I make rice much more flavourful with 1 easy ingredient that’s always in my kitchen

Rice is a staple food in many households, but it can be bland unless you take a few minutes to make it more flavourful – and one thing achieves this

Katherine McPhillips and Katie Oborn GAU Writer

11:59, 24 Feb 2026

Your rice will be much tastier and fluffier if you do one extra thing (Image: Katherine McPhillips )

Rice is an easy go-to option when you’re looking to prep a speedy dinner without the hassle of planning an elaborate meal, but it can taste rather bland. Journalist Katherine McPhillips has shared her two-minute tip to make it “more flavoursome”.

She explained that though rice is straightforward to prepare, because rice is a starchy food, it’s “prone to clumping” when water is added, and can “turn unpleasantly mushy in no time at all”.

Katherine shared: “Nobody wants to eat gluey rice, but I’ve found a way to keep the grains less sticky, provided you cook them with just a small amount of butter.”

Cooking rice in butter helps greatly improve the taste and texture (Image: Katherine McPhillips)

“It may sound unusual, but butter coats each grain with a protective layer that helps keep them apart and slows down the absorption of water”, Katherine explained.

She added: “Butter essentially prevents the rice from becoming overcooked or claggy, resulting in far fluffier rice with minimal effort.”

All you need to do is spend two minutes toasting the rice until it turns golden brown, then add it to a pot of water as you normally would, and you’ll achieve a considerably better texture.

All you need to do is toast rice in a pan for two minutes (Image: Katherine McPhillips)

Cooking rice in a little butter also lends it a much creamier quality, and it’s a simple way to enhance the flavour without resorting to a complicated recipe, reports the Express.

How to make rice tastier and fluffier

Add one everyday ingredient to the pot for fluffier rice(Image: Katherine McPhillips)

You will need:

200g of riceOne tablespoon of butterOne chicken stock cube (optional)

“I also like to add a chicken stock cube to my rice whilst it’s boiling, as it infuses the grains with herbs and other flavourings”, Katherine explained.

You can also add a chicken stock cube to the water to get more flavour (Image: Katherine McPhillips )

She added: “This step is entirely optional, but in my view it transforms a modest meal into a far more satisfying experience, without needing to add salt or purchase any additional ingredients.”

Method:

Start by putting the rice into a colander and rinsing it under cold water to remove some of the starch, which is typically the culprit behind mushy rice.

Next, heat a frying pan over a medium temperature and add a small knob of butter. Once it has fully melted, tip in the rinsed rice.

Allow the rice to cook for one to two minutes until the grains turn golden and give off a slightly nutty aroma. Meanwhile, fill a saucepan with water and bring it to the boil.

Boiled rice can often be a little bland and clumpy if you do not cook it properly(Image: Katherine McPhillips)

For extra depth of flavour, crumble a stock cube into the water as it heats.

Add the toasted rice to the boiling water, then reduce the heat to low. Place a lid on the pan and leave to cook for approximately 15 minutes until most of the liquid has been absorbed.

Transfer the rice to a bowl and gently run a fork through it to help fluff it up. The result should be golden, fragrant rice that tastes far superior to a plain boiled batch.