Our Favorite Baked Cheesy Rice.
This baked cheesy rice is ridiculously easy and so delicious. It’s a crowd pleaser that goes with almost any main dish and is a neutral staple in my recipe box! Cheesy, easy and fabulous!
Otherwise known as, the side to go with everything!
I get it. This looks like a verrrrrry boring baking dish filled with rice.
But I promise it is not that. Well, okay. It is that.
But minus the boring! This is not plain old rice. Though there is nothing wrong with that. I have always loved plain old rice!
This is like plain old rice, but let’s make it a little fancy. But it can’t LOOK fancy, or the kids won’t eat it.
IYKYK…
If you’ve ever made the “stick of butter rice” before, this is sort of like that. Except I don’t use beef stock or canned soup and I don’t use an entire stick of butter.
This is more of a “bland” rice recipe, which is funny because it’s not bland at all. But it does look a little bland. The good news is that because it looks bland, the kids go crazy for it.
Like all the kids.
This is such a basic rice with a ridiculous amount of flavor and it can be served with ANYTHING!!
This is how I make it, and it’s kind of embarrassingly easy.
Rice + stock + grated cheese + butter
You basically dump everything in a baking dish. Then bake it for one hour.
The result is a fluffy, buttery white rice that has cheese mixed in – but not too much cheese. Just enough that it gives it a wonderful sharp flavor. It’s not melty with cheese pulls, but it’s so flavorful that it makes you wonder what’s in it.
Because there is no way that it’s just regular old rice.
Since the ingredients are combined in a dish, the cheese migrates to the top. This gives the top a nice, slightly cheese crust that is almost gold and sometimes crunch,
A bonus to this being “plainer” than the stick-of-butter rice? It allows you to serve it with more meals.
This is the perfect side dish for ANYTHING. Chicken, steak, seafood, tofu, beans – prepared any way. It can be the base for a rice bowl or served on the side. It’s incredible topped with a fried or poached egg.
Any dish that you’d serve with rice? This works. And it works in the best way possible because it has so much flavor!
I love that.
Our Favorite Baked Cheesy Rice
Our Favorite Baked Cheesy Rice
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups dry jasmine rice, rinsed
- 24 ounces chicken stock
- kosher salt and pepper
- 6 ounces sharp white cheddar cheese, freshly grated
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, thinly sliced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Spray a 9x9 inch baking dish (or a comparable size) with nonstick spray.
- Rinse the rice in a strainer until the water runs clear. Place the rice in the baking dish. Pour in the stock. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Sprinkle the cheese in and give it a quick stir.
- Add the butter slices all over the top of the rice. Cover the dish tightly with foil.
- Bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the foil. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes more, until the rice is fluffy and the top is slightly golden.
- Serve!
Did you make this recipe?
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I appreciate you so much!
Look at that cheesy crust.
21 Comments on “Our Favorite Baked Cheesy Rice.”
Would this work with “boil in bag” jasmine rice? Maybe less stock and lower cook time? Sounds delicious!
Okay – if this is a thing then where have I been?? It looks fantastic. When I have baked rice before I started with boiling stock or water. For this recipe, is the stock supposed to be hot or not? Have you used any other cheeses in this, like regular sharp cheddar?? I will start with regular sharp cheddar since that is what is in the frig.
nope, stock is just regular room temp! or cold would be fine too.
and any cheese should work! :)
Great – on the menu soon. Thanks!
Think I can halve this and bake in a loaf pan? Same cook time or reduce? TIA!
This looks fantastic!
Made this last night! I added some broccoli and upped the stock a little bit to account for that (used the whole 32 oz container) and added some garlic and onion powder. It was so good! This is SUCH a parent-friendly way of cooking the rice too as its so quick and easy. I accidentally forgot the butter, but found that was still creamy and unctuous. Next time if I do it with broccoli again (I probably will.. the broccoli was perfectly cooked), I will reduce the rice just so its a little more even with the broccoli. This is such an adaptable recipe, and I will definitely be making it again in the future!
oh i love the idea of the broccoli!!!
Imagine my surprise when visiting your page and lo and behold, the jasmine rice recipe I was searching for! Whipped it up with chicken and roasted sprouts tonight for dinner and the kids could not get enough of it. This recipe will go with just about anything and is very forgiving of my absentmindedness (I originally added 4 cups of stock, realized my mistake and skimmed about a cup off after it baked for 30 min, lol!!). Thanks for sharing!
Can you double this recipe? Would that go into a 9×13?
Made this to go with dinner last night and it was a hit all around! We love leftovers, so I doubled it the rice and stock (kept the same amount of butter and cheese) and cooked in a 9×13 casserole pan. Worked beautifully and I know it will be a staple going forward. Thanks!
PS already had leftovers with lunch and it was just as good as last night!
I cannot tell you how much my household needed this recipe. The toddler will not eat rice. Tonight that all changes (gets hopes up unreasonably)!
This is super fantastic!! I used regular long grain rice because that’s what I had, and it turned out perfect! My picky eater asked for thirds lol
Made this two days ago and my husband could not stop raving about it. Making another batch tonight! A winner of a recipe.
Took this to a family cookout. It was really easy and the crusty top takes this over the top! Will be on our regular rotation~ Thanks~
The texture of the rice was perfection, little bit of bounce. Great flavor and very hands off. I put some chives in because I love alliums and rice together and it’s pretty.
This rice is magic! So deliciously indulgent. I used Trader Joe’s unexpected cheddar and it was perfect!
New family favorite! So easy and yummy!
This was delicious, my husband and I both loved it. Served it with air fried chicken thighs and a salad. As we ate, I wondered if you could add cooked chicken when you stir in the cheese, or maybe cooked sausage, to make it a casserole. What do you think? Would you need to increase the amount of the broth?
OMG! I only made a half cup of rice and adjusted the recipe accordingly. Wow. My first thought was this was crack rice. I ate every bite and wished there was more! I’ll definitely be making again. Thank you for a great recipe!!!
Hi! Is this recipe gluten-free? I don’t normally cook gluten-free but I need to bring a side dish that is GF somewhere. Thanks!