This Italian Lemon Basil Wild Rice is bursting with lemon flavor and fresh basil and several Italian dried herbs. It is the perfect side dish or companion to an entree or main dish. It is also oil-free and gluten-free and requires just 5 main ingredients!
Prep Time10 minutesmins
Cook Time20 minutesmins
Total Time25 minutesmins
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Italian, Vegan
Keyword: Italian herb rice, Italian rice recipe, lemon basil rice, lemon wild rice
Rinse the rice first well with room temperature water. This helps produce fluffier rice.
Add all of the ingredients to a medium pot, except the fresh basil. Bring to a boil, give it a quick stir, reduce the heat to low and simmer 15-20 minutes, covered, until all the water is completely gone.
Return the lid and let the rice sit for only 5 minutes.
Fluff the rice with a fork and then stir in the chopped basil. Serve immediately. Do not return the lid at this point, or it can make the rice turn mushy.
Notes
WILD RICE BLEND: To be clear, there is rice that is called wild rice and then there is wild rice blends. The 2 are very different. If you can't tell by the photo, this is not actual wild rice, which are long, black grains. This is the wild rice blend that you see in the stores. It contains white Texmati rice, red rice, black rice and brown rice. There are different kinds by small variances. I used the Rice Select Royal Blend and highly recommend it. It can be found at most grocery stores, even Walmart and Target and on Amazon.