Oven-Baked Jollof Rice (Easy, No-Stir Method)
This easy, flavorful, and flawlessly cooked African classic oven-baked jollof rice is made simple by taking the easy way out. Just stir it all together in a casserole dish, and put it in the oven. With its well-seasoned goodness, including onion, garlic, and tomatoes with some nutritious veggies thrown in, it’s perfect for regular nights or special occasions!
Jollof rice is a legendary one-pot dish that’s ubiquitous in Senegal, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Liberia, Togo, and Sierra Leone. In fact, this is the most popular party food in West Africa and has been gaining momentum elsewhere in East Africa.
Because of its popularity, there have been several debates about its origin. What I know for sure is that it is an amazing one-pot dish, and there is no argument when everyone is shoving it down their throat.
Why Bake It
While the classic jollof rice, sometimes called jellof rice, is cooked in a flavorful tomato-infused broth on the stovetop, the no-stir method lets you set it and forget it while getting other things done. With just five minutes of prep time and no constant stirring involved, you can have your jellof and eat it too. Just so you know, there is no absolute right or wrong way to cook this popular African rice recipe.
How to Bake Easy Jollof Rice
- Rinse the rice until the water runs clear. Please do not use parboiled rice! Add all the ingredients to the baking dish or casserole pan.
- Cover with aluminum foil and pop it in a 350℉ (180℃) oven for 70-80 minutes.
Tips & Tricks
- People say not to wash your rice because you remove the enriching vitamins. However, you really don’t lose that much, and washing your rice before cooking makes it fluffier.
- Let the rice sit covered for about ten minutes after removing it from the oven so that the rice evenly absorbs the remaining moisture. Then fluff your deliciousness with a fork and enjoy.
- Everyone’s oven is different. So if your rice is still hard with excess liquid after 80 minutes, be patient and turn up the heat just a tad. It just means your oven runs a little cooler than mine does.
- If your pan is dry, heat up some broth or water and stir it in. You want the liquid you’re adding to be hot so that it doesn’t cool your rice down.
Make Ahead and Leftovers
Store any leftover jollof rice in the fridge in an airtight container. It should last 3-4 days easily. It also freezes well for 4-5 months. To reheat it, add a splash of water or chicken broth, cover it, and bake it in a preheated 350℉ (180℃) oven for around 20 minutes. Ready!
Watch How to Make It
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This post was first published in March 2014 and has been updated with beautiful photos, a video, and more tips and notes.
Oven-Baked Jollof Rice
Ingredients
- 3-4 tablespoons (45-60ml) vegetable oil (feel free to reduce the amount of oil)
- 1 medium onion, diced (red or white)
- 2 teaspoons (2g) fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon (1g) dried thyme
- 1 tablespoon (15g) minced garlic or 2½ teaspoons (12g) garlic powder
- 3 cups (540g) long-grain rice, uncooked (I used basmati)
- 1 tablespoon (9g) paprika
- 2 teaspoons (5-6g) chicken bouillon
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 14-ounce can tomato puree or sauce
- 4 cups (950ml) chicken broth or water
- 1 scotch bonnet pepper or ¾ teaspoon ground hot pepper (omit if cooking for kids)
- 1 pound (450g) vegetables (peas, carrots, green beans, corn, etc., optional)
- parsley for garnishing
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉ (180℃). Rinse the rice with water and drain.
- In an approximately 13”x18”x2½” baking dish, combine all ingredients and stir so that everything is fully incorporated.
- Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil. Double the foil if you can because it helps cook faster.
- Gently place in the oven and cook for 70-80 minutes. Carefully remove from the oven and check after 70 minutes. I’ve made this recipe several times, and 75 minutes works best in my oven.
- When the rice is done, remove it carefully from the oven and let it rest for about 5 minutes. Then carefully remove the aluminum foil, fluff with a fork, and stir in your add-ins until evenly combined. Serve warm.
Tips & Notes:
- Any shallow baking dish or a Dutch oven will work, as long as it’s large enough.
- If the baking pan doesn’t have a tight-fitting lid, cover it tightly with aluminum foil so the steam can’t escape. Doubling up foil over the lid is even better.
- You can replace the tomato sauce with a can of crushed tomatoes and blitz it in a food processor.
- To double the recipe, double everything except the cooking time. Depending on the size of the baking dish, you might have to add just a few more minutes, but not a lot.
- For optional vegetables and protein, sauté them first, then stir them in when the rice is done. That allows the colors to stay vibrant and ensures that your vegetables are perfectly cooked.
- One of our readers loves adding shredded cabbage, carrots, yellow pepper, and green onions to the mix.
- I used Royal basmati rice for this recipe, available at Walmart and Costco. I have tried several varieties, and they work just as well, using the same ratio of rice and water.
- As per some of our readers here, you can use brown rice, but that would need a bit more water (I cannot give you the exact measurements because I’ve never tried it), and it will take you two hours since brown rice takes longer to cook.
- Parboiled rice cooks too fast for this recipe and will turn mushy.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on the ingredients used in the recipe.
Hello. My name is Saurel and I’m from Cameroun. I want to prepare jollof rice but I don’t have Basmati rice, I only have white long-grain rice. So to prepare this jollof rice perfectly, what is the exact ratio of cups in need for rice and water. In order to get the same servings
Your recipes are great. I have tried your rice and peas and loved it. So flavorful. I made this today adapting your recipe and others I saw using the oven method and it came out perfect. I did use the blending method for tomatoes, onion, garlic ginger and some bell pepper. Added some allspice, maggi, bay leaf, and curry. The stove method is intimidating for sure. My husband laughed when I told him what I was making. He is a man and has not had any since he was probably a young child or teenager. I’m waiting to see what he thinks of it.
He is Ghanian not he is a man. Talk to text and I didn’t scan to edit it.
Thank you for trying it out, Mea! I hope you both liked it. 🙂
We loved it. So did my mom and our young children. Jamaican beef patties are next. I am a little intimidated about making the crust. Could I use pie crust instead?
Hello,
I made this for dinner and it was amazing!!!! The store I went to did not have basmati rice so I used regular Uncle Ben’s Rice. I paired it with chicken breast smothered in bell pepper, onion, and jalapenos. It was bomb . The rice was so flavorful!!! Looking forward to making more of your recipes!!!
Hello! Glad to hear it worked out well for you. I am SO THRILLED
Hi, whats the skewered meat in the picture with rice? Is there a recipe for that?
Hi Jenni. Here’s the recipe of the skewered chicken >>> https://www.africanbites.com/suyachicken/
Hi Imma thanks for this recipe. I would like to know is the tomato sauce in this recipe same as the sweet tomato ketchup? and is the amount stated in the recipe one and a quarter ounce? Thank you for your response
No it’s not, I used tomato puree . Do not use sweet tomato ketchup. The amount is 14 ounce which is about 396 grams.
I tried the recipe the second time increased oven temperature to 400 degrees for1 1/2 hours it was fantastic the flavor is awesome thank you for the recipe
I also use par boiled rice and washed it
Oh my goodness, Imma this recipe is delicious and foolproof!!!! My boyfriend isn’t a fan of my cooking and is very hard to please in the kitchen (especially as he’s a wonderful cook). However since I’ve started using your recipes he’s pleasantly surprised at my new cooking skills! Following his requests I’ve made this Jollof Rice a total of 3 times in the past week alone!!!! I’ve also made your yummy curried chickpeas which also went down well. On a couple of occasions I’ve added swordfish which actually worked out great. Have also made your banana nut bread too which I took to a friend’s house and she demanded the recipe pronto lol. Your site is amazing and a much needed godsend. I look forward to trying out more recipes in the coming weeks. God bless you x
Aww thank you SO MUCH Cynthia! You’ve really made my morning . So sweet of you to take time out to let me know. Happy Cooking!!!
So this has been around since 2014 and for the past three years I’ve been killing hours cooking jollof rice on my stove? Gotta try this recipe this weekend, but my spouse doesn’t fancy paprika. Can I use curry instead of paprika? I suppose it won’t really change the taste.
You sure can. It would slightly alter the taste. But not that much if you love curry. Or you can leave it out completely. Let me know how it works out for you.
Did it today and it was perfect. My hubby and kids loved it.
I cooked this at 260 degrees Celsius for one hour. I was a little worried at the beginning because I wasn’t sure whether the temperature 350 degrees that you mentioned was in Celsius or Fahrenheit. Plus, the max temp on my oven is 260 degrees Celsius. However, the rice came out perfect and very yummy.
Thanks again.
Oops! My bad . Updated recipe. Glad to hear it worked out well for you. Thank you for taking the time to share this with me .
Can I make this in a rice cooker?
Yes you can.
Hi Marie, would be interested to know if you tried this in a rice cooker?
Hi Ruth, I have tried it and it works out just fine .
I would like to make this for my university class when we cover Africa. Can it be made ahead of time? If so, what is the best way to reheat it? Is the chicken raw or cooked when you put it in the pan with the other ingredients? Thank you!
It can be! Reheat in the oven or microwave works as well. The chicken is cooked already before adding to the rice – you can sauté chicken instead of placing in the skewers and roasting . Here is the recipe for the chicken skewers https://www.africanbites.com/suyachicken/
My husband is Nigerian and I’m always on the look out for easy african receipes. This is the one he likes the most!!! Thank you so much! I really wanted to avoid the method of stirring the pot and burnning this rice so this one is perfect! I’ve tried some other receipes from your site and they are lovely. Keep posting please! 🙂
I hear you Audrey! Me no like the stirring too oh! I don’t bother with the stirring method nowadays. Am pleased to hear my recipes have been working out well for you. Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know .
This was wonderful! So amazing! Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Glad it worked out well for you. Thanks!
Thanks Emma, i tried it and it came out great
Awesome! Thanks for the Feedback!!
I can’t tell you how long it took for me to sit with my Mom and demand that she show me how to make this – and it still doesnt come out as great as hers.
I’m going to try this and see if I have a fighting chance at going toe-to-toe with her!
It will! I do it all the time and turns out great. Be sure to tightly cover it.
Thanks for the tip!!
Can’t wait to try it this weekend.
I just stumbled on your site and I lot what I’m reading and seeing.Please I don’t av a functional baking tray,Is there an alternative?Tnx
Use an oven safe pot with a tight fitting lid. Another great option would be to make it in a rice cooker – works all the time.
Can I use a foil tray?
Yes, you can. Tightly cover before baking.
Just made this and it had a very good taste!!!!!! Im really happy about it! The only thing is its a little mushy but not too much. I shouldve probably cooked it for maybe 20 more min to absorb the rest of the water. Over all this is a simple great recipe! Can’t wait to try your other recipes!! Your recipes can be trustes lol
Cooking it longer will make it worse. Maybe use less water/broth. What I have noticed is that as the rice rest it becomes drier. Hope this helps
You have 2 teaspoon chicken bouillon. Is that the bouillon cube itself or is it the liquid?
It’s the powder or you can use the cube.
Ok. If I use the cube, should I crush it first and how many should I use?
yes, crush first or completely dissolve in liquid before adding.
Hi, Sorry but I’m still a bit confused about what you mean by a tin of tomato sauce. Do you mean Pasata? Would a tin of chopped tomatoes be just as good? By the way, I made your Puff Puffs and they were delicious! Thanks for the recipe.
I have tried a different variety and they all seem to work just fine. I think Pasata would do just fine. Glad you hear you enjoyed the puff puff
I made this and it has good flavor but did not cook evenly. The basmatic rice on the bottom was pasty and the top rice was hard and I had to cook it for an hour and a half because at the hour mark all the rice was hard. Any suggestions on what I did wrong? I did use fresh veggie like carrots, onions, green beans, red pepper and green pepper, the carrots and onion where semi tender. I did add chicken but I took the meat of the chicken breast bone and partially cooked the chicken and added the breast bones to the dish (I read this will add more flavor). My family loved it except for the hard rice part. I used a metal 9×13 deep cake pan and not the foil pan. Could this have caused the basmatic rice to on top be hard and uncooked? Thank you for any and all suggestions.
Hi Jill, Did you tightly cover it? I feel the addition of the extra ingredients must have been the culprit. Try making it again without the extra ingredients. Thanks!
OMG!!! I just want to say THANK YOU so much for this recipe. I am from the islands(Trinidad) and my husband hails from Nigeria. Let me tell you, jollof seems easy to prepare but is also very tricky. Everytime I cook it, it’s either too mushy, too watery, too clumpy. But your recipe omg your recipe works wonders and miracles. Girl I love you!!! I follows your recipe exactly, only thing I changed was instead of tomato paste I used tomato purée(didn’t have any paste on hand). Omg my jollof came out amazing!!!!! Soft tender separated grains of rice!! My husband was in love!! Best jollof I’ve ever made. Please everyone try this recipe and don’t knock it!! So freaking fast and simple oh my god! Thank you so much!!!
AWESOME! Love you too Mary! I can feel your excitement. Believe me , I felt the same way too the first I made this . Comes out perfect all the time. Happy New Year