Jollof Rice | The Most Flavorful Rice You'll Ever Make

This jollof rice recipe is rich with flavor from long grain rice being steeped in a tomato sauce that's filled with an incredible selection of tasty spices and seasonings. It's more than just delicious though, it's super easy to make. In fact, cooking jollof rice is almost as simple as cooking plain rice - the results are so much better though. Honestly, it's amazing what a handful of fresh ingredients - and a little bit of time - can do!

The Best Jollof Rice

If you're tired of the bland flavor that boil-in-a-bag rice has or have been looking for a way to elevate basic rice, get ready for the most delicious rice you'll ever eat!

This Nigerian jollof rice has a combination of fresh tomatoes, peppers, aromatic veggies, and traditional spices that get turned into a rich tomato puree that perfectly cooks the long grain rice. The resulting rice dish is bright in color, with the perfect balance of spices and complex flavor. 

But, with that said, the best part about this rice recipe is how simple it is to make from scratch. Once you make the rich tomato puree, all you have to do is cook your rice just like you normally would. However, instead of cooking the rice in water, you'll want to cook it in the puree/sauce. 

By the way, don't be intimidated by having to cook the rice. The process is super simple and requires only a few basic steps. Honestly, most of the time it takes to make is spent letting it simmer on the stove. That means you'll have plenty of time to focus on the main course as it cooks.

Speaking of main courses, I few of my favorites to pair this jollof rice with is this chicken 65 recipe, this grilled shrimp recipe, and this cube steak recipe.

Ingredients

The fresh ingredients are really what make this Nigerian jollof rice recipe shine. Thankfully, all of the ingredients are easy to find at your nearest grocery store if you don't already have them on hand already!

Anyway, here's what you'll need to make this jollof rice recipe:

• 2 cups tomatoes, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 Tbsp. ginger, chopped
• ½ Scotch Bonnet pepper
• 2 tbsp. tomato paste
• ¼ cup oil
• 2 tsp. curry powder
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 3 cups long-grain brown rice
• salt, to taste

See, that's not so bad, right?

Also, just so you know, you can use a lot of these same ingredients to make this chicken over rice and Mediterranean rice recipe next. It's another one of my favorite easy to make rice recipes!

Ingredient Substitutions and Suggestions

Now, when it comes to the rice for this recipe, you can use brown rice - as I suggested - or white basmati rice. In fact, you can even save yourself some time and use parboiled rice. With that said though, I personally prefer the Golden Sella basmati rice because it cooks really nicely and will absorb tons of flavor from this sauce.

As for what to substitute the Scotch Bonnet pepper for, you could use jalapenos or more bell peppers. It really depends on how spicy you want your jollof rice to be. Just keep in mind that Scotch Bonnet peppers can be up to 40 times hotter than a jalapeno. So, even if you use jalapenos in their place the rice still won't turn out as spicy as it normally would. 

On the other hand, if you love spicy, then you can swap Scotch Bonnets for a habanero pepper. Habanero peppers are slightly spicier than the Scotch Bonnets.

For the broth, I like to use vegetable broth since it will let the other flavors in this jollof rice shine, but feel free to use any flavored broth that you want!

Oh, and by the way, if you want to make the most authentic Nigerian jollof rice that you can, you'll want to use Nigerian curry powder. So, just keep that in mind. 

How To Cook Jollof Rice

As I mentioned above, this is a super simple rice recipe.

In fact, you'll only have to follow 3 simple steps to make it. And as far as active, hands-on cooking goes, you're only looking 5 at about minutes worth of work. 

You basically follow the same steps as you would for making plain rice. But instead of using water to cook it, you use that delicious tomato sauce we were talking about earlier - it's what gives the jollof rice its signature flavor.

Anyway, let's stop wasting time and get into how to make jollof rice from scratch!

Step 1: Make The Tomato Sauce

So, you're going to start things off by making that tomato sauce I just mentioned. 

And to do that you'll want to add the tomatoes, bell peppers, onion, garlic, ginger, Scotch Bonnet pepper, and tomato paste to a blender, and blend them until smooth.

By the way, if you don't have a blender, you can use a food processor instead.

Step 2: Add The Flavor

Now, once the sauce is looking good, you're going to combine it with the spices and broth before adding the rice to it.

So, with that said, to get this process started you'll want to heat some oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.

Then, add your pureed sauce from the blender and cook it for about 3 minutes. Keep in mind you'll want to continue to stir the sauce as it cooks so it doesn't burn.

Next, add the curry powder and vegetable broth, and continue to cook the sauce for another 2 minutes - stirring frequently again. Then, after all of the spices have been well incorporated into the tomato sauce, you can add the rice and stir everything together. 

Step 3: Cook The Rice

Now, once everything is in the pot, bring the rice mixture to a full boil.

Then, right when it boils, cover the pot and reduce it to low heat.

Now you'll want to let the rice cook until it's tender and fluffy. This usually takes about 50 minutes, but be sure to check on the rice every once in a while to see how it's cooking.

Finally, serve this Nigerian jollof rice warm and enjoy!

How To Store Jollof Rice

This recipe for jollof rice will make about 6 servings, so it's perfect for a big dinner or to have throughout the week.

Also, just so you know, you can easily double - or triple - this recipe if you have a large enough pot. So, don't hesitate to make a bigger batch of this Nigerian jollof rice if you've got a lot of people to feed! 

Now, if you end up making too much rice, and you have leftovers, storing them is a breeze. Just transfer them to an airtight container and you can store 'em in the fridge for up to 3 to 4 days.

Alternatively, if you want to keep the jollof rice for even longer, you can freeze it rice for up to 6 months.

How To Reheat Jollof Rice

Now, I'm not going to lie, reheating rice can be tricky.

With that said though, I've got a few pro-tips that'll teach you how to perfectly reheat rice every time.

So, first off, to reheat rice, I recommend using either the stovetop or the microwave.

If you're using the stovetop, transfer your leftovers to a small saucepan with the stovetop set to medium heat. Then, add a few tablespoons of water - or broth - and stir to mix it up. Let the rice cook with the lid on for 3-4 minutes, then stir and continue to heat on the stovetop until it is thoroughly warm.

If using the microwave you'll want to add a few spoonfuls of water - or broth - and microwave your rice in 20-second increments - stirring between each - until it is thoroughly warm.

Alternatively, you can put your leftover jollof rice in a bowl, place an ice cube in it, cover it with parchment paper, or a paper towel, and warm it up in the microwave until it's warm. This usually takes about 30 seconds to a minute.

Wrapping It Up

Well, that's how to cook jollof rice! 

I know I'm biased, but I think this is one of the best rice recipes ever created.

Seriously, if this recipe sounds unique to you, then just wait until you taste it! The subtly smoky flavor you get when the sauce cooks into the rice, combined with the rich curry flavors and savory spices makes for a totally delicious dish the whole family will love.

Anyway, if you gave this Nigerian jollof rice recipe a try, leave a comment below and tell us how it went.

More Rice Recipes

If you loved this jollof rice recipe, we have a ton of other rice recipes on the blog you might want to try next.

Check these out next:

• Uncle Roger egg fried rice
• Instant Pot sushi rice
• Hibachi fried rice
• Benihana fried rice
• Beef fried rice
• Salmon rice bowl

Also, don't forget to check us out on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. We post new delicious recipes on them every day.

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