This Cranberry Rice Pilaf is an excellent side dish to serve with a fall dinner.
Cranberry Rice Pilaf
When fresh cranberries are in season (fall), it’s a good time to try out this side dish recipe. The fresh cranberries are super festive for the season, and they’re delicious with the rest of the ingredients in the rice.
🛒 Ingredients needed:
- chicken broth
- orange juice
- granulated white sugar
- instant brown rice
- fresh or frozen cranberries
- butter
- sliced almonds
✏️ How to make Cranberry Rice Pilaf:
*The complete, printable recipe with all ingredients and instructions is at the end of this post.
- In a saucepan, bring the broth, orange juice and sugar to a boil. Stir in the rice, cranberries and butter. Reduce the heat; cover and cook for 5 to 8 minutes or until the water is absorbed.
- Remove from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with almonds.
➡️ Recipe Tips and Substitutions:
- Use fresh cranberries for this recipe. The dried, sweetened cranberries just won’t be the same.
- Cranberry tip: buy bags of fresh cranberries to store in the freezer so you can enjoy cranberries all year long. They freeze beautifully!
- Don’t be freaked out about adding sugar to the recipe. You need the sugar to balance out the tartness of the fresh cranberries.
- I like to squeeze some oranges to use fresh orange juice for this recipe. You can also zest the oranges before squeezing and use the zest as a garnish for the finished dish.
- Don’t worry about using instant rice for this recipe. It works totally fine, and it’s delicious too!
★ What to serve with Cranberry Rice Pilaf:
This cranberry rice pilaf would go nicely with so many fall dishes. How about smoked pork chops with maple baked apples, cider braised pot roast or cranberry pork tenderloin?
❤️ What I Love About This Recipe:
- It’s not your typical rice recipe! There is a ton of flavor in this one.
- It screams “fall!”
- Toasted almonds are a lovely addition to the rice. I love the crunch.
Recipes Using Fresh Cranberries:
Cranberry Rice Pilaf
What a simple side dish recipe that goes perfectly with chicken, turkey or beef! The cranberry adds a slight tang to the dish. And not to worry about using quick-cooking rice. It makes things easier and tastes just as good.
Ingredients
- 1 cup chicken broth
- ½ cup orange juice
- 2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
- 1½ cups uncooked instant brown rice
- ½ cup fresh or frozen cranberries, halved
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 tablespoons sliced almonds, toasted
Instructions
- In a saucepan, bring the broth, orange juice and sugar to a boil. Stir in the rice, cranberries and butter. Reduce the heat; cover and cook for 5 to 8 minutes or until the water is absorbed.
- Remove from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with almonds.
Notes
- If you are preparing this dish as gluten free, just be sure to use a brand of chicken broth that is known to be GF.
- I use a couple of oranges and fresh-squeeze them for maximum flavor
- For testing purposes, I used Uncle Ben’s Whole Grain Fast & Natural Brown Rice. It was good!
- Don’t use dried sweetened cranberries for this recipe. It won’t turn out the same as using fresh.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 237kcal, Carbohydrates: 39g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 7g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3g, Trans Fat: 0.1g, Cholesterol: 9mg, Sodium: 244mg, Potassium: 146mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 10g, Vitamin A: 158IU, Vitamin C: 17mg, Calcium: 35mg, Iron: 2mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
