Healthy Rice Recipes

If rolling seems like too much work, serve these up as bowls. Chop up the nori to sprinkle on top.

The adobo sauce in a can of chipotles lends earthy heat to the crema that tops these bowls. Don't toss out the unused peppers! Freeze them in an airtight container and pull them out to add to sauces, marinades or chili.

This one-pan recipe is the casserole version of spanakopita! It's hearty enough to enjoy as a vegetarian lunch or dinner, yet versatile enough to serve alongside just about any protein. To make it extra creamy, top each serving with a dollop of sour cream.

Think of these cabbage rolls as a healthier riff on classic Chinese egg rolls! Cabbage leaves stand in for the traditional fried wonton wrappers, but we promise they won't be missed. It's worth it to make this better-than-takeout Chinese recipe at home. Feel free to substitute ground turkey or tofu crumbles for the pork in this recipe.

Toasting raw rice in hot oil--some of it may even pop like popcorn--adds texture to this steak-and-rice salad.

This fresh take on chicken salad features a creamy yogurt-balsamic dressing and plenty of fresh herbs. It's a great option for leftover cooked chicken.

Lots of local ingredients show up on the menu at Tom Hanson's Duluth Grill in Duluth, Minnesota, like the wild rice in these rice patties, harvested by Bruce Savage of nearby Spirit Lake Farms.

Larb is a classic salad with roots in Laos and Thailand. It typically features seasoned ground meat and lots of herbs and vegetables. Here, we use summer squash and quinoa for a satisfying veggie-based version.

Every one of the ingredients used in this grilled spin on a Louisiana favorite is awesome with some charred flavor. Plus, using a grill cuts down on the cleanup for this Cajun jambalaya recipe. Even the rice gets some smokiness from grilled tomatoes. Also known as the Holy Trinity, the combo of bell pepper, onion and celery (which here we swapped for celery seed) is used to flavor Cajun and Creole dishes like gumbo and this jambalaya. No skewers? Use a grill basket instead.

This hearty vegan dish gets its earthy flavor from cumin and brown rice. If you can handle extra heat, try doubling the crushed red pepper for a bigger punch of flavor.

This one-pot dinner is like a deconstructed burrito bowl--especially when topped with salsa, sliced avocado or a dollop of Greek yogurt for a cool, creamy accent. You can also enjoy it as a meal on its own, or as a vegetarian taco or burrito filling or a side dish on taco night.

Dashi gives this vegetable rice recipe its savory depth. Rinsing the rice may seem like an extraneous step but it removes some of the surface starch for fluffier rice. And soaking the rice in seasoned dashi before cooking infuses the dish with more flavor.

This recipe is great for meal prep. Divide the salsa, rice and chicken among 4 food-storage containers and you've got 4 days of ready-made meals in your fridge.

This easy Thai-inspired coconut curry shrimp is loaded with vegetables and gets tons of flavor from prepared green curry paste and coconut milk. The sweet and spicy sauce gets sopped up by a bed of hot brown rice. Serve with a crunchy Asian slaw to round out the meal.

This sophisticated beet burger recipe tastes like a veggie patty from a restaurant. Maybe that's because Dave Horner, the food service chief in Vermont's Chittenden East school district who created it, taught at the New England Culinary Institute before cooking for the kids.

Massaman curry is a traditional Thai-style curry, popular for being milder in flavor and rich in taste. When students in Georgia were challenged to use local ingredients to come up with a creative dish that could be easily made in cafeterias, this recipe was a finalist. The kids wanted to cook their rice in milk with turmeric to give it a creamy texture and golden color, but they swapped in rice milk to keep the dish dairy-free. Regular milk works just as well. Adapted from Georgia Farm to School.

Black beans, black rice and black sesame seeds all contain anthocyanins, potent antioxidant compounds that have been shown to reduce inflammation. So "forbidden" rice isn't just striking, it's also a serious nutrition upgrade. Simmering it in coconut milk adds rich aroma and flavor.

This stir-fry recipe calls for buying shrimp that's already peeled and deveined, which saves you about 10 minutes of prep time. Want this on the milder side? Swap ketchup for the chili-garlic sauce.

This kitchen-sink of a vegetarian dish was most likely invented in Egypt in the mid-1800s when Cairo was a major multicultural trade port, which could explain the similarities to Italian spaghetti as well as the Indian rice-and-lentil comfort food khichdi. Three toppings--a spicy tomato sauce (shatta), crispy onions and a garlicky vinegar (dakka)--are added to the koshari before serving, but in Cairo most people like them in separate bowls so they can season their bites one at a time. (Recipe adapted from Zooba Restaurant.)

This risotto-like combo of rice and peas is made with a very cool technique that infuses the dish with one of the great tastes of spring.