Beef Bouillon Rice

This beef bouillon rice is an easy way to level up plain white rice. Few ingredients, big flavor. Good enough to eat on its own, but still lets your main dish shine when served as a side. Now that's a balance I love!

I cook a lot of rice, partly because I don’t tolerate gluten well, so you’ll find plenty of rice sides on my blog here.

After over 15 years of cooking rice, I’ve perfected a method that makes each grain soft and fluffy without turning mushy. The steps are straightforward enough that I’ve never felt the need for a rice cooker. Lord knows I don't need another gadget cluttering my counter.

You can use the most inexpensive regular long-grain white rice for this recipe, and you’ll still get a side you’ll want to add to your rotation.

Oh, and if you’re wondering whether I’ve got a chicken bouillon rice recipe, I sure do! I’ve got cumin-spiced rice and buttered basmati recipes as well.

Pre-cooking notes

Some helpful notes on the ingredients before you get cooking. If you're looking for ingredient quantities, those are down below in the recipe card.

• Good quality white rice is great, but generic store-brand, long-grain white rice is totally fine. I love basmati for this recipe. You can use other kinds of rice too, but you’ll need to adjust the soak and cook times depending on the type. For example, parboiled rice needs a longer soak and cook time. I’d avoid jasmine rice.
• I use green bell pepper because that’s what I usually have in my refrigerator, but any color bell pepper can be used. Different colors will give you slightly different tastes and sweetness levels, but I’ve tried the recipe with (almost) all kinds of bell peppers and the rice turned out great every time.
• If you're using beef base like Better Than Bouillon or granulated beef bouillon instead of a bouillon cube, make sure you're using only the amount the package says is needed for 1 cup of broth/stock for each cup of rice you're preparing.
• If you’re using regular white rice or basmati, do not change the water-to-rice ratio. It should always be 1.5 cups of water for every 1 cup of rice, no matter what the package says.

A visual guide for making beef bouillon rice

The initial steps of this recipe are pretty easy to follow, but the tricky part for most people is the steaming step and what comes after. It’s easy to mess up the rice if those steps aren’t done correctly. That’s where these process photos come in handy. For example, in the fifth photo, you can see exactly how much water should be left before moving on to steaming.

For the full recipe, including all the ingredients, amounts, and helpful notes, scroll down to the recipe card below.

In a saucepan, heat the oil/butter, add minced garlic and diced bell pepper. Sauté for 2 minutes to soften.

Next, add water, onion powder, salt and pepper.

Also add beef bouillon base, cube or granules. Stir well. Cover with a lid and bring to a boil over high heat.

Once boiling, add rice. Stir gently, partially cover the pot with lid and let liquid reduce over medium-high heat (or medium if your burner is strong). Don't stir yet, just keep an eye.

At first, the bubbles on the surface will be big and vigorous. As the liquid cooks down further, you'll start to see small bubbles and steam holes across the surface. That’s your cue to give a brief, gentle stir. Some liquid (around 10 to 20 percent) will still be left, which is intended.

Cover completely with lid right away, and reduce heat to the lowest setting. Let it steam 10 minutes. DO NOT remove the lid. No peeking, no stirring.

Turn off the heat. DO NOT remove the lid yet and leave the pot on the same burner. Let the rice rest for 10 minutes so it finishes cooking in residual heat. After the resting time, remove the lid, plate the rice using a flat, wide utensil, and enjoy.

Serving ideas

Anything you enjoy with plain white rice will pair great with this beef bouillon rice too. It tastes so much better but still lets your main dish be the star. I usually find myself serving it alongside baked or grilled fish, kebabs, grilled, fried, or baked chicken, meatloaf, pot roast, saucy meatballs, and beef stew.