This Mushroom Rice Pilaf recipe is made with hearty crimini mushrooms sauteed with sage, garlic, and white wine. These earthy ingredients perfectly flavor long grain rice and create a tasty side dish in 40 minutes that might upstage your main course.

Mushrooms and rice are a nice pair and when you add a bit of sage and wine, you get a richly flavored side dish that is perfect for fall. I use a pilaf technique to make this side dish, cooking the mushrooms and herbs as well as toasting the rice before adding water.
For more tasty rice dishes; try Easy Rice Pilaf or Bacon Fried Rice.
Make this recipe!
This recipe comes together in 40 minutes.
Tender mushrooms and butter make this mushroom rice pilaf dish very satisfying and compliments a variety of meat courses. It’s a great side dish to have in your back pocket for nights when you don’t know what to cook.
Fresh or dry herbs work nicely, so you will likely have most of the ingredients handy.
Dry white wine replaces half of the broth for this pilaf and add great depth of flavor to an overall earthy dish.
This Mushroom Rice recipe will quickly become a favorite dish.
You will never be accused of serving a boring side dish.
Ingredients

Long Grain Rice- American Long Grain White Rice or Jasmine Rice are good choices for this dish. The grains are lower in starch, do not require rinsing, and will stay nice and light and separate once they are cooked.
Cremini Mushrooms- This mushroom pilaf calls for cremini mushrooms. They are sometimes called Baby Bellos. I like them for their meatier texture.
Ingredient Substitutions
Button mushrooms can be substituted and will surely taste nice, but they tend to disappear when cooked for a long time.
Dry Sage can be substituted for fresh. Use half the amount of dry herbs.
Fresh or Dry Thyme is a nice substitute for sage if you don't have it on hand or if you feel like trying something different. Both sage and thyme pair well with poultry dishes.
Dry White Wine can be omitted. Simple use all broth or water and bouillon. do Make sure you keep the same proportion of liquid.
Instructions
Step 1
- Clean mushrooms by removing stems, and wiping clean with a damp cloth or paper towel. Do not rinse or soak mushrooms. Slice into thick pieces.
- Heat a large skillet on medium heat. Add mushrooms to the dry pan and add salt. Let them cook on medium or medium low, stir occasionally until they soften. You will know that the mushrooms are cooked because they will be tender and will have shrunk from releasing their water.

Step 2
- I try to be as efficient as possible. While the mushrooms are cooking, wash sage and chop into fine pieces. Peel garlic and mince or press.
- Once the mushrooms are cooked, add butter, sage, garlic, and pepper. Then, stir the mushrooms until they get a nice coating of butter.

Step 3
- Add 1 cup of rice to the pan. Stir and let it get a nice coating of butter and flavors from the pan. Then, toast for about 2-3 minutes before adding water. Toasting is the key to any good pilaf.

Step 4
- Add white wine, bouillon cube (broken up), and water to the pan. Then, give everything a little stir to be sure to prevent ingredients from clumping.
- Finally, bring the liquid to a low simmer. Cover and let cook for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, all of the water should be absorbed into the rice and the grains should be tender and separate. Fluff with a fork, and serve.

FAQs
Mushrooms should never be rinsed. They act like little sponges and soak up any liquid they touch. The more water they absorb, the less taste they have.
They do, however, need to be cleaned as they grow in soft mulch and peat and remnants of the soil often make their way to the market with the mushrooms.
To clean mushrooms, take a slightly damp towel or paper towel and thoroughly brush away any dirt that clings to the mushroom flesh.
The first step to properly cooking mushrooms is to prevent them from absorbing excess water when cleaning. Use a damp towel to wipe the mushrooms clean.
Next, is to add them to a hot dry pan with just a dash of salt to draw out the excess water. Once they are soft, then add butter and seasonings. The mushrooms will take on the fats and flavor while retaining a meaty texture.
Warming the rice through before adding water brings out the natural nuttiness and adds great depth of flavor.
Long grain varieties like jasmine rice do not need to be rinsed. Save rinsing for starchy short grain varieties.
Expert Tips
Be patient with the mushrooms as they cook in the dry pan. It takes a little while for them to fully cook. If you add the water before the mushrooms are fully cooked they will have the texture of a sponge. You will know they are cooked and have given up all their water when they have shrunk in size and are really shiny and soft.
Add the butter, garlic, and sage just before adding rice to get them warmed through so that they release their full flavor without burning.
Let rice toast in butter for about 2-3 minutes. It needs to get a nice coating of fat and get a touch brown.

Try Flavor Mosaic's Homemade Green Bean Casserole and Spabettie's Roasted Mushroom Bisque for some fantastic ways to use mushrooms.
📖 Recipe

One Pot Mushroom Rice
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Long Grain Rice
- 2 Cups Cremini Mushrooms
- 3 Cloves Garlic
- 2 Teaspoon Fresh Sage (1 Teaspoon Dry)
- 2 Tablespoons Butter
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- ¼ Teaspoon Black Pepper
- 1 Cup Dry White Wine
- 1 Cup Water
- 1 Bouillon Cube
Instructions
- Clean crimini mushrooms by removing stems, and wiping clean with a damp cloth or paper towel. Do not rinse or soak mushrooms. Slice into thick pieces.
- Heat a large skillet on medium heat. Add mushrooms to the dry pan and add salt. Let them cook on medium or medium-low, stir occasionally until they soften.
- Wash sage and chop into fine pieces. Peel garlic and mince or press.
- Once the mushrooms are cooked, add butter, sage, garlic, and pepper. Gently stir, let the butter melt and the garlic and sage warm through.
- Next, add 1 cup of rice to the pan. Stir and let it toast in the pan for about 2 minutes.
- Then, add white wine and water to the pan. Making sure to spread out any mounds of rice. This will make sure you get an evenly cooked dish.
- Finally, bring the liquid to a low simmer. Cover and let cook for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, all of the water should be absorbed and the rice should be tender. Fluff with a fork, and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Serve this Mushroom Rice Pilaf with a Simple Whole Roasted Chicken for a perfect Sunday Super.

Valentina
This is such a fantastic mushroom tutorial -- a great resource to bookmark! Thanks.
Irina
Your recipe and your post in general are just amazing! I have got so many tips of how to deal with mushrooms. Bookmarking for later and pinning! Great job!!!
Michelle Miller
Love anything that promotes mushrooms! I love a great mushroom risotto, so very curious to taste your recipe as an alternative!
Amanda Wren-Grimwood
Rice and mushrooms go so well together and this looks delicious
Sylvie
I love one pot recipe, so easy for a yummy mid-week dinner! Anything with mushroom, I'm in so this recipe is a must try!
Michael Hartwig
Excellent recipe; I'd never heard of toasting the rice before adding water. That added a great texture to the finished dish. I used thyme instead of sage, onions instead of garlic (my wife has an issue with garlic), and added mushroom soup to make it a creamy side. Went very well with ginger salmon. Thanks for publishing.
About not cleaning mushrooms with water -- it's a myth. See Good Eats season 8, episode 815 ("Myth Smasher"). Alton weighed mushrooms both before & after cleaning; one batch cleaned with a dry brush, the other with running water. There was a *negligible* increase in the weight of the water-cleaned mushrooms; I don't remember the exact amount but iirc it was a single-digit grams measurement.
Alton's bottom line -- clean them however you'd like.
Diana Reis
That sounds awesome! Glad you liked it.
Good info about the mushrooms. I make my towel damp, but rinsing really would be easier!
Elaine
I incorporated this recipe using a box of Near East rice pilaf it came out delicious 😋
Diana Reis
I love that brand of pilaf! It really is the best and so convenient. So glad the recipe worked for you.