Low Calorie Rice Pilaf

This low calorie rice pilaf recipe is 142 calories and completely amazing!

Best of all, this easy rice pilaf recipe has almost 5g of protein. You can add more protein by using a high protein chicken bone broth, and of course by serving it with a healthy protein like roasted chicken.

This easy recipe for pilaf rice uses a fraction of the butter an traditional rice pilaf recipe will include. But it tastes just the same… thanks to our low calorie cooking tips (below!)

And you get a 1/2 cup of this low calorie recipe for pilaf rice for just 142 calories. We change the recipe, not the serving size to help cut calories.

Low Calorie Rice Pilaf

Low Calorie Rice Pilaf Ingredients

This amazing rice side dish combines hearty orzo pasta, and rice. Once you try this easy rice side dish, you’ll want to make it every week… And it’s so healthy, you can!

Low Calorie Cooking Tips: 

• Use olive oil spray in place of olive oil. This way you’re using a fine mist instead of a tablespoon or two. 
• We also cut the butter from 3 tablespoons down to 1 teaspoon. This helped us save 100’s of calories, but still kept the buttery flavor that makes this recipe so great.

For the best rice pilaf recipe, you’ll want to get the best ingredients. Be sure to take a screenshot of the shopping list below so you don’t forget any ingredients at the store.

Shopping List for Easy Rice Pilaf Recipes:

• Olive oil spray
• Orzo pasta
• Small onion
• Garlic 
• White rice
• Chicken broth
• Salt
• Butter
• Parsley (optional)

How to Make Low Calorie Rice Pilaf

Side dish rice recipes can be made healthy with just a few modifications. Our low calorie tricks help save 100’s of calories and lots of fat. Making your favorite simple rice recipes healthy enough to enjoy anytime.

It’s easy to make this a vegetarian rice pilaf. Simply swap out the chicken broth for vegetable broth.

This is one of our favorite easy rice side dishes… it’s easy to make, delicious to eat, and impressive.

How to Make Pilaf Rice:

1. Heat a lidded skillet with over medium-low heat.
2. Spray skillet with olive oil, and add in the orzo pasta. Cook, mixing often until golden brown (about 5 minutes).
3. Add in the onion and cook until soft (about 5 minutes), then add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
4. Mix in the rice, chicken broth and salt and increase heat to high and bring to a boil.
5. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the rice is tender, and the liquid has been absorbed, (about 20 minutes).
6. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Then add the butter and fluff with a fork.

Low Calorie Rice Pilaf Recipe

To make this healthy rice pilaf recipe, we used a few cooking tricks that we outlined above in the “rice pilaf ingredients” section.

The result is a perfect rice pilaf that tastes buttery and amazing, without all the excess calories and fat. If you skipped the “low calorie cooking tips”, be sure to scroll back up to check them out. You can use them in all your rice dishes!

Nutrition and Calories in Rice Pilaf

Most rice pilaf recipes are packed full of butter… But not ours!

We cut out almost all the butter and instead cooked the orzo and veggies in Olive Oil Spray. Then we added a tiny bit of butter at the end to add the flavor that you crave in rice pilaf recipes.

The nutrition below is based off 1 serving (1/2 cup) of the healthy rice pilaf recipe above. And you can find more information on the Calories In Rice here.

Important Note: As a reminder, at Lose Weight By Eating it is our goal to make you healthier, all-natural versions of your favorite recipes… not all will be “diet worthy” depending on the diet you are on. But they will be healthier versions to help curb your cravings.

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Article History:

• Originally written and published on May 15, 2021 by Audrey Johns
• Updated on March 13, 2023 by Audrey Johns