Cheesy rice is a comforting, creamy side dish that's easy to pair with your favorite main course. With just a handful of simple ingredients, you can whip up a batch of cheesy rice on the stovetop today.
Made exactly as directed. Delicious. It has joined the meal rotation! ★★★★★ -AJ
Recipe summary
Flavor: Cheesy and mild. Onions sauteed in butter, chicken broth, and paprika add savory flavor.
Simple ingredients. Made with pantry staples like rice, butter, onion, broth, milk, and cheese.
One pan. Comes together in a single pan on the stovetop in less than 30 minutes.
Variations: Add shredded chicken, chopped broccoli florets, or frozen peas (more ideas below!).
Serve with: Juicy Oven Roasted Chicken Breasts or Turkey Veggie Meatballs
Similar to: Garlic Parmesan Rice and Sesame Rice
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Ingredients and substitutions
- Butter - Unsalted butter can be substituted with salted butter. You'll want to cut the listed salt in half. I recommend using butter for best flavor, but it can be substituted with olive oil if needed.
- Onion - Adds flavor to the rice. I do not recommend omitting it.
- Rice - Any long grain white rice works well in this recipe. I do not recommend using instant rice. If using brown rice as a substitute, know that it will take longer to cook than the times listed in the recipe card.
- Broth - Chicken broth or vegetable broth adds flavor and seasoning to your rice. If using low sodium broth, you may want to add extra salt or fresh herbs to your rice to make up for the lost flavor.
- Milk - Whole milk makes your rice creamy and rich. Lower fat milks will work, but note that your rice will turn out less creamy.
- Cheese - Any freshly, grated, melty cheese works in this recipe. I used sharp cheddar cheese, but monterey jack, gruyere, or pepper jack cheese would work well. I highly recommend grating your cheese fresh from a block for a creamy, smooth texture. Pre-grated cheeses are often coated in anti-clumping powders that add a grainy texture when melted.
- Seasoning - Paprika, salt, and pepper add mild, savory flavor to the rice.
How to make cheesy rice
- Add butter to a pot and sauté onions.
- Add rice, broth, milk, and seasoning. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, and cover.
- Cook until most of the liquid is absorbed and rice is tender.
- Remove from heat and add cheese, gently stirring until melted.
Tips and tricks
Rinse your rice - Before beginning, rinse your rice to remove surface starches. This helps the rice cook up fluffy with individual grains. Otherwise, rice can turn out sticky or gummy.
Simmering rice - Once your ingredients have been added and liquid is simmering, cover securely with a lid and reduce the heat to very low/almost off. As long as the lid is secure, there's no need to leave your rice over high heat. This can cause excess steam to escape and rice to turn out dry or burned to the bottom of the pan.
Rice looking dry? - Add a splash of water, stir gently, and cover to continue cooking.
Rice sticking to the bottom of the pan? - Add a splash of water, stir gently, and reduce the heat slightly.
Stir sparingly - Stirring rice too much can cause it to stick together and get mushy.
Don't lift the lid too often - This lets out steam and heat, drying out the rice and elongating the cooking process.
Variations
- Add protein: Add shredded rotisserie chicken, cooked kielbasa, or cooked and crumbled ground meat for a complete meal.
- Add cooked veggies: Stir in steamed broccoli florets, peas, or spinach with the cheese.
- Add raw veggies: Add chopped broccoli florets or frozen peas halfway through cooking and stir to incorporate into the rice.
- Add seasonings: Add your favorite seasoning blend, like taco seasoning, Cajun seasoning, or a splash of hot sauce for added flavor.
Storage
Leftover cheesy rice will keep for 3-4 days in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, but with changes to the recipe. Brown rice takes about 45 minutes to cook through, and you may need to add a splash of additional water partway through cooking. I've included instructions for brown rice in the recipe card below.
White rice is rice that has been processed to remove the hull, bran, and germ. Brown rice is rice that has been processed to only remove the hull.
What does all of that mean when it comes to cooking? Brown rice takes longer to cook because the outer bran is intact. Since the outer bran is removed on white rice, it easily soaks up water and cooks faster.
To rinse rice, place your measured dry rice into a fine mesh sieve and hold under running water, agitating with your hands until the water runs clear. You can also pour rice into a mixing bowl, cover with water, and agitate with your hands. Rinse cloudy water out and repeat until water runs clear. This process should only take a few minutes.
A few of my favorite mains include:
- Oven baked ribs
- Baked chicken drumsticks
- Parmesan crusted chicken tenders
- Panko crusted salmon
- Grilled chicken tenders
Readers have repeatedly had dry rice issues with this recipe and I haven't been able to replicate it. This recipe calls for 1 cup of white rice and 2 cups (16 ounces) of liquid, which is the proper 2:1 ratio for cooking white rice. White rice takes about 18-20 minutes to cook through, which is what the recipe calls for. A few thoughts on this:
- Your heat is too high.
- Steam is escaping from an unsecured lid, which dries out your rice.
- You are lifting the lid repeatedly to check on your rice, which dries it out and increases cooking time.
- You're not using regular long grain white rice. Brown rice takes more than twice the time to cook.
- You're using dry measuring cups to measure liquid instead of using liquid measuring cups. Maybe not quite enough liquid is making it into the pan when measuring with dry measuring cups.
Recommended
📖 Recipe
Cheesy Rice
Ingredients
- 1 cup long grain white rice, not instant or brown (see note below)*
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ½ small onion, small diced
- 8 ounces chicken broth
- 8 ounces whole milk
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated
Instructions
- Add your rice to a fine mesh sieve and rinse to remove surface starches. This helps the rice cook up fluffy with individual grains. Otherwise, rice can turn out sticky or gummy.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add onion and cook until it begins to lightly brown around the edges, about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add rice, chicken broth, milk, paprika, salt, and pepper to pan, stirring to combine. Bring to a simmer, cover, and reduce heat to low (almost off).
- Cook for about 18 to 20 minutes, or until rice is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed. Resist the urge to lift the lid repeatedly during the cooking process (this can elongate cooking time and dry out the rice by releasing steam).
- Remove from heat. Add shredded cheese. Gently stir and fluff rice with a fork. Serve warm.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- Cooking brown rice: *If you'd like to substitute with brown rice, it will take significantly longer to cook - up to 45 minutes instead of the listed 18-20 minutes. Consult your rice's package directions for best results. You may also need to add an additional splash of water partway through cooking if it begins to look dry.
- Liquid/rice ratio: White rice calls for a 2:1 ratio of liquid to rice. This recipe calls for 2 cups of liquid for 1 cup of white rice. Remember to keep your heat LOW and resist the urge to lift the lid repeatedly. If the pan is looking dry, turn the heat down even more and add ¼ cup of water.
- Storage: Leftovers will keep for 3-4 days in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator.
Om. This is so good. Love it! Thank you for the recipe.
Used parboiled long grain rice, did not use onion due to Crohn's Disease, and used smoked paprika instead of regular paprika. It came out EXCELLENT.
Made exactly as directed. Delicious. Has joined the meal rotation!
I toasted my rice a bit after I cooked the onion a bit. I added some finely diced jalapeño I had in the freezer. Delicious. Will make again.
The recipe was o.k. but I added alittle more salt and alittle salsa to give it a better taste.Beware it did stick to bottom of pan bad and I cook rice alot,, other than this it was good. From Regina
Hi Regina, I go over this in the post, but it sounds like your heat may have been a little high if the rice is sticking to the bottom of the pan. I recommend adding a splash of water, stirring to combine, and reducing the heat slightly if this is happening.
Can I double this recipe and have the same results ?
Yes
Can anyone tell me if this is freezer friendly for the leftovers? Thanks for the help!
I haven't tried freezing this recipe so can't say for sure. Sometimes cheesy recipes can separate or get grainy when thawing, but cooked rice on its own freezes well. If you give it a try, let us know how it goes!
Double the salt and add a splash of heavy cream! Other than that, great recipe
Ok so I made this recipe with some changes
Instead of milk I used heavy whipping cream, didn’t have time to chop onion so I used onion powder,
I brought the broth and whipping cream to a boil and used minute rice ( I was pinched for time) added butter and cheese last and it turned out delicious !!!!
Simple and delicious. Used smoked paprika because I didn’t have the regular paprika. Really tasty.
Me too. I think the smoked paprika is the secret ingredient!
Delicious and easy to make.
Thanks Pat!
I toasted the rice for a few minutes and added cooked diced chicken with the cheese at the end. The rice cooked perfectly and was so tasty.
Hi Renee, toasting the rice sounds like a great addition. Glad to hear you enjoyed it!
For those having issues - I've updated the recipe card to separate the steps further and make them easier to read. The recipe includes the proper ratio of liquid to rice (a 2:1 ratio) and the proper cooking time for white rice, so there's no reason that it would be undercooked or dry when following the recipe.
After your ingredients are added and liquid has come to a simmer, cover with a lid and reduce the heat to VERY LOW/ALMOST OFF. The rice doesn't need to continually boil over hot heat - this can cause excess steam to slip out and dry out your rice. Make sure your lid is secure and steam isn't seeping out, and resist the urge to lift the lid repeatedly during the cooking process. I hope this helps!
If you're leaving a review, please let me know the exact rice you're using when it doesn't turn out (I use generic long grain white rice or jasmine rice in my cooking). If there's a theme, I can try to help by doing more testing or updating the recipe accordingly. I can't help when details aren't left in the reviews. Thank you!
Followed directions exactly as told, had all the proper ingredients.
When I checked the rice at the end, all the liquid had evaporated, not the rice wasn’t close to done - not even halfway.
Had to turn up heat to medium, add another 4 oz milk/broth and give it another 10 minutes
Hi Katie, what exact type of rice were you cooking with? The recipe contains 16 ounces (2 cups) of liquid, the amount of liquid needed to cook 1 cup of white rice. It's strange that it needed so much extra liquid and the rice needed another 10 minutes. White rice cooked for almost 30 minutes should have a very mushy, sticky texture.
I added everything as told and after 20 minutes rice was still not tender and all liquid was absorbed:/
Hi bree, what type of rice did you use for the recipe? White rice takes about 18-20 minutes to cook, while brown rice can take up to 45 minutes to cook through and may need additional liquid. Lifting the lid too often during the cooking process and/or leaving the heat too high can cause the liquid to evaporate more quickly and require more liquid to be added to properly hydrate the rice (I've added to the recipe directions to explain this better). If your rice looks dry before it's cooked through, I'd recommend adding up to 1/4 cup of water to the pan and giving it a gentle stir before returning the lid and cooking for a few more minutes.
Not great. Needed to spice it up with a lot more seasonings to save it
Hi Heather, did you use a low sodium broth by chance? Regular broth adds a significant amount of flavor, so if you've used low or no sodium broth, I recommend adding extra seasoning.
Would it be possible to make this in a rice cooker?
I haven't tried this in a rice cooker so I can't say for sure. I had a reader make a similar recipe, parmesan rice (https://thetoastykitchen.com/garlic-parmesan-rice/), in a rice cooker and she said it didn't turn out quite as creamy as it could have on the stove top.
Recipe doesn’t say when to add milk, wayyy too little chicken broth to fully cook the rice. Was still raw with white rice after 20 min of cooking.
Hi Alyssa, step 3 states to add the milk along with the broth and seasoning. If the rice was cooked without the milk then yes, there was too little liquid in the pan to properly cook the rice. 1 cup of rice needs 2 cups of liquid (the broth and milk combined equal 2 cups) to cook through.
If I added some chopped broccoli how much more milk and broth would you suggest!
Hi Mark, raw broccoli can be added about halfway through cooking or cooked broccoli can be stirred in after cooking. Either way, no need to add extra liquid. Let us know how it turns out!
Can I add kielbasa or andouille sausage?
Yes, those sound like great additions!