Easy 3-Cup Mediterranean Rice in a Rice Cooker — Sautéed, Bright & Gorgeous!
Make easy 3-cup Mediterranean rice in a rice cooker — sauté onion & garlic first for deeper flavor, with lemon, oregano, thyme & bay. Meal-prep perfect!
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The Second Time, Sautéed — and PERFECTION
I made Mediterranean rice in a rice cooker before, but this time I sautéed the aromatics before adding them into the uncooked rice. The first time I was in a hurry 😂 — now I wasn’t that hungry, so I decided on a different cooking style, and this one came out better than the first, indeed!
This time, I cooked 3 cups and portioned them for dinners and my husband’s work lunches. I don’t know if it’s just my preference, but it’s really good with Korean recipes too.
We had leftovers of the Romaine Pork Belly Combo from our lunch at Tofu House 1962 Korean BBQ Restaurant. The next morning, I made a Kimchi Fried Rice from all those leftovers — I included all the side dishes and added leftover Mediterranean Rice, and everything was PERFECTION!!!
I love rice, so I’m trying out various recipes I can find. We’ve tried Mexican rice too, but for me, Mediterranean is number one.
Garlic fried rice is really good with Asian side dishes, but Mediterranean goes with everything. For the Mexican rice, my husband loves it, but it’s really not for me.
If you try this recipe, I hope you enjoy it — and if not, I hope you find it: the ultimate rice flavor you could ever find. 😂 As usual, thank you for being here, and I hope we all can make kitchen experiments to PERFECTION!!
Table of Contents
What You Need for Mediterranean Rice in a Rice Cooker
We start with Calrose medium-grain rice — it’s our house rice, the 50 lb bag we always keep on hand. The sauté-first method is what makes this version special: the onion and garlic go golden in olive oil before they ever meet the rice cooker, so the flavor runs all the way through. Everything below is for 3 cups of rice, which makes about 9 side servings.
- 3 cups Calrose medium-grain rice (Kokusai premium sushi rice, rinsed)
- 3¾ cups liquid total (water plus lemon juice)
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- zest of 1 lemon
- 3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1½ tsp homemade Mediterranean bouillon paste (optional)
Book reference: Mediterranean Instant Pot: Easy, Inspired Meals for Eating Well by America’s Test Kitchen — Hardcover: https://link.amazon/A0aGXkhyM · Kindle: https://link.amazon/B0hsr5918
How To Make It
Step 1 — Heat the oil: Warm the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.
Step 2 — Sauté the aromatics: Sauté the onion 5–6 minutes until soft, add the garlic for 30–60 seconds, then stir in the oregano and thyme.
Step 3 — Rice into the cooker: Rinse the Calrose rice until the water runs mostly clear, then add it to the rice cooker.
Step 4 — Liquid and bay: Pour in 3¾ cups liquid total (the lemon juice counts inside it), dissolving the bouillon paste first if using, and add the bay leaf.
Step 5 — Everything in: Add the sautéed onion-garlic mixture, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Stir gently.
Step 6 — Cook and rest: Cook on the regular white-rice setting. When it finishes, let it rest 5 minutes, remove the bay leaf, and fluff with a fork.
Make it your own: the toppings are completely up to you. Stir in or sprinkle over whatever you have — grated cheese, leftover chicken, fresh herbs — depending on what’s available in your fridge, or serve it plain as a side. It’s delicious either way.
What Could Go Wrong
- Liquid ratio: start with 3¾ cups for 3 cups rice; if your cooker runs dry or wet, nudge toward 4 cups next time.
- Lemon juice is part of the liquid — don’t add it on top of the 3¾ cups or the rice goes soggy.
- The first, hurry version (everything dumped in raw) was good; the sautéed version is better — don’t skip the sauté if you want the deeper flavor.
Watch How To Make It
Watch the whole cook in the video — it premieres Wednesday, November 11 at 10 PM Denver time, right here and on our YouTube channel.
Easy 3-Cup Mediterranean Rice in a Rice Cooker — Sautéed, Bright & Gorgeous!
Make easy 3-cup Mediterranean rice in a rice cooker — sauté onion & garlic first for deeper flavor, with lemon, oregano, thyme & bay. Meal-prep perfect!
💰 Estimated cost: about $5 total · about $0.55 per serving
Ingredients
- 3 cups Calrose medium-grain rice (Kokusai premium sushi rice, rinsed)
- 3¾ cups liquid total (water plus lemon juice)
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- zest of 1 lemon
- 3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1½ tsp homemade Mediterranean bouillon paste (optional)
How to make it
- Warm the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat; sauté the onion 5–6 minutes until soft, then the garlic 30–60 seconds, then stir in the oregano and thyme.
- Rinse the Calrose rice until the water runs mostly clear, then add it to the rice cooker.
- Pour in 3¾ cups liquid total — the lemon juice counts inside it — dissolving the bouillon paste first if using, and add the bay leaf.
- Add the sautéed onion-garlic mixture, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, and pepper; stir gently.
- Cook on the regular white-rice setting; rest 5 minutes, remove the bay leaf, and fluff with a fork.
Notes
- Make it your own: the toppings are completely up to you. Stir in or sprinkle over whatever you have — grated cheese, leftover chicken, fresh herbs — depending on what’s available in your fridge, or serve it plain as a side. It’s delicious either way.
- Liquid ratio: start with 3¾ cups for 3 cups rice; if your cooker runs dry or wet, nudge toward 4 cups next time.
- The lemon juice counts inside the 3¾ cups — don’t add it on top or the rice goes soggy.
One Rice, Every Table
This rice has earned a permanent spot in our rotation — it pairs beautifully with our Cast Iron Lemon Herb Salmon, and it is just as happy next to our Mediterranean Beef & Broccoli Stir-Fry. One pot of rice, so many tables — make a big batch and let it carry the week.
