Hot Buttered Sweet Rice Recipe

Enjoy the comforting taste of Hot Buttered Sweet Rice. This cozy meal mixes sugar and creamy melted butter on top of warm, soft rice. It’s a simple and fast way to treat yourself any time you’re craving something sweet.

Buttered sweet rice is one of my favorite childhood sweet dishes. My mom used to make it with coarse white sugar and loads of clarified butter aka ghee (it’s kind of nostalgic writing about this dish).

We have enjoyed it in many forms over the years, and turbinado sugar is the best to make this dish shine. Now, it has become my kids’ favorite sweet dish, which can be put together quickly, especially if you have leftover plain rice.

Ingredients and Substitutions

Unsalted butter: Use unsalted butter from any brand. You can substitute it with ghee (clarified butter), which also gives a great flavor. Whatever you choose, melt it right before serving to add it to your dish.

Cooked rice: You need just plain white rice cooked in water. You can use leftover rice from any of your meals, just make sure it is plain with no salt. Any type will work, but I prefer to use basmati rice due to its flavor and long grains. I will briefly discuss how to cook basmati rice, but you can see a complete guide on cooking basmati rice here.

Sugar: I love to use turbinado raw cane sugar. The big granules over fluffy rice and hot melted butter on top are divine. However, if you don’t have it, use regular granulated white sugar or brown sugar. You can also substitute it with any sugar substitute of your liking, honey, or maple syrup.

Optional extra flavor: While I like completely plain rice, if you want, you can add whole spices such as cloves, cardamom, cinnamon sticks, and bay leaf when cooking rice for extra flavor. You can also sprinkle some cinnamon powder on the finished dish.

Step by Step

Cook the Rice

Measure the rice: 1 cup of rice yields approximately 3 cups of cooked rice. For basmati rice, it yields a little over 3.5 cups. If you need two servings of this dish with ½ cup of cooked rice each, you need to cook just 1/3 cup of rice. Adjust the amount of rice according to the number of servings you want.

Below are instructions for cooking 1 cup of rice which will give you 6-7 servings to make this dish.

• Rinse your rice if you prefer or use it as is. Soaking the rice is not necessary, but if you prefer, do so for 15-20 minutes.
• Cooking ratio: For 1 cup of rice, use 1.5 cups of water. If you’re rinsing the rice, remove 1 tablespoon from the 1.5 cups of water. If soaking the rice, remove 2 tablespoons from the 1.5 cups of water.

1. Add the rice and water to a saucepan (if you want to add any whole spices also add them).
2. Turn the heat to high and bring to a gentle boil.
3. Then cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook for 11 minutes.
4. After 11 minutes, turn the heat off and let the rice rest for 10 minutes with the lid on. Do not remove the lid during this time.
5. After the resting time, remove the lid and your rice is ready.
6. Fluff them gently with a soft spatula or a fork.

Assemble the Dish

1. Transfer the cooked rice to individual serving bowls. I usually use ½ cup of cooked rice per serving.
2. Sprinkle the turbinado raw cane sugar over the top of the rice.
3. Finally, drizzle the melted butter or ghee over the sugared rice.
4. Your dish is ready!!
5. No need to mix beforehand, mix while eating to enjoy the crunchy sugar granules.

Make ahead

The dish is best when assembled fresh. If cooking ahead of time, cook the rice as per your needs and assemble the dish fresh.

Before refrigerating rice, make sure to cool it completely, which usually takes 15-20 minutes.

How to serve a large gathering

If making this dish for a large number of people, scale the recipe as you need. Before serving, assemble the dish in a large bowl. After adding sugar and butter, give a gentle mix. The sugar granules will likely melt, so add some extra sugar on top for garnish and crunchiness.

Note: Do not assemble ahead of time.