Love savoury rice? Make this healthier syn free version with limited ingredients.

Sometimes when we went something like a rice dish that is full of flavour, we rely far too often on processed and packaged items, especially if they are syn free or convenient.

But you really can create some of these things yourself from scratch and it often doesn’t take much more time either.

Packets of savoury rice, many of which are syn free, can be hugely popularly because they add flavour to a dish, instead of the usual regular plain rice.

Personally they are not for me, far too salty, not fresh – have I mention how much I love fresh vegetables? and for me, a meal just doesn’t feel right without them.

Then of course there is MSG of which most packaged items like that contain, and is an ingredients I would much rather avoid.

Fresh vegetables are always going to pack much more flavour and texture to a dish too. You can really improve flavour with seasonings you enjoy, where you control the amount you like to use.

As for protein, you can literally add any protein of choice, be it something like shrimp, or chicken, beef or pork or even tofu or a vegetarian protein.

I always start off most dishes like this with the basic onion and garlic, depending on the vegetable you choose, some may need little sautéing too, to add to the flavour. But for this savoury rice I just added peppers and mushrooms, which are fine to go in with your liquid base, which in turn also mean less cooking time – yay.

Of course if you are adding a protein, you may need to brown that too and in this it was just a case of use what I had and the majority of the time it’s chicken thighs, which I prefer over chicken breasts, much more tender and take on flavours a lot better.

Then there is the seasonings of choice, I kept it simple for this basic savoury rice, using just some soy sauce, for a kind of Asian flare, which also means you don’t need to add stock. The soy sauce packs enough salt and flavour on it’s own. The liquid then just needs to be good old water, which you are always going to have on hand, right?

If you are gluten free, use a gluten free soy sauce like Tamari.

Once cooked I always love to add a little colour with some add on toppings, usually chopped spring onions, a little cilantro (coriander) and a pinch of sesame seeds (make sure it’s a pinch, as the syns will be negligible, go too heavy handed and you will be added syns you have not accounted for). Of course I have added those here because this savoury rice has an Asian style to it, if you was going for different flavours like curry, you may just want to add coriander.

Don’t be scared to experiment, try different vegetables, try different proteins, use stock or something like soy sauce, and then you can also add seasonings depending on what kind of style of savoury rice you are making.

Once you fry that rice though and add your liquid, don’t be tempted to stir, let it do it’s thing and it will cook perfectly. Once the liquid is almost absorbed, you can then turn off the heat, leave the lid on, so any steam is trapped underneath and don’t touch it for 10 mins, the steam and heat trapped underneath will continue to cook that rice to pure perfection.

Then all that is left to do is enjoy this amazing from scratch and with limited ingredients syn free savoury rice.

Enjoy it just as it is, or serve it as a side to a huge variety of main dishes.

Looking for some other delicious rice recipes to try? Check out these:

• Low Syn Turkey Rice Burrito Bowls
• Low Syn Nasi Goreng – Indonesian Rice
• Red Pepper and Coriander Rice
• Sweet Corn Pilau Rice
• Egg Fried Rice
• Low Syn Coconut Chicken Curry Rice
• Roasted Butternut Squash Rice
• Zucchini and Rice Pilau
• Mexican Rice
• Syn Free Lime and Coriander Rice
• Spicy Beef, Beans and Rice
• Chicken Fried Rice
• Syn Free Spicy Spanish Chicken with Rice
• Crab and Chilli Fried Rice
• Mixed Vegetable Rice
• Low Syn Spicy Mexican Chicken and Rice
• Low Syn Teriyaki Chicken and Rice Bowl

and don’t forget my FULL RECIPE INDEX with over 500+ delicious healthy Slimming World recipes.

Syn Free Savoury Rice

Yield: 3 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

This recipe is gluten free, dairy free, Slimming World and Weight Watchers friendlyExtra Easy - syn free per servingWW Smart Points - 7Gluten Free - use Tamari or coconut aminos

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Ingredients

• 1 cup of uncooked long grain rice, rinsed and drained
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 2 chicken thighs (raw), approx 115g/4oz,  diced
• 1/2 red pepper, diced
• 1/2 yellow pepper, diced
• 1/4 cup of frozen corn
• 3 mushrooms, diced
• 3 tbs of soy sauce
• optional: pinch of chilli flakes (omit if you don't like spicy)
• 1.75 cups (420ml) of water
• black pepper
• 2 spring onions sliced
• fresh coriander
• pinch of sesame seeds
• spray oil

Instructions

1. Spray a frying pan over a medium high heat with spray oil
2. Add the onion and garlic and fry for 1-2 mins to soften
3. Add the chicken thighs and fry for another 2 minutes just to lightly brown
4. Add the soy sauce, chilli flakes and season with black pepper and mix to coat.
5. Stir in the rice, and add the peppers, mushrooms, sweetcorn and mix 
6. Pour in the water, bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for approx 10 min until all liquid is absorbed.
7. Turn off heat but leave covered for 10 minutes.
8. Sprinkle with chopped spring onions, coriander and a pinch of sesame seeds.
9. Enjoy

Notes

Note: I add just a teeny pinch of sesame seeds (1/4 tsp) making the syns negligible (as it's only 4 calories)

Nutritional information is an estimate and is to be used for informational purposes only.

Ingredients can vary greatly from brand to brand and therefore it would be impossible to give accurate information. Also double check syn values of sinned ingredients as different brands can vary. 

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Nutrition Information:

Yield: 3 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 298 Total Fat: 2.9g Saturated Fat: 0.7g Cholesterol: 28.3mg Sodium: 672mg Carbohydrates: 54g Fiber: 3.4g Sugar: 3.6g Protein: 13.3g