Rice Around the World in 7 Dishes

Rice is, perhaps, the world’s only ingredient versatile enough to be linked to a multitude of dishes around the world. The main reason for this is that it’s perfect at taking on spices and sauces and can be turned into literally anything — salty, sweet, and umami.

While it is typically considered a staple, this isn’t the case in many countries. Anytime a person somewhere in the world thinks of preparing rice, something magical happens. On top of creating a perfect dish, it comes coupled with stories passed down from centuries long gone.

When you want to recall human migration, trade, and colonization, there’s nothing better than this wondrous grain to remind you of your history lessons. Rice can be turned into a steaming bowl of bibimbap on a Seoul side street, a dish of jollof in Dakar, a plate of paella on the coast of Valencia. All these dishes (and many more besides) are made of the same ingredient.

So, presuming there are only 7 dishes you need to try is ridiculous, arrogant even. That’s why we’re putting a disclaimer: our top picks you need to try!

Italian Risotto

The thing about traditional Italian risotto is that it is rather persistent. One cannot simply set it and forget it. You have to stir, and stir, and then stir some more to coax starch from the rice for risotto’s luxurious texture to manifest. All this out of something as basic as arborio grains and a simple broth.

In Lombardy, risotto gets serious. It’s not considered a side dish but rather an event. There’s risotto alla Milanese, glowing golden from saffron, which is typically paired with braised meats like osso buco. There’s mushroom risotto made with porcini. In homes and trattorias, everyone swears by their own method— wine first or after the onions, butter at the end or no cream — but what unites all these variations is the ritual of making risotto.

Risotto alla Milanese

Ingredients:

•         1½ cups arborio rice
•         1 small onion, finely chopped
•         4 cups hot beef or chicken broth
•         ½ cup dry white wine
•         2 tbsp unsalted butter
•         2 tbsp grated Parmesan
•         1 generous pinch saffron threads
•         Olive oil, salt

Instructions:

•         Sauté onion in a little olive in a saucepan.
•         Add rice, toast lightly.
•         Pour in the wine, stirring until absorbed.
•         Add broth one ladle at a time, stirring constantly. Halfway through, stir in saffron steeped in a few tablespoons of warm broth. Keep stirring.
•         When the rice is tender and creamy, finish with butter and Parmesan. Serve hot.

Senegal’s Jollof Rice

Senegal’s Jollof rice is an identity statement, a family legacy, and, occasionally, a source of friendly international debate. It’s a dish that holds the past and present together, as it was carried across West Africa through trade and migration.

For the base, there are tomatoes, onions, garlic, and sometimes a spicy Scotch bonnet pepper. Then comes the rice, slow-cooked in the deeply seasoned sauce.

Often called ceebu jën, this dish typically includes fish and vegetables like cabbage and carrots.

Senegalese Jollof with Fish

Ingredients:

•         2 cups broken jasmine or long-grain rice
•         2 tomatoes
•         2 tbsp tomato paste
•         1 small cabbage
•         2 carrots
•         4 small whole fish (e.g., mackerel)
•         1 onion
•         Garlic, parsley, oil, and spices (black pepper, thyme, bay leaf)

Instructions:

•         Stuff the fish with chopped garlic and parsley. Sear them briefly in oil, then remove.
•         Build a tomato base with onions, tomato paste, and spices. Add the fish back in with a bit of water and the vegetables. Simmer.
•         Remove fish and vegetables. Add rinsed rice.
•         Cover tightly and cook until rice is fluffy and stained red. Return everything to the pot to serve.

New Orleans Red Beans and Rice

Monday in New Orleans isn’t Monday without red beans and rice. Traditionally cooked while doing laundry, this dish is slow food in the full sense of the word. Red beans arrived with the Caribbean slave trade, and they became essential in the city.

This isn’t a rushed recipe, mind you. The beans simmer with andouille sausage or leftover ham hock for hours, breaking down into a creamy consistency. The rice isn’t an afterthought, either; it’s what holds everything together.  

Creole Red Beans and Rice

Ingredients:

•         1 lb dried red beans, soaked overnight
•         1 smoked ham hock or 1½ cups sliced andouille sausage
•         1 onion, 1 bell pepper, 2 celery stalks
•         3 cloves garlic
•         2 bay leaves
•         Cajun seasoning or thyme, paprika, cayenne
•         2 cups white rice

Instructions:

•         Sauté vegetables in oil, add garlic, then throw in the sausage or hock. Stir in the soaked beans, cover with water, and add spices.
•         Simmer for 2–3 hours, until the beans are tender and the liquid is thick. Adjust seasoning.
•         Serve over fluffy white rice.

A Twist on Mexican Rice and Beans

You think you know Mexican rice and beans, until you taste the variations. There’s the standard — red rice cooked with tomato and garlic, paired with refried beans. Then there’s the version from Oaxaca, with smoky chipotle and often finished with crumbles of fresh cheese. However, a twist on Mexican rice and beans doesn’t have to be innovative. Usually, it’s a personal turn: the addition of charred poblano, a splash of lime, or beans cooked in lard with epazote.

The point isn’t to reinvent it; it’s to deepen the dish.

Oaxaca-Style Rice and Beans with Chipotle and Lime

Ingredients:

•         2 cups cooked black beans with broth
•         1½ cups long-grain white rice
•         2 chipotles in adobo
•         1 blended tomato
•         1 clove garlic
•         ½ onion
•         Juice of 1 lime
•         Queso fresco (for topping)

Instructions:

•         Sauté onion and garlic in oil. Add rice and toast until slightly golden. Add tomato, chipotle, salt, and water. Simmer until fluffy.
•         For the beans, reheat in their broth with a sprig of epazote (or bay leaf).
•         Serve the rice beside the beans, sprinkle queso fresco, and finish with a squeeze of lime.

Japan’s Ochazuke

Ochazuke isn’t a showy dish. Typically, it’s made of leftover rice and topped with salty ingredients like grilled salmon, pickled plum, or bits of seaweed and doused in hot green tea. That’s it. This is the kind of food that finds you at 1 a.m. after a long shift, or when you’re sick, or when the world has simply asked too much of you.

Salmon Ochazuke

Ingredients:

•         1 grilled salmon fillet
•         1 cup cooked rice, preferably short-grain
•         1 cup hot green tea or dashi broth
•         Strips of nori
•         Sesame seeds, wasabi, scallions
• Instructions:
•         Place hot rice in a bowl and top with flaked salmon. Pour green tea over everything. Garnish with nori, sesame, and wasabi if you need the kick.

Indian Khichdi

To outsiders, khichdi might seem plain. It’s simple rice and lentils, cooked soft, almost mushy. However, in Indian kitchens, it’s the ultimate comfort food: baby’s first solid meal, grandma’s go-to for upset stomachs, a fasting day favorite. The spices are subtle and the technique ancestral.

Some versions are dressed up with vegetables, ghee, and whole spices.

Vegetable Khichdi

Ingredients:

•         ¾ cup basmati rice
•         ½ cup split yellow moong dal
•         1 carrot, diced
•         ½ cup peas
•         1 tsp cumin seeds
•         1 bay leaf
•         1 inch ginger, grated
•         1 tsp turmeric
•         Salt
•         Ghee

Instructions:

•         Rinse rice and dal. Sauté cumin, bay leaf, and ginger in ghee. Add veggies, rice, dal, turmeric, salt, and 3 cups of water. Pressure cook or simmer until soft and porridge-like.
•         Serve with more ghee on top. Eat warm.

 Spain’s Coastal Paella

True paella isn’t thrown together. It’s a dish of patience and timing. In Valencia, where the dish originates, paella is an event, not just a recipe. The rice is short-grain, designed to absorb flavor. The pan is wide, shallow, meant for even heat, and the perfect socarrat (the crispy bottom layer).

While paella has taken many forms, the best ones stay close to tradition — rabbit or seafood, saffron, green beans or peas. It’s a dish you don’t rush, preferably cooked over an open flame, with someone nearby telling stories and checking the heat.

Paella de Marisco (Seafood Paella)

Ingredients:

•         2 cups bomba rice
•         4 cups seafood stock
•         ½ tsp saffron threads
•         1 onion
•         1 tomato
•         ½ lb shrimp, ½ lb mussels
•         Olive oil, smoked paprika, garlic

Instructions:

•         Sauté onion and garlic. Add tomato and paprika.
•         Stir in rice, toast for a minute, and then add stock and saffron. Arrange seafood on top.
•         Simmer without stirring until rice is cooked and the bottom is crisp.
•         Rest for 5 minutes before serving straight from the pan.

Final Grain

This isn’t about dishes — it’s about the stories they tell. Traditional Italian risotto stirs centuries of pride. A twist on Mexican rice and beans shows how old recipes adapt without losing their soul. From Senegal to Japan, New Orleans to Valencia, rice isn’t just what’s for dinner — it’s what roots us, feeds us, and reminds us that food is always more than food.

Each spoonful carries something worth remembering. If you’ve made it this far, you probably already know that the best meals don’t just fill you up. They stay with you.