by hintofhelen
Here’s my recipe for Nando’s style spicy rice. Tasty, mildy spicy rice which you can cook at home! The Portuguese restaurant’s popular side dish is made using fluffy rice, turmeric and cumin.
This rice has onions, peppers and peas in it – it’s perfect paired with chicken!
One of the benefits of making this at home (despite it honestly being BETTER than Nandos rice) is you can cook as much as you like! I tend to cook a large pan full and then eat it throughout the week with different dishes. It works great with chicken, fish, or just about any meat.
It’s a crowd pleaser I often cook when I have friends round. I also often cook this Indian spicy rice recipe if I want to change things up a little too.
Next time you’re craving Nando’s spicy rice, but want to save some cash, and eat it on your sofa, give this recipe a go:
1. Chop the onion and pepper into small pieces
2. Heat oil in a large non-stick pan
3. Add onions and peppers and cook for a few minutes
4. Add spice mixture
5. Stir to coat the onions and peppers and cook for a few moments
6. Add the rice, water and chicken stock
7. Bring mixture to boil
8. Then add peas and reduce the heat to as low as possible
9. Cover with a lid and cook on very low for around 30 minutes (or until rice is cooked)
10. Mix a few times throughout the cooking time to make sure the rice doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan
Yield: 2 Servings
Delicious Nando's style portuguese rice. Made with paprika, turmeric and cumin for a delicious home-cooked dish.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/4 tsp dried chilli flakes
- 1 tbsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 225g white rice
- 500g water
- 1 chicken stock cube, (You could use vegetable stock instead)
- 120g peas
- 1/2 onion (diced)
- 1/2 red pepper (diced)
Instructions
- Fry pepper and onion in heated oil for 2 minutes; stirring constantly
- Add dried spices to the pan and cook for further 1 minute (Add more oil if the mixture is dry)
- Add rice, water and chicken stock to the hot pan
- Bring mixture to boil, then immediately turn the heat to lowest possible and add the frozen peas (move to a smaller hob if needed)
- Cover with lid and cook for around 30 minutes (until cooked). Mix the rice regularly and re-cover with the lid to ensure the rice doesn't stick.
- Once completely cooked, stir and serve
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Nutrition Information
Yield
2
Amount Per ServingCalories 226Total Fat 8gSaturated Fat 1.6gCholesterol 0mgSodium 304mgCarbohydrates 33.9gFiber 4.4gSugar 5.3gProtein 5.4g
See more: By Ingredient, Fast Food Style Recipes, Indian, Recipes, Rice Recipes, Sides, Take-Away Recipes
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31 comments
Victoria17th June 2018 - 10:16 pm
This really is better than Nando’s rice! I’m so happy I’m able to make such a tasty rice quickly and confidently at home – thank you!
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Rebecca28th January 2019 - 2:07 am
Delicious!!
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Janet12th June 2019 - 6:15 pm
Very tasty. Really easy to make.
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Anonymous16th July 2019 - 3:33 pm
Loved it!! Thank you
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Sara Slater22nd August 2019 - 10:47 pm
What is half a cupful in grams please? I like in the UK and we don’t measure in cups. Thank you x
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Helen23rd August 2019 - 9:32 am
Hi Sara, it depend which ingredient re: how much half a cup is – a quick google will give you exacts 🙂
But as the recipe works off ratios, you could also just use half a mug for half a cup, and a mug for a full ‘cup’. If this makes sense!
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Anne4th September 2019 - 10:15 am
Hi Helen, I’m a bit confused with step 3 and 4. Step 3 you say add rice, water ext and turn off heat. Then step 4 bring to boil. Could you explain please. Looking forward to making this. Thanks. Anne
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Helen4th September 2019 - 4:40 pm
Hi Anne! Sorry, updated! Don’t turn off the heat at that point 🙂 just bring to the boil then turn down once it reaches boil 🙂
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Deshika29th May 2021 - 7:39 am
Thanks for this easy and yummy recipe. Tried it today and it was super!!!
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Pamela27th January 2020 - 6:36 pm
I usually use a ratio of 1:2 rice to water, so I have had to add more water than recipe shows. But it is very tasty!
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Shabs4th May 2020 - 10:45 pm
Turned out better than Nando’s! Thank you 😊
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Hint of Helen5th May 2020 - 9:03 pm
So glad you enjoyed it Shabs 😀
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Ashlea24th June 2020 - 6:19 pm
Make this all the time now! Thanks love it
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Nadine9th August 2020 - 3:49 pm
This was AMAZING!!! I pan fried chicken strips with the onions & spices.
I also added Nandos sauce to the dish at the end for extra flavor.
Unbelievable 😋
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Gordon10th August 2020 - 9:39 pm
This was delicious. My wife is a bit of a Nando’s officianado and she loved this rice!!! Thanks for the recipe! 👍
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Matt6th September 2020 - 6:57 pm
Hi there, great recipe, my only change would be to add the peas 5 mins before end as I like them to be green still.
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Trevor27th January 2021 - 7:13 pm
Very tasty went a bit daft in chilli flakes so it was very spicy but still delicious x
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Donna1st April 2021 - 8:16 am
We are total carnivores in this house and I made this dish to go with our BBQ. Despite a selection of delicious meats on the table, my son (who worked for Nando’s for a few years!) agreed the rice was the star of the show! We all loved it and it was so easy. It will be on the menu often. Thankyou xx
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Smy16th July 2021 - 5:24 pm
This has become one of my go-to recipes for rice. Really easy, tasty and takes no time at all.
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Sharia8th August 2021 - 3:17 pm
I am absolutely in love with this ! I usually add a few of my own touches to every recipe but this was spot on !!
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KP1st January 2022 - 1:52 am
So so good – my whole family loved it
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Emma2nd August 2022 - 9:04 pm
Hi, can I make this in a rice cooker? Do I just throw everything in?
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Hint of Helen7th September 2022 - 11:23 am
I haven’t tried it myself but think it’d work out, let me know how it goes if you do try it in the rice cooker 🙂
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Umar5th August 2022 - 6:17 am
I did made it, ☺️, thank u.
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Fongi C7th November 2022 - 9:16 pm
Really tasty and easy to make. Big hit in my house 😋 thank you for sharing.
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Simon20th February 2023 - 7:28 pm
Made this tonight and it was great, although I like quite a strong flavour so plan to increase the amount of spices next time. I also added sweetcorn and used brown rice so more water was required. Its done us four portions. Was the recipe really for two portions?
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Barbara1st May 2023 - 10:33 am
I’ve made this recipe many times and it’s so good!
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Jenna5th October 2023 - 7:09 am
I made this in a rice cooker, exactly as the steps did with the veggies and seasoning first before adding the rice and broth and peas. Came out perfect!! Love it, thank you!
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Hint of Helen16th October 2023 - 12:37 pm
Oh great! So glad to hear 😀
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John1st February 2024 - 3:08 pm
I’ve tried this twice now tastes delicious but my rice always to be really soggy, not sure what i’m doing wrong or how to avoid otherwise it would be perfect!
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Hint of Helen8th February 2024 - 1:00 pm
Oh that’s a shame! Are you using the same kind of rice each time? Maybe try to reduce the amount of liquid a bit?
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