Portuguese Baked Rice

Portuguese Baked Rice combines shredded carrot and chopped onions sautéed in bacon grease and tossed with cooked rice and bacon pieces. This flavorful rice dish turns ordinary cooked rice into a delicious side dish that will accompany and meats or fish. And there’s bacon in this…everything is better with bacon! SO SO YUMMY!

Portuguese Baked Rice is a particular side dish that always reminds me of fall nights when it was dark by 4. I remember when my mom would start to sauté the onions and carrots and how it smelled so rustic and homey. Of course when she was frying the bacon you knew something good was being made! For me this is a total comfort dish. My mom used to make this with a baked pork loin and a Ceasar salad. It has become a staple in my household.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE PORTUGUESE CHICKEN RICE

RICE
CARROTS
ONION
BACON
PARSLEY
CHICKEN BROTH

Yup, that’s it!! Oh and a smidge of butter. In no time you will have this comforting side dish that will leave your house smelling like a restaurant and tasting like a top rated dish!

HERE PIGGY PIGGY

Let’s start this bad boy shall we? Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees. While the oven is preheating, start on the rice so that by the time you cook the rest of the ingredients, you can add the rice and finish this dish. Take your Wright thick cut bacon and cut it into small pieces. Now get yourself a nice skillet or cast iron to render the bacon in. Put the stove on medium high heat. Once your skillet is hot, add that bacon. I can smell it already!! Cook the bacon pieces until cooked but not crunchy. You want your bacon more on the softer side. Trust me, please!

Once your bacon is cooked, remove it and place on some paper towels to drain. Discard some of the bacon fat and leave about 2 tablespoons left in the skillet. Place your skillet back on the stove and add 2 tablespoons of your butter. Scrape up any remaining bacon bits that didn’t feel like leaving the party.

CARROTS AND ONIONS AND BACON GREASE, OH MY!

Now let’s add in those peeled and shredded carrots and your chopped onion. Oh yeah, inhale and exhale! You want to sauté until the onions are soft and translucent and carrots are tender.

CALLING ALL INGREDIENTS FOR PORTUGUESE BAKED RICE!

Once cooked, add in your cooked rice, cooked bacon and some chopped parsley. Give it a good stir so that everything gets incorporated. Sometimes I like to add the juice of half of a lemon to the mixture for a bit of brightness but I don’t do it every time. In addition, if you’d like to be extra naughty, add a pad (2 tablespoons) to the top of the dish before putting it in the oven. For this reason both are listed in the recipe below but feel free to omit either or both!

Of course if you used an oven proof skillet go ahead and put it in the oven or transfer to an oven proof casserole dish. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

ADDITIONS TO MAKING A ONE POT MEAL

• COOKED CHICKEN (leftovers are great to throw in there!)
• COOKED SMOKED SAUSAGES (slice sausages and mix in)
• GRILLED SHRIMP (add when ready to serve)

READY TO SERVE!

Remove from oven. This Portuguese fried rice is an amazing side dish to any protein, fish or meat. I hope your family enjoys this baked rice dish. ~Christina

Portuguese Baked Rice

Recipe by Christina Scanlon

Course: SidesCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

6

1/2 c

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

30

minutes

Portuguese Baked Rice combines shredded carrot and chopped onions sautéed in bacon grease and tossed with cooked rice and bacon pieces. And there’s bacon in this…..everything is better with bacon.

Ingredients

• 6 slices of Wright thick cut bacon cut into small pieces

• 4 tablespoon Butter or margarine

• 2 cups of finely diced onion

• 2 large carrots peeled and shredded

• 1 tablespoon 1 T. Lemon juice

• 1 C. of rice cooked in 2 cups of chicken broth

• 1/4 cup chopped parsley or a tablespoon dried

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• In an ovenproof skillet cook the bacon pieces until tender, but not crispy and 2 T of bacon fat have accumulated. Remove the bacon and place on paper towels to absorb any extra fat. If the bacon fat yielded more than 2 T discard the remainder.
• Add 2 T of butter, onions, and carrots. Sauté over low to medium heat until just about tender.
• Add in the cooked rice, lemon juice and parsley.
• Dot with remaining 2 T of butter, cover and bake for 20 minutes

Notes

• If you do not have an oven proof skillet use whatever skillet you have and transfer to a 1 1/2 Qt casserole dish.
• To make this into a one pot meal you can add cooked diced chicken to the mixture.

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