Greek Lemon Rice

Jenny Skrapaliori-Graves | Published: March 11, 2025 | Modified: March 11, 2025

A yellow plate with greek lemon rice and a spoon.

Our Greek Lemon Rice is tart and creamy, the perfect side dish for chicken, fish, or vegetables. The fresh herbs and lemon zest at the end of cooking time make this fragrant, fluffy, buttery rice a pure comfort.

If you’re a fan of our delicious Greek Lemon Rice, you’re in for a treat with our Chicken and Rice, Baked Rice with Okra & Feta, and Chicken Meatballs With Lemon Rice!

A yellow plate with greek lemon rice, lemon wedges and a spoon.

Overview

Why this recipe sings

It’s easy. Our version toasts onion and garlic in butter with rice until nutty and well seasoned. Lemon juice, zest, and fresh herbs create a lemony fragrant, fluffy rice.
Fun facts. In Greece, lemon rice is not a recipe. Rice is served like a pilafi plain next to a pot roast with a lemon sauce, or, in rare occasions, it is cooked with the protein like chicken thighs with a lemony broth- check our chicken and rice recipe. The sauce is creating the “lemon rice.” Lemon rice is very popular as a recipe in the US. It is a Greek-American creation, like Italian American spaghetti and meatballs. Our recipe is the tastiest representative of a rizi lemonato, a Greek lemon rice.

Here is what you need

White wine, lemons, rice, salt and pepper, stock, an onion, dill, oregano and dill on a wooden surface.

Rice—I used arborio rice in this recipe, which is used for making risotto. I prefer my lemon rice to be rich like a risotto. You may use basmati or other long-grain rice instead.
Lemons—the peel, zest and juice will be used in this lemon rice.
Onions—diced, they are sauteed with the rice and lemon peel.
Butter—it goes in at the end for added creaminess.
Wine—I used retsina for this recipe. It’s an intense, dry Greek white wine made with Aleppo pine resin, produced in Greece for at least 2,000 years. It is very traditional and great for cooking, not so much for drinking, although it has some true fans. Please use any dry white wine that you like. Omit from recipe if alcohol is not desired.
Stock—vegetable or chicken.
Dried oregano, sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
Dill—the grassy, fragrant herb adds a fresh note.

How to make it

Peel one of the lemons and zest the other.
Place a skillet over high heat. Add the olive oil and let it get hot.
Add the onions and as much lemon peel as you like, lower the heat to medium, and sauté for about 5 minutes until the onions soften.
Add the dried oregano and a generous pinch of salt. Cook for about 2 minutes, then turn the heat back up to high and add the rice. Stir and sauté until translucent.

Rice, lemon peel and stock in a skillet.

Add the wine and turn down the heat to low. Cook until the wine evaporates, then add the stock.
Stir the rice, cover it, and turn the heat to low.

Remove from heat. Add the butter and stir to incorporate. Add lemon zest and gradually add the lemon juice, tasting occasionally to ensure rice is not too bitter.