Rice is one of the most consumed foods in the world and the variety of it's preparations is endless. When combined with vegetables it's a meal. Roasted Vegetable Rice is something you want to try. It's flavor on flavor.
Combining vegetables with rice is good. However, taking the time to roast your vegetables first adds flavor, texture, and depth to the dish, and choosing high-quality rice is a game-changer!
Roasted Vegetable Rice can stand on its own as a vegetarian entrée or can be used as a vehicle for your favorite meats like pork tenderloin, chicken, meat roasts or various kinds of seafood.
Rice is a food enjoyed all-year-long. The beauty of this Roasted Vegetable Rice Dish is that you can easily adapt it and use whichever vegetables happen to be in season or that you enjoy the most.
Table of Contents
Ingredients
- Avocado or olive oil
- Fresh garlic
- Salt & pepper
- Vegetables such as zucchini Vidalia or red onion, carrots, mushrooms, asparagus, peppers, tomatoes, etc.
- Rice
Variations
- Play around with the type of rice you use, no rules. Use whichever rice you enjoy or have on-hand.
- Switch up the vegetables you use with the seasons. For example squash and tomatoes in summer, butternut squash or beets in winter etc.
- Add in fresh herbs, butter or whatever else you may enjoy.
Vegetable Rice Tips
- Roasting vegetables brings out even more flavor. Oven roasted vegetables that were out of season fix them right up and make them taste much better.
- If you don't feel like roasting vegetables, frozen and heated vegetables work as well. Use a medley. They can be dry or have a sauce. Either will work.
- Rinse your rice a a few of times before cooking it in a pot/strainer to remove debris, reduce arsenic level and help create fluffier rice.
- Replace water with vegetable broth or chicken or beef broth for added flavor when making your rice.
For this recipe of Roasted Vegetable Rice, I chose a wild rice blend by Rice Select. It held up wonderfully with the roasted vegetables and their juices. Delicious! Feel free to use your favorite type of rice. There is no right or wrong when it comes to vegetables and rice.
What’s The Best Way To Cook Rice?
Cooking rice really comes down to how you prefer to cook it. You can choose to use water as the cooking liquid, vegetable, seafood or meat stock or a combination of fruit juice and water. The beauty of rice is that it can be cooked in a variety of ways:
- Use a rice cooker- simply set it up, and walk away and a little while later you have perfectly cooked rice!
- Use the stove-top method and cook your rice per the packaging instructions in a pot.
- You can even cook rice in the oven, you just need to use a boiling hot liquid as you start to cook. I have done this with success and cooked the vegetables and meat atop the rice which I have to say adds some fantastic flavor as the juices from each trickle down into the rice.
How Do I Roast Vegetables?
Roasting vegetables is easy! All you need is a sheet pan and an oven. Simply toss your chosen vegetables in oil and seasoning (or marinate them as you wish) and bake in a 400-degree oven, tossing them occasionally, until done to your liking.
Depending on what vegetables you choose, you may wish to add them in various stages throughout the roasting process. For example; tomatoes will cook much faster than beets.
What Can I Pair Roasted Vegetable Rice With?
You can enjoy this recipe for Roasted Vegetable Rice on its own as a meatless entrée or top it with any roasted or grilled meat like pork tenderloin, steaks, roast chicken or, meat kebabs, or a variety of seafood.
I hope you try out this recipe for Roasted Vegetable Rice with the way I wrote it or with the vegetables you enjoy the most! I’d love to see your take on it.
Visit and follow RiceSelect on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter for exciting recipe ideas, news, and special offers.
Enjoy! XO Colleen
Recipe originally posted April, 2019. Updated February, 2025.
Recipes that pair well with rice
Colleen Kennedy is the author of 3 cookbooks and has appeared on QVC and other shows inspiring home cooks of all levels. She has a popular TikTok channel @Colleen'sCooking with hundreds of short recipe videos. Colleen lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and kids, she started Soufflé Bombay in 2009.
Roasted Vegetable Rice
Ingredients
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- ¼ cup grapeseed or olive oil
- Kosher salt & pepper
- Vegetables such as zucchini Vidalia or red onion, carrots, mushrooms, asparagus, peppers, tomatoes, etc.
- Rice cooked to package directions...use vegetable broth in place of water
Instructions
- Combine oil, garlic, salt, and pepper and allow it to sit 30 minutes. If you have a muddler, muddle the garlic a bit to impart flavor quicker.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Prep your chosen vegetables, cutting each type of vegetable in similar sizes to allow for even cooking (leave mushrooms and tomatoes whole if using).
- You want to time the vegetables adding those that cook quicker, later.
- Carrots 30 minutes
- Onions 25-30 minutes
- Zucchini 20 minutes
- Peppers 20 minutes
- Asparagus depending on thickness 15-20 minutes
- Grape tomatoes 15 minutes
- Add those that take longer to cook first.
- Be sure to allow space between vegetables, allowing them to roast instead of steam (use two baking sheets if necessary)
- Toss vegetables as you add them with just a bit of the oil and season with additional salt and pepper.
- Reserve at least 1 TBS of the seasoned oil to use on the rice.
- You can also sprinkle with paprika, onion powder, and garlic powder if you wish as well.
- While vegetable roast, prepare rice according to package directions (using vegetable broth in place of the water for better flavor).
- Once rice is finished cooking, toss it with 1 TBS of the seasoned oil (or more if it's left), then place the roasted vegetables over-top of the rice. Pour any pan juices over the rice for extra flavor.
Notes
Just back into how many people you want it to serve by how much rice you wish to make.
The garlic oil is also delicious on meats you want to roast, especially beef. Just rub the meat with the seasoned oil then salt and pepper it well. Nutritional information will vary based on rice used and vegetables used.
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