of rice:

Description

This easy rice recipe is a family favorite, and more times than not I double the recipe, which works perfectly. There is never any left at the end of the dinner!

1 cup long grained white rice
2 cups water (or no sodium beef broth)
1 (1- ounce) packet onion soup mix
1 stick butter (1/2 cup), sliced into 12 “pats”

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Coat an 8 x 8- inch (or 11 x 7- inch) baking pan with nonstick spray.
Add in the rice, water, and onion soup mix into the pan and stir to combine.
Place the sliced butter on top of the mixture in the pan and cover tightly with aluminum foil.
Bake for 30 minutes, covered. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 30 minutes. *see note
Fluff rice with a fork and serve warm.

Notes

You can use any type of white rice you prefer, just don’t use Instant Rice! I usually use either Basmati or Jasmine rice.

To double the recipe, bake in a 9 x 13- inch pan.

Cooking note: Removing the foil halfway through baking gives the rice a crispy top. If you don’t prefer this, leave the foil on for the entire cooking process.

Add in ideas: a can of sliced mushrooms, sprigs of rosemary or thyme, a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce.

To double this recipe use a 9×13 baking dish.