Saffron Rice

This Saffron Rice is a simple side dish that’s fragrant and full of flavor. It’s made in the style of a Rice Pilaf and has fluffy, separate grains. This dish pairs nicely with just about any entree, but especially hearty dishes like Braised Lamb Shanks and Slow Cooker Short Ribs.

Once you taste how delicious this saffron rice is, it may become one the regular side dishes in your meal rotation. The aroma from the saffron is beyond heavenly, and is an extraordinary flavor for this humble grain.

I didn’t grow up eating much saffron, but I fell in love with it while I was living in Spain. Spain is where most of the world’s saffron is grown.

Saffron is most often characterized by how expensive it is, probably because it’s a fun fact to be the world’s most expensive spice by weight. But in my opinion this is a disservice to saffron’s reputation, because cooking with it is not actually expensive. Good quality saffron is incredibly potent and you only use very small amounts at a time. 

A little goes a long way, both for flavor and for giving the dish a soft yellow color. It’s such a great ingredient, and takes well to virtually all meats, but especially Chicken Saltimbocca and Leg of Lamb.

Step by Step Overview:

This dish is made in the style of a Pilaf, cooked right on the stove top. The rice is rinsed, then toasted in softened onion and saffron, then simmered in chicken stock, covered with a lid, until tender.

Because toasting the grains is important for giving us the right texture, I do not recommend making this in a rice cooker.

Prep the Rice

Start by rinsing the basmati rice thoroughly under running water for two minutes:

This is a fundamental I learned long ago from The Science of Good Cooking (affiliate). Rinsing, not soaking, makes for the best texture. This helps remove excess starch, which will give us more separate and fluffy grains later on.

Prep the Aromatics

Place some chopped onion and cooking fat in a nonstick skillet or large saucepan, then crumble a pinch of saffron threads by rubbing between your fingers. You only need 1/4 teaspoon here.

For the cooking fat, butter has the best flavor, but you may also use ghee, olive oil, or any other cooking fat you prefer.

Cook all of this together over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until the onion has softened:

Toast the Rice

Increase the stove setting to medium-high heat, then add the rinsed rice to the skillet.

Stir it all around for about 3 minutes, stirring frequently with a spatula or wooden spoon, which should cook away the moisture and begin to turn the grains opaque.

Add Chicken Stock

Add chicken stock to the pan, and increase the heat to high.

You may also use chicken broth, or even vegetable stock or vegetable broth.

Broths and stocks are slightly different, in that broths are made more with the meat and stocks more with the bones, but either option will work here.

Wait for the chicken stock to come to a boil, about a minute or two, then reduce the heat to medium low so the chicken stock is at a simmer. Cover the pan with a lid.

Cook the Saffron Rice!

Let the rice cook, covered with the lid, for a cooking time of about 18-20 minutes.

By the end, the liquid should be fully absorbed, and the grains fluffy, tender, and beautifully golden. No yellow food coloring required!

Stir everything well with a spatula, then replace the lid and let sit off the heat for 10 more minutes in the pan.

This extra bit of time with the residual heat will give you the most fluffy rice grains.

I like to serve the saffron rice pilaf in a white dish so the color of the yellow rice really pops.

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