One pot brown rice and veggies is an easy, healthy all-in-one side dish with whole grains and plenty of vegetables mixed in. Goes great with all kinds of main dish meats to make dinner a breeze!
Brown rice is a staple in my house. I keep a large container in the pantry full of brown rice and always have at least one extra bag on hand at all times to add to it.
We go through the stuff. It’s a dinner staple for us.
Making just plain steamed brown rice is my uninspired go-to most nights, to be honest. Simple and gets the job done.
(And if you think it’s difficult or tricky or you’ve had trouble in the past, read that post I just linked to there. It tells you how to cook it perfectly every time. No guessing.)
If I’m feeling a bit more with it, I’ll make one pot broccoli cheese brown rice or easy cheesy zucchini brown rice. Those were invented when my kids were little ones and needed some help eating their veggies.
(Though ha, they definitely still need some help!)
And I adore brown rice pilaf for how simple but extra flavorful it is.
Today though, we’re making a different twist with this one-pot brown rice and veggies.
It’s an all-in-one side dish that gives us our healthy whole grains and a serious dose of vegetables, too.
We’ve got onions and mushrooms that cook along with the rice. Then at the end, we add green peas and fresh spinach for some more veggie love and goodness.
The dish is served hot with some Parmesan cheese to help bring all the flavors together.
It’s hearty, tasty and totally feel-good food.
This recipe is also super versatile.
It’ll go great with all your favorite meat main meals to make dinner come together effortlessly.
OK, let’s get cooking.
Now, I’ve got those notes and tips coming up below on how to make brown rice with vegetables. Just tryin’ to be helpful.
If you want to jump on down to the recipe, simply scroll right on through the rest of the text. The recipe card is near the bottom of the page, above the comments section.
Ingredient Notes:
- Brown rice: We’re using a whole grain brown rice for this recipe (the standard kind you’ll find at the store.) Just make sure you don’t have a quick cook or instant kind, as the timing will be much different.
- Broth: Chicken broth is what I always have on hand, but you could use vegetable broth if you want to keep this vegetarian. I recommend low-sodium so you can control the amount of sodium in the dish.
- Vegetables: You can certainly skip one or more of the vegetables in this dish or try swapping them out. Just make sure you consider moisture content and cook time.
- Parmesan cheese: This really adds some oomph to the dish for serving. If you need this to be vegan, I’d recommend using some nutritional yeast to give it that same flavor boost.
You could also serve this with some fresh herbs, like parsley or basil, if you want to give it an herby punch.
OK, let’s get ready to eat!
As mentioned, this dish is super versatile. You can serve it with steak, pork, chicken, seafood - whatever else you’re making!
If you need some specific ideas and recipes, I’ve got you covered.
Serving Ideas:
- Easy baked lemon chicken would be a great pairing.
- Crunchy baked pork chops also go great with a side dish like this.
- Or try Ranch pork chops or balsamic pork tenderloin.
- Cranberry balsamic chicken or Air Fryer Dijon chicken thighs have BIG flavor to match up against this simple side dish.
- Baked cheesy chicken breasts are a crunchy kid favorite to go with this.
- Or keep it quick and easy with 15-minute paprika chicken or turmeric chicken.
The options are endless, really.
Last thing, the leftovers.
Leftovers will keep for 4-5 days in a covered container in the refrigerator. Reheat in small portions in the microwave until hot, about 1 minute with a stir halfway through.
So when you need a side dish to magically complete your meal - and a healthy one at that - I hope you give this brown rice and veggies recipe a try.
Enjoy!
XO,
Kathryn
One Pot Brown Rice and Veggies
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 small onion, chopped small
- 8 oz. white button mushrooms, sliced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup brown rice
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
- 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
- 2-3 big handfuls of fresh baby spinach
For serving:
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat.
- Add onion and mushrooms and saute until tender and the mushrooms have lost most of their moisture, about 7-8 minutes.
- Add the garlic, salt and pepper and stir well.
- Add the brown rice and stir to coat the rice in the oils. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Cover the pot and reduce the temperature to low to medium low to maintain a simmer. Cook, covered, for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, or when most of the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is tender, add the frozen peas and spinach. Stir into the rice then cover the pot and turn off the heat. Let sit for 5 minutes to wilt the spinach and warm the vegetables through.
- Stir the rice and veggies again and serve hot, sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.
Hope B
Any recommendations on how to adapt this recipe to a rice cooker? Thanks!
Kathryn Doherty
Hi! I don't have and haven't used a rice cooker, so I'm not sure how to adapt this recipe. Sorry! You could try checking your rice cooker booklet to see if there's any tips there, or see if you could search online for any standard conversion tricks.