Pilaf is very simple - both on the stove, and, moreover, in a slow cooker.

Our 5+ recipes will add new ways to treat yourself, family and friends to delicious meals in your cookbook, and our special secrets will make your meals simply unforgettable!

Interesting facts about vegetarian pilaf recipes

As a rule, a non-vegetarian recipe is considered a “traditional” pilaf.

However, many studies testify in favor of the fact that the traditional way of cooking pilaf is the vegetarian one, which came from India and was later supplemented by other peoples.

By cooking vegetable pilaf, you return to the roots and pass on the traditions further. Keep it up!

Your mother or grandmother may have taught you how to cook pilaf in a special dish - a cauldron.

It is worth noting that it really allows all the components of the dish to perfectly mix their tastes and aromas into a single whole, but still it is not the only right option.

Pilaf can also be cooked in a deep frying pan, saucepan or slow cooker.

The latter is especially convenient for modern housewives, as it saves a lot of time.

In addition, it is almost impossible to burn food in it, missing the moment: a non-stick coating and a well-tuned auto-program system stand guard over delicious dinners.

Tip: if you often cook pilaf and are going to get a multicooker, be sure to choose a model with the “pilaf” mode. It will be very easy to prepare a dish with it.

The dish is not necessarily rice with other ingredients added.

Recipes for vegetarian pilaf with chickpeas or quinoa are quite common.

In general, almost anything can be the main cereal, the main thing is that the grains remain separate, crumbly.

Still, pilaf and porridge with vegetables are definitely different things, don't you agree?

Vegetarian pilaf: 5+ recipes with photos

Well, now let's move on to the most interesting - vegetarian pilaf recipes.

Note that by default, the dish is still cooked on the stove.

For owners of multicookers, it will be easy to remember a simple algorithm that is true for any recipe:

1. First, fry the onion and other vegetables for 10-15 minutes in the "fry" mode
2. At the same step, it is worth adding spices so that their aroma has time to open up.
3. Then - add rice and pour everything with vegetable broth or water in a ratio of 1: 2
4. Turn on the "pilaf" mode and wait for the end of the program

If your multicooker does not have a specialized automatic mode, use the “rice” (“buckwheat”, “groats”) or “stewing” programs.

This dish is prepared without oil or butter and is light, completely lean, 100% vegan and delicious!

For cooking, you need to prepare:

1. A glass of thin pasta - spaghetti is optimal
2. Half an onion
3. Half sweet pepper
4. 1-2 garlic cloves
5. 4-5 large mushrooms
6. Large sprig of spinach
7. 2 cups rice (a mixture of your favorite variety and a quarter of wild rice)
8. 3 cups vegetable broth
9. A quarter cup of soy sauce
10. 1/4 cup chopped almonds

Break the pasta into small pieces - about 2-3 centimeters long.

Pour them into a dry pan along with the almonds and fry, stirring, until golden brown.

Take the mixture off the heat as soon as it starts to burn.

Tip: the dish is quite low in calories on its own, but if you want to reduce the fat content even more, do not add nuts.

Take a large saucepan with a lid, pour the fried pasta into it.

Cut the vegetables into pieces of approximately the same size and add to the pasta.

Rinse and dry the rice a little by lightly frying it in the same pan where the pasta was.

Add the rice to the pot and pour in the broth and soy sauce.

Put on the fire, let it boil, set the minimum heat and continue cooking for 20 minutes.

Remove the pot from the heat and place a clean kitchen towel under the lid so that the lid presses it down and prevents it from falling into the cooked food.

Leave for 5-10 minutes, let it "rest". Remove the towel and gently stir the contents of the pot with a fork.

To serve, you can sprinkle it with fresh herbs.

Pilaf with spinach and chickpeas

This dish is cooked very quickly in a pan and has a rich taste with hints of herbs.

Pay attention to the photo for this recipe for vegetarian pilaf with chickpeas - doesn't it look very appetizing?

For cooking you will need:

1. 2 tablespoons olive oil
2. 2 cloves of garlic
3. 1 bulb
4. 1 teaspoon paprika seasoning
5. 0.5 teaspoon oregano
6. A glass of long grain white rice
7. 200 grams of spinach
8. 400-500 grams cooked chickpeas
9. 0.25 teaspoon cumin
10. 1 fresh lemon
11. A little more than a glass of vegetable broth
12. 30 grams Feta

Mince the garlic and chop the onion.

Fry them in olive oil in a deep frying pan for about 5 minutes, then add seasonings and dry rice.

Mix well and continue to fry for a few more minutes over medium heat.

Then add chickpeas and chopped spinach.

Squeeze about two tablespoons of fresh lemon juice into the pan, then pour in the broth and stir.

Cover with a lid and increase the heat slightly.

Leave the dish to cook for about 20 minutes, during which time do not remove the lid (and this is very important!).

Then turn off the stove, and do not touch the pan for another 5-10 minutes until the dish "reaches".

Toss again before serving, drizzle with lemon juice and sprinkle with feta pieces.

Vegetarian mushroom pilaf

Turmeric is one of the healthiest spices in your kitchen.

Just a small amount of this bright yellow powder will make the dish more colorful in appearance and enrich its taste, as well as help soothe pain and normalize the digestive system.

Brown rice and mushrooms are paired with a generous helping of turmeric in this veggie pilaf recipe, creating a moderately spicy and highly flavorful dish.

To prepare it, take:

1. Half a tablespoon of pine nuts
2. 1 teaspoon olive oil
3. 1 red onion
4. 1.5 teaspoons turmeric
5. 250 grams of mushrooms (variety - to your taste)
6. 0.5 cup brown rice
7. 1 teaspoon raisins
8. A glass with a quarter of mixed vegetables
9. A sprig of chopped cilantro

The dish according to the classic recipe is cooked in the oven, which must first be heated to 200 ° C.

While it heats up, toast the pine nuts in a dry frying pan. Chop vegetables.

Take an oven-proof pot, heat the olive oil in it, and quickly fry the onion and turmeric.

Add mushrooms and continue cooking. Then add rice, raisins, vegetable mixture and pour everything with a small amount of water (about half a glass).

Place the pot in the oven and cook for 45 minutes to an hour.

Check the dish periodically - if the water has evaporated, add more until the rice is done.

Before serving, add lemon juice, nuts and cilantro to the pilaf.

Vegan Brown Rice Pilaf (Gluten Free)

One of the fastest vegetarian pilaf recipes that is also suitable for vegans - it can be prepared in just half an hour if you have brown rice ready.

If you eat properly and rationally, it is probably already part of your usual diet, so the leftovers from yesterday's lunch or dinner are fine.

If they are not there, then you will have to cook the cereal first.

It is poured with water or vegetable broth in a ratio of 1: 2 (unlike white rice, less liquid is required) and boiled for half an hour.

Simple, isn't it? And now let's move on to swimming.

For him, take:

1. 1 tablespoon olive oil
2. 2 cups cooked brown rice
3. 1/3 cup toasted and chopped almonds
4. 1/4 cup vegan pesto
5. Chopped sprig of spinach
6. 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan or bowl, heat up and serve!

This pilaf can be both a main course and an excellent low-calorie side dish.

Chickpea Pilaf with Halloumi

This vegan pilaf recipe will add exotic Moroccan flavors to your menu with a spicy combination of coriander, sweet raisins and salty halloumi cheese.

For cooking you will need the following ingredients:

1. 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil
2. 2 large onions
3. 1.5 tablespoons Moroccan seasoning
4. A third cup of raisins
5. 500 grams of steamed spicy rice
6. 400 grams cooked chickpeas
7. One third of a glass of hot water
8. 2 packs halloumi cheese, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
9. 50 grams of butter
10. Chopped fresh spinach and coriander
11. 40 grams chopped pistachios

Heat up half of the vegetable oil and butter in a saucepan.

Cook the onion, then add the seasoning to it and continue to fry for about a minute until the aroma comes out.

Add rice and chickpeas, cover with hot water, stir and bring to a boil.

Cover with a lid and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat any remaining oil in a large skillet and fry the halloumi pieces, dipping them in flour first.

Dry to get rid of excess fat.

Before serving, season with coriander, spinach and pistachios.

Add a few pieces of cheese to each serving.

Tip: If you can't find halloumi on sale, substitute feta or other low-fat goat cheese instead.

As you can see, the recipes for vegetarian pilaf are very diverse. It is especially interesting and convenient to cook according to photo recipes.

But the secret is that it is not necessary to follow them verbatim: pilaf is one of those dishes that calmly withstands the replacement of ingredients and all sorts of experiments.

The main thing is to adhere to the rules that relate to the cooking process itself:

1. Use a roomy, but not too large dish for cooking pilaf. If there is too much free space in the pan, you risk losing the lion's share of the unique flavor of the dish.
2. It is better not to mix pilaf when cooking it on the stove or in the oven. But in a slow cooker you can mix it, although it depends on the device itself. Experiment with your kitchen helper and see how it tastes better.
3. Many recipes call for minced garlic, but try adding a whole, unpeeled head. The dish will be evenly filled with garlic flavor and aroma, and the garlic itself can be easily removed at the end of cooking.
4. Always let the pilaf sit for a while after taking it off the heat. This allows the dish to “rest” and more fully reveal its taste and aroma. To make the pilaf more crumbly, place a clean kitchen towel under the lid to absorb excess moisture.

Despite the fact that there is no meat in its composition, vegetarian pilaf in a slow cooker always turns out to be very tasty and, thanks to the combination of flavors of fried onions and sweet carrots, it is very reminiscent of the classic Uzbek pilaf. There are many options for preparing such pilaf and the ingredients in them are very different, but carrots, fried onions and rice always remain the basis. Basmati rice is best suited for vegetarian pilaf, which means “fragrant” in Indian.

Classic vegetarian pilaf in a slow cooker

Ingredients:

• carrots - 200 gr;
• rice - 2 cups;
• bulb - 1 pc.;
• salt - half a tablespoon.

How to cook:

1 Start the “Frying” mode on the multicooker remote control (“Baking” or “Multipovar”) and leave to warm up.

2 Peel the onion and carrot, cut the carrot into thin sticks, and the onion into half rings.

3 Pour a little of any oil into the slow cooker, put the carrots and onions into the bowl and fry them for 20 minutes. It is better to fry vegetables under a closed lid, but still sometimes you have to open it to mix them and prevent them from burning.

4 Turn off the selected mode. Add washed rice to the vegetables, mix, pour water (twice as much as rice in volume) and add salt. You can add half a chicken bouillon cube to the water - for smell.

5 Close the multicooker and turn on the “Pilaf” program (or “Cooking” for half an hour). Wait for the sound signal.

Such a vegetarian pilaf can be used as a separate dish, or you can serve it as a side dish.

Nuts in vegetarian cuisine are used as a source of proteins necessary for the body. If nuts are added to vegetarian pilaf, it will turn out to be much more satisfying.

Vegetarian pilaf with raisins and nuts in a slow cooker

Ingredients:

• raisins - 0.5 cups;
• walnuts (cedar) chopped nuts - 0.5 cups;
• rice - 1 cup;
• onion - 1 pc.;
• curry - 1 teaspoon;
• olive oil - 2 tbsp. spoons.

How to cook:

1 Peel the onion and cut it into very small pieces.

2 Turn on the multicooker on the “Baking” program, pour olive oil into the bowl, heat it up a little, and then simmer the onion in it for about 10 minutes.

3 Place the nuts, raisins, curry in a bowl and season with salt. Keep everything together in the same mode for the same time.

4 Turn off the "Baking" mode. Put rice in the bowl, pour in water and turn on the “Pilaf” mode (if you need to specify the time, you can set the program for half an hour).

5 After the readiness signal, mix the pilaf well and serve it on the table.

Vegetarian pilaf with pumpkin and chickpeas in a slow cooker

Ingredients:

• water - 300 gr;
• pumpkin - 100 gr;
• raisins (preferably light) - 20 gr;
• cumin powder - 1 teaspoon;
• olive oil - 3 tbsp. spoons;
• chickpeas - 100 gr;
• zira - 1 teaspoon;
• garlic - 1 head;
• onion - 1 pc.;
• curry - 1 teaspoon;
• pistachios - 20 gr;
• carrots - 1 pc.;
• rice "Basmati" - 120 gr.

How to cook:

1 Rinse the chickpeas, pour it in a saucepan with water and leave it in it all night, and in the morning put it in the same saucepan on the stove and cook for 50 minutes.

2 Rinse the basmati many times and fill with water.

3 Peel and rinse carrots, pumpkin and onions. Cut the carrot into strips, the pumpkin into small pieces, and the onion into slices.

4 Pour oil into the bowl of the multicooker, place the onion and carrot in the same place. Warm up for 20 minutes on the "Baking" program. Add curry and cumin.

5 Put the chickpeas to the vegetables, mix and leave in the same mode for the same time.

6 Pour raisins and pumpkin, lay out the rice, level and pour all together with water (preferably boiled). Salt, stick an unpeeled head of garlic into the rice, close the multicooker and activate the “Pilaf” program.

7 Approximately 5 minutes before the pilaf is ready, pour the pistachios into the bowl and mix well.

Fruit unsweetened vegetarian pilaf in a slow cooker

Ingredients:

• long grain rice - 2 stacks;
• dried barberry - 1-2 tsp;
• turmeric - 1 pinch;
• ground chili pepper - 1 pinch;
• cumin (or, as in the classic pilaf, cumin) - half a teaspoon;
• apricots - 6-7 pcs.;
• apple - 1 pc.;
• coriander (whole grains) - half a teaspoon.

How to cook:

1 Peel the carrots and cut into strips. Remove seeds from apples, cut into pieces. Remove pits from apricots.

2 Pour any vegetable oil into the slow cooker, and then place the prepared fruits. Fry in the "Baking" or "Frying" mode for 10 minutes (it is better not to close the lid). To prevent the fruits from burning, they need to be mixed from time to time.

3 Add spices, barberry and salt to the fruit.

4 Put the washed rice into the bowl, smooth the surface with a spatula, but do not mix the rice with the fruit.

51 Top up with hot water so that it covers the rice by a few millimeters.

6 Turn on the Pilaf program, close the lid and wait for the beep.

If you pour rice with hot water, then the taste of pilaf will not suffer, but it will cook much faster.

Immediately after cooking pilaf in a slow cooker, it must be stirred, even if it is planned to serve it after a while. If the rice will stand for a long time in the "Heating" mode, then you need to add a little less water.

A ready-made seasoning called “Pulao masala” is great for vegetarian pilaf. This seasoning contains black pepper, black and green cardamom, coriander, cloves, cassia, cumin, nutmeg and star anise. This mixture gives the pilaf a bright and rich taste, especially if it is preheated. If this seasoning is not available in stores, these spices can be used separately.

Instead of ordinary table salt, many vegetarian cooks add sea salt to pilaf, claiming that the taste of such pilaf is brighter.

• 1 cup long grain rice, pre-soaked in water for at least 30 minutes
• 2/3 cup chickpeas, pre-soaked in water for at least 1 hour
• 1 medium carrot, peeled and diced
• 10 pieces. asparagus green beans, sliced;
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped;
• 4-5 cardamom pods;
• 4 things. cloves;
• 4 cloves of garlic;
• 1 cinnamon stick;
• Bay leaf;
• any vegetable oil;
• salt - to taste.

Cooking process:

Boil pre-soaked chickpeas in a small saucepan over medium heat for 20 minutes. Drain the water and set aside for now.

In the meantime, prepare all the vegetables: peel and cut the onions and carrots, crush the peeled garlic in a press, cut the green beans into short pieces.

Turn on your multicooker in the "Frying" mode and pour oil into the pan. When the bowl is hot enough, add the cardamom pods, cloves, cinnamon stick, and bay leaf. Let them fry for 1-2 minutes until they begin to release aroma.

Add onion and sauté until soft and translucent. Add garlic and cook for 1 more minute.

Add the carrots and green beans to the bowl and cook for another 3-4 minutes.

Pour boiled chickpeas, salt to taste into a multi-pot, mix and cook for 1-2 minutes.

Drain the water from the pre-soaked rice and add it to the pan, stir.

Using the back of a spatula, even out the ingredients in the pot and add boiling water - pour on the side of the pot in a thin stream until the water reaches the level of the rice (well, maybe half a centimeter higher).

Close the lid of the multicooker and switch the unit to the “Rice” mode. If you have this mode with a time function, set the timer for 30 minutes.
Serve the vegetarian pilaf with vegetables and chickpeas topped with a spicy Indian curry.
Enjoy your meal!

Notes

• There are quite a few spices in the recipe. If you do not have any of the ingredients or, for example, you do not like cloves, I think you can omit something. However, in the original recipe there are a lot of spices, and even the finished pilaf is sprinkled with a mixture of curry. Oriental cuisine, after all, is different, but the aroma of this pilaf will win your heart.
• If you want to have a very low calorie dish, add 1-2 tablespoons of oil, but it will be tastier if you pour 5-6 tablespoons. Rice and peas absorb fat very strongly, so pilaf will be tastier if oil is not spared.
• Very often, pilaf fails due to the fact that in the end it turns out either too dry or too liquid, like slurry porridge. The trick is to pre-soak the rice and put in the right amount of water. Still depends on the variety of rice, but when cooking long grain varieties, there should be enough water so that it only comes to the same level as the rice.
• When preparing pre-soaked rice, use boiling water! This helps the rice puff up nicely.

Time: 60 min.

Servings: 4

Difficulty: 4 out of 5

How to cook lean and appetizing pilaf in a slow cooker

Pilaf is a dish that came to us from Central Asia. Meat is considered to be its main component, but there are types of this dish that even vegetarians can afford, one of them is lean pilaf in a slow cooker.

Zirvak (zazharka) - this dish is prepared not with meat, but most often with eggplant and tomatoes.

You will cook vegetarian pilaf in a slow cooker for about an hour. I suggest cooking a dish with eggplant and tomatoes. Some people also add mushrooms to this dish. The food acquires a magical aroma thanks to spices. If you want the result to exceed all expectations, do not skimp on seasonings.

Since in our country many observe Orthodox fasts, dietary pilaf in a slow cooker is becoming increasingly popular. Rice with tomatoes and eggplant is an excellent dish that will decorate any table during Lent.

The simplicity of this dish in cooking does not affect its taste. It is quite satisfying, but at the same time contains a minimum of calories. In addition, it contains many useful substances necessary for our body.

You can add pilaf with tomatoes and eggplants with bell pepper, green peas or any mixture of frozen vegetables. In addition, if there is a problem with tomatoes in the winter, then they can be safely replaced with any other frozen vegetables.

I often cook vegetarian pilaf in a slow cooker with zucchini cutlets. This dish can be served both for lunch and dinner, and it is designed for a large family.

And most importantly, you can feed them both the smallest family members and the head of the family, who came home from work very hungry. And it takes very little time to prepare.

Ingredients:

Cooking technology

Step 1

Eggplant needs to be marinated a little. To do this, cut them into small pieces, salt, add a spoonful of vegetable oil and set aside for a while.

Step 2

Cut the zucchini finely, but not like on mashed potatoes. Clean and chop the onion. I use a vegetable cutter for this.

We mix these two vegetables, add minced meat to them and knead everything well. With tomatoes, I do this: I wash them and send them to a blender to get a puree. But you can not bother and immediately buy tomato juice.

Step 3

We send the eggplants to the bowl of the multicooker and fry them lightly. We do not add vegetable oil. Then you need to pull them out, pour the bowl with oil and lightly fry the rice with onions.

Now pour water into the multicooker up to the second mark on the bowl. Next comes the turn of eggplant and tomato.

Step 4

We install a grid for steam processing and lay out cutlets formed from already prepared minced meat on it. Install the program "Rice" and go for a walk. "Miracle oven" will do the rest of the work itself.

Mushroom platter

What will be required

• Three multi-glasses of rice.
• One head of onion.
• One carrot.
• One hundred and fifty grams of mushrooms.
• One sweet pepper.
• One zucchini.
• One hundred grams of canned corn.
• Salt, spices.
• A bunch of dill.
• A small head of garlic.
• Fifty grams of dried apricots.
• So many raisins.
• Vegetable oil.

Cooking technology

Step 1

Wash vegetables thoroughly. We do the same with herbs and dried fruits. We cut off the peel from onions, carrots, garlic and zucchini, remove the pepper from the stalk and clean the seeds. Rice can not be soaked, but be sure to rinse.

Step 2

Finely chop the carrots and onions, all other vegetables and mushrooms into medium-sized pieces. Dried apricots also need to be chopped. In the "Frying" mode, you need to lightly fry the onion with carrots in vegetable oil.

Then send the zucchini with pepper there. We are preparing until then. When they become soft. Then add the mushrooms and wait until they turn golden.

Step 3

Now we turn off the “miracle oven” and put corn with dried fruits into the bowl. Pour rice on top, salt everything, add spices and mix. Pour in enough water to just cover the rice.

It remains only to set the "Pilaf" mode. After the beep, add greens and whole cloves of garlic to the dish. Set the "Heating" mode and wait another fifteen minutes. After that, the dish can be served at the table.

See another version of this dish in the video below:

Recipes for the multicooker.
Lenten pilaf.

Lean pilaf or vegetarian pilaf is a delicious dish that will decorate the table not only for vegetarians or believers during Lent, but also for all lovers of delicious food. Lenten pilaf can be both an independent dish and a side dish to the main course.

Ingredients

• 0.5 kg of rice
• 100 gr chickpeas
• 2 carrots
• 1 onion
• 3 heads of garlic
• 1-2 tbsp vegetable oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• cilantro, zira to taste

How to cook rice in a slow cooker

• Rice is washed and soaked for several hours "overnight".
• Wash the chickpeas and soak them overnight for several hours.
• On a grater, grate the carrots or thinly cut into strips. Finely chop the onion.
• We spread rice, chickpeas, carrots and onions in a slow cooker.
• Add vegetable oil, salt, pepper, cilantro, cumin. We mix.
• Remove the top layer of the husk from the garlic, wash and bury the heads in the rice.
• Pour the rice with vegetables so that the water covers the rice to the thickness of one to one and a half fingers.
• Cooking pilaf in a slow cooker in the "buckwheat" mode. In the "buckwheat" mode, the multicooker will cook pilaf while there is water in the pan. If the pilaf turns out to be dry, you can add a little water and turn on the "buckwheat" mode again. If there is no "buckwheat" mode, you need to select the "rice" or "cooking-normal" mode. You can also use the "pilaf" mode, but keep in mind that in the last 5-10 minutes before the end of the program, intensive frying of the lower layer of rice begins. If there is no desire to get dried fried rice, 5-10 minutes before the end of the "pilaf" program, it should be turned off and the multicooker should be switched to the "heating" mode.
• Lenten pilaf can also be cooked in