Recipes Ingredients Pasta and Grains Rice Recipes Saffron Rice Add a pop of color and flavor to your meal with this golden side dish. Close Credit: Rachel Marek Servings: 4 Jump to recipe Elevate your meal with a side of aromatic saffron rice. Saffron is a spice with a unique taste and scent. It's honey-like, floral, sweet, pungent, and earthy but also subtle. And it brings all of those flavors to rice when cooked, in addition to giving the rice a gorgeous golden hue. Our saffron rice recipe is ready in just 35 minutes and is mostly hands off. It can be served as is or tossed with peas, carrots, and other vegetables for an extra dose of color and nutrition. Use it as a side for with your favorite stew (it’s especially delicious with chickpeas), or with your favorite grilled meat or fish. Test Kitchen's Favorite Fire-Cider Tonic What Is Saffron? Saffron is a bright red-orange spice. It comes in the form of saffron threads, which are the stigmas found in the center of crocus sativus, a flower that's part of the iris family. Saffron is traditionally used in many areas around the world, including Iran, Afghanistan, Spain, and the Mediterranean. The Color When used in cooking, saffron imparts a vibrant golden color. This is due to its high content of carotenoids, or pigments that give plants red, orange, and yellow colors. The Taste The flavor of saffron is complex. It has a subtle earthy flavor with sweet, floral notes. Nothing else tastes quite like it. Directions Credit: Rachel Marek Steep saffron: In a small bowl, combine the saffron and boiling water and steep for 5 minutes. Credit: Rachel Marek Rinse rice and bring to a boil: Meanwhile, rinse the rice under cold water. Place the rice, 1 3/4 cups water, and saffron in a pot and bring to a boil. Credit: Rachel Marek Simmer rice: Reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes, until all the liquid is absorbed. Credit: Rachel Marek Serve rice: Remove from the heat and let sit, covered, for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork, season with salt and pepper, and serve. Credit: Rachel Marek Frequently Asked Questions Why do you need to steep saffron in water? Saffron is steeped in water because the liquid will help extract the flavor of the saffron and properly infuse the rice. What can you use instead of saffron? If you don't have saffron, you can use turmeric, sometimes known as Indian saffron, instead. It will provide a similar golden color and earthy flavor but is more assertive and less nuanced than saffron. Why is saffron so expensive? Saffron is expensive because of the way it is produced and harvested. It has to be harvested by hand, so the process is labor-intensive. Additionally, the flowers only last for 48 hours, so the threads need to be expertly and carefully removed. 6 Other Rice Recipes to Try: Grilled Sweet Potatoes With Rice and Peas Cajun Jamabalaya One-Pot Turkey and Rice With Coconut Milk, Lime, and Fish Sauce Perfect White Rice Perfect Brown Rice Very Veggie Fried Rice With Eggs Updated by Kirsten Nunez Kirsten Nunez Kirsten Nunez is a writer who focuses on food, health, nutrition, and DIY. She has a master's degree in nutrition, and has been writing professionally for nearly 10 years for digital and print publications, such as decorvow, Shape, Real Simple, Healthline, and SELF. She also creates original recipes, which have appeared on product packaging in stores.