31 pilau recipes

This quick and savory side dish is made with wild rice, mushrooms and pearl barley.

Fluffy couscous pilaf with toasted coriander seeds, red bell pepper, cayenne, and cinnamon, finished with fresh mint. Served with a blended saffron cream of Neufchatel cheese and yogurt.

One-pot brown basmati rice pilaf loaded with mushrooms, bell peppers, tomatoes, and onions. A dump-and-simmer weeknight dinner using whatever vegetables you have on hand.

One-pot black-eyed peas and barley pilaf simmered in vegetable stock with thyme and parsley. A hearty vegetarian main dish loaded with fiber and ready in 30 minutes.

Skinless Cornish hen halves basted with brandy, apple juice, and paprika, served over a cinnamon-scented wild rice pilaf with brandy-soaked raisins. Light, elegant, and feeds eight.

Toasted millet casserole with chickpeas, broccoli, and onion. A hearty plant-based main packed with protein and fiber. Press into squares or serve as pilaf.

Bulgur wheat pilaf with chickpeas, cumin, sauteed onions, green pepper, garlic, lemon juice, and fresh parsley. A hearty, vegan grain bowl ready in 30 minutes.

Kazakh rice combines ground lamb, slivered almonds, and dried apricots, dates, and prunes with garlic and onion in one pilaf-style pot. A Central Asian sweet-savory main or side.

Curried rice with lentils, raisins, and apples: a vegan Indian-inspired one-pot pilaf with turmeric, ginger, curry, and sunflower seeds. Fat-free, high-fiber comfort with sweet and savory in every bite.

One-dish baked pork chops on fruity rice pilaf with apples, oranges, and poultry seasoning for a retro weeknight dinner that cooks hands-off in the oven.

Raisin bulgur pilaf with cumin, made by soaking cracked wheat in boiling water for 30 minutes. Just 5 ingredients, no cooking, and diabetic-friendly. A simple, nutty side dish.

Rice pilaf salad tosses diced turkey, brown rice, chickpeas, kidney beans, apples, celery, and green olives into a protein-loaded chilled salad. Perfect for Thanksgiving leftovers or make-ahead lunches.

Stuffed monster zucchini is the answer to a giant garden zucchini: halved, hollowed, and packed with a savory cumin-thyme rice and lentil pilaf, then baked until tender. A hearty, frugal vegan main.

Ryzi me araka: traditional Greek rice and peas simmered with onion and olive oil in a one-pot pilaf. Simple, vegan, and a no-fuss weeknight side from the Greek home-cooking playbook.

While Schwartz describes the name for this Israeli dish as slightly pretentious, he notes that it won a cooking competition and found its way onto the menus of five star hotels. He recommends serving it over a bed or bulgur pilaf.