You can never have too many of these quick and easy “emergency” meals. Things you can whip up with very little effort, using things you probably have on hand. I love this One Pot Veggie Rice Bowl because it uses very few dishes, requires next to no chopping, and it’s perfect for people with limited cooking equipment (dorms, RVs, hotel stays). Plus, as always, there are plenty of ways to customize it. ;)
Cooking Rice and Eggs Together in One Pot
Last summer when talking about favorite potato salad recipes with our community, several people mentioned that they boil eggs for their salad right along with the potatoes in one pot. That got me thinking. It takes about 15 minutes to steam rice, which is really close to the amount of time it takes to hard boil an egg. So I had to try cooking rice and hard boiled eggs at the same time in one pot. Guess what? IT WORKS. But you definitely want to make to wash your egg(s) well first. ;)
Single Serving Recipe
This recipe is designed to be a quick and easy single serving meal for one. It’s perfect for those who are traveling or living in housing with limited cooking equipment. You can scale this up, if needed, by adjusting the number of servings in the recipe card below. Cooking times do not need to be adjusted if scaling the recipe up. Here is a similar recipe for One Pot Chicken Teriyaki and Rice that feeds four.
Use a Pot or Rice Cooker
The instructions below are for making this recipe using a saucepot on a burner or hotplate, but you can also do this using a rice cooker. To use a rice cooker, just add everything to the rice cooker in the same order as described below, then select the cook function. The only caveat with using a rice cooker is that you have a little less control over the cooking time, so if the programmed cooking time is too long, you may end up with an egg yolk that is a little green around the edges.
A green-tinged egg yolk is a classic sign that an egg has been overcooked. It does not mean that the egg is bad, rotten, or unsafe to eat and in most cases, it does not affect the flavor. It’s simply a chemical reaction between the naturally occurring hydrogen, sulfur, and iron in the egg that happens with a certain amount of heat exposure.
Can I Use Brown Rice?
This recipe is best used with white rice. Brown rice needs about three times longer to cook, at which point your egg and vegetables will be far overcooked. For best results, cook the brown rice separately.
What Else Can I Add to My Veggie Rice Bowl?
The other great thing about this bowl is just how flexible it is. You can use any type of frozen veggie mix (a stir fry mix works great), you can adjust the seasonings to your liking, and you can add all sorts of fun toppings if you happen to have them on hand! Here are some things that would taste great as an additional topping for your veggie rice bowl:
- Avocado
- Sesame seeds
- Leftover cooked meat (ham, rotisserie chicken, etc.)
- Shredded carrots
- Kimchi
- Cucumber
- Sautéed spinach
- Teriyaki sauce
- Jalapeño
- Cilantro
- Red bell pepper
One Pot Veggie Rice Bowl
Servings 1Ingredients
- 1/2 cup long grain white rice ($0.31)
- 1 clove garlic, minced ($0.08)
- 1 cup frozen vegetables ($0.38)
- 1 cup water ($0.00)
- 2 tsp soy sauce, divided ($0.04)
- 1 large egg ($0.21)
- 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil ($0.05)
- 1 green onion, sliced ($0.11)
- 1 Tbsp sriracha (or to taste) ($0.11)
Instructions
- Add the rice, garlic, and frozen vegetables to a small saucepot.
- Combine the water with 1 teaspoon soy sauce, then pour that into the pot. Stir to combine with the rice, vegetables, and garlic.
- Wash one large egg well, then place it in the center of the pot, on top of the rice.
- Place a lid on the pot, turn the heat on to high, and allow the water to come up to a boil. Once it reaches a full boil, turn the heat down to low, and allow the water to continue to simmer for 15 minutes without removing the lid or stirring.
- After 15 minutes of simmering, turn the heat off. Remove the egg from the pot and replace the lid right away. Allow the rice to rest with the heat turned off and the lid in place for another five minutes.
- After removing the egg from the pot, place the egg in a bowl of ice water or place it under cold running water for a few minutes to stop the cooking process.
- After letting the rice and veggies rest for five minutes, remove the lid and fluff with a fork. Season the rice and veggies with the sesame oil and another 1 teaspoon soy sauce, or to taste.
- Transfer the rice and vegetables to a bowl. Peel the egg and slice it in half or into quarters, then place it on top of the rice. Top the bowl with sliced green onion and a drizzle of sriracha.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Nutrition
How to Make A One Pot Veggie Rice Bowl – Step by Step Photos
Combine ½ cup long grain white rice, 1 cup frozen vegetables, and one clove of minced garlic in a small saucepot.
Combine 1 cup water and 1 teaspoon soy sauce. Add that to the saucepot and stir everything to combine.
Wash one large egg well, then place it in the center of the pot on top of the rice. Place a lid on the pot, turn the heat up to high, and allow the water to come up to a full boil. Once the water reaches a full boil, turn the heat down to low and let it continue to simmer over low for 15 minutes without lifting the lid or stirring.
After 15 minutes, turn the heat off and remove the egg from the pot. Replace the lid on the pot and let the rice rest for 5 more minutes. Place the hot egg in a bowl of ice water or run under cold water for a few minutes to stop the cooking process.
After letting the rice rest with the heat turned off and lid on for five minutes, remove the lid and fluff the rice and vegetables with a fork.
Season the rice and vegetables with ½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil and another teaspoon of soy sauce, or to taste.
Transfer the rice and veggies to a bowl. Peel your egg, cut it in half or quarters, and add it to the bowl. Top the bowl with sliced green onion and a drizzle of sriracha to taste. Enjoy!
SO GOOD!!! This might be my favorite BB recipe so far, and I like a lot of them. Made it in a rice cooker with frozen broccoli because that’s what I had on hand. Next time I’ll get frozen stir fry veg. The egg was cooked perfectly. Seriously delicious and so easy, which is really saying something because I’m not a very experienced cook. I think I’ll be eating this at least once a week!
I loved this – it was perfect for an easy and nutritious dinner; i doubled the recipe and added 5 eggs on top, and my husband, 4 year old, and 1 year old all loved it. I also made some sriracha Mayo which was so good mixed in at the end. Will definitely use this for busy days. So easy to make!
Great way to up random leftover ingredients! I made it tonight. Instead of eggs, I put in dry red lentils I had leftover from another recipe. I also put the last of my lemon zest in the water. I had some leftover BBQ pulled pork. I reheated that separately. Also got to use up the last bit of a bag of shredded cheddar jack.
This looks like a easy yummy meal! I love how you add the price for each meal also!
Hi Beth, I am a huge fan of your recipies and all of them are repeat makes as they’re so tasty! This one left me puzzled though. I followed the directions to a tee as always, but when I went to remove the cooked egg, the entire bottom was charred black! Which is a bummer as this is a one serving meal :( . Any tips or idea to prevent that? This recipe seemed perfect for me so I would like to try again! I used a non-stick sauce pan too
Hmm, that’s strange, did your egg sink to the bottom? Mine stayed on top of the rice. What size pot did you use?
Yes the egg was sitting flat on the bottom of the pot. I used a 3qt nonstick sauce pot
Okay, yes, that makes more sense now. You’ll definitely want to use a smaller pot for this size recipe and that will help prevent the egg from sitting on the bottom of the pot. It should sit on top of the rice and vegetables.
Do you think I could scramble an egg and add that to the pot…..sort of like stir-fried rice?
I might give it a try and see what happens.
Another delicious and easy recipe from your website. Thanks!
Had already made brown rice, so turned those into fried rice. Heated 1 Tbsp oil over medium heat, added the garlic. Scrambled the egg in. Added the rice then veggies. Added cilantro and peeled carrot as toppings. Very good! Used Budget byte’s shrimp fried rice recipe for guidance.
i’m very new to cooking and this recipe looks very easy to try but could i ask what the instructions are if using a rice cooker?
From the blog post, “To use a rice cooker, just add everything to the rice cooker in the same order as described below, then select the cook function. The only caveat with using a rice cooker is that you have a little less control over the cooking time, so if the programmed cooking time is too long, you may end up with an egg yolk that is a little green around the edges.” I have more information about green yolks right after that, if you need more information. :)
This might be a dumb question but how do I know when it’s boiling if I have the lid on? Ha I just feel like I’ll keep messing it up if I’m taking off the lid to check.
Ooh, yes, that is tough when you don’t have a glass lid! I would say sound is going to be your best indicator here. Use the sound the best you can to reduce the need to lift the lid to look. You’ll definitely still need to lift the lid, but using sound should help you be able to do it less often. :)
I can totally see this becoming a lunchtime staple in the winter. Thanks for the recipe!
can you cook this in an instant pot. thank you
I feel like that might work, but I’ve never tried it so I don’t know for sure. :)
I used brown rice and hands down the instant pot is the best method for brown rice. (equal part rice and water, dash of salt, 24 minutes, 10 minute release) None of the veggies could possibly stand up to 24 minutes under pressure so I cooked them separately. Oh, and I swapped out the egg for shrimp.
I’ve been a big budget bytes fan for a long time but this was the first recipe I’ve really felt compelled to leave a comment on because it was simply SO good and SO easy! I’ve been a bit of a rut with my work from home lunches and this was so easy to make with ingredients I already had in my kitchen :) Will be in my rotation of cheap and easy lunches for a while now!!
This might be a dumb question, but how do you wash an egg well? Like, do you use soap? Or just rinse it under cold water really well? (Egg shells are porous so soap seems like a bad idea but maybe they are not THAT porous?)
I’d definitely use hot water and a soft bristled brush. You’re mainly looking to remove debris. :)
Eggs have a fibrous membrane called the chorion that will prevent soap and water from entering the egg.
This was very good! I doubled the recipe and threw in some frozen kale . My husband thought it good too!
Really love this one! Made it tonight for dinner with some random veggies and leftover cooked meatballs (reheated by steaming over the rice!). Delicious!
More of these kinds of meals, please — fast, cheap, delicious, filling, plenty of veggies, made with common ingredients I have around. It’s the perfect type of meal for me.
I’m so glad you liked it! I definitely want to make more meals this style. :)