With over 100 5-star reviews, this Vegetable Biryani recipe is one of our reader favorites! It requires only 15 minutes of hands-on time before it gently simmers on the stovetop. Vegan and gluten-free.
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Brene Brown
I learned how to perfect this biryani recipe while visiting Northern India! Fragrant and exotic, this vegetarian version is quick and easy and has simple ingredients: basmati rice, healthy vegetables, and chickpeas.
The secret to the best biryani? It’s all in the spices! This Biryani recipe is infused with aromatic Indian spices, which is the secret to its amazing flavor! It tastes warm, exotic, and earthy with a hint of sweetness. Spoon our Cilantro Mint Chutney overtop- a feast for the senses!
Ingredients In Vegetable Biryani
- Basmati Rice– or most long-grain rice, will be light and fluffy. You can use brown basmati; see the recipe notes.
- Onion getting these lightly caramelized will give the best flavor.
- Ginger and Garlic – for savory depth.
- Olive oil or ghee– for richness.
- Veggies- bell pepper and carrot. Feel free to add others- zucchini, eggplant, etc.
- Chickpeas– for a little protein! Or sub-green peas or edamame.
- Spices– garam masala, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, star anise, cardamom, chilli powder, turmeric, bay leaves.
- Vegetable Broth– make sure it is flavorful or make your own broth!
- Optional Garnishes: raisins, cashews, cilantro leaves, and Cilantro mint chutney.
- See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Vegetable Biryani (instructions)
Step one: Biryani starts with softening the onions in olive oil, creating the base of the flavorful dish. Then add the garlic, ginger, and veggies, and cook until tender-crisp.
Step two: Add all the spices and toast them for a couple of minutes, then set one cup of the veggies aside. Add the rice, saute with the veggies for one minute, add veggie stock and salt. Top with drained chickpeas, raisins, and the cup of veggies you set aside.
Step 3: Cover tightly, placing a thin kitchen towel between the rice and the lid, folding the edges over the lid. This helps create a good seal and allows the rice to cook more evenly. Reduce heat to medium-low, being sure to maintain a gentle simmer.
Step four: Simmer gently on medium-low for 15-20 minutes. Take a quick peek to ensure all the water is gone, and replace the cover. Turn the heat off, and let it stand for 5-10 minutes.
Serving suggestions
Fluff the biryani with a fork and place in a serving dish, top with the spiced veggies you set aside, and sprinkle with toasted cashews, raisins, and cilantro. Serve with a side of our cilantro mint chutney!
Storing Biryani
Leftovers will keep up to 4 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Reheat gently on the stovetop, in a warm 350F oven, or in the microwave. Biryani can also be placed in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
What to serve with Vegetable Biryani
Biryani Faqs
A mixed rice dish. Originating among the Muslims of South Asia. It is a staple comfort food in many households.
Yes, it contains vegetables, spices that are great for digestion, and protein from the chickpeas!
Cilantro mint chutney and Raita as well as Bombay carrot salad.
More Indian recipes you may enjoy!
Hope you enjoy!
Love this recipe? Please let us know in the comments and leave a 5-star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below the recipe card.
Vegetable Biryani | 60-sec video
Vegetable Biryani Recipe
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 20
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 6
- Category: vegan, vegetarian, main
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Indian
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Quick and Easy Vegetable Biryani! A fragrant Indian rice dish infused with Indian spices – vegan adaptable and gluten-free. A quick and easy weeknight meal. I highly recommend serving with Cilantro Mint Chutney.
Ingredients
- 2 cups white basmati rice (see notes for brown basmati)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (or sub ghee or coconut oil)
- 1 large onion, thinly sliced
- 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 cup diced carrot (or use match sticks)
- 4 garlic cloves, rough chopped
- 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated or use ginger paste
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin (or sub 1 tablespoon whole cumin seeds)
- 2 teaspoons coriander (or use 1 tablespoon whole coriander seeds, cracked open)
- 1 teaspoon garam masala (or sub chili powder w/a pinch cayenne)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (or one cinnamon stick)
- 1/4 teaspoon cardamom (or 3 crushed cardamom pods)
- 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 star anise pod (optional)
- 4 cups veggie stock (or chicken stock) (For fluffier rice use 3 1/2 cups.)
- 3/4 teaspoon salt, more to taste
- 1 can chickpeas, drained, rinsed
- 1/2 cup raisins
- Garnish: 1/4 cup cashews and chopped parsley or cilantro
Serve with yogurt or our Cilantro Mint Chutney (vegan adaptable!)
Instructions
- In a large skillet, or braiser or Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté, stirring often, until tender and golden, 5 minutes. Turn heat to medium, add the veggies, garlic and ginger, and sauté 4-5 minutes until tender-crisp.
- Add spices and bay leaf, and stir one minute, toasting the spices. Remove one cup of the mixture and set aside.
- Add the rice and saute it with the veggies for one minute. Add the with veggie broth and salt, stir.
- Top with drained chickpeas, raisins, and the cup of veggies you set aside. Bring to a boil over high heat, then gradually lower heat to medium-low, maintaining its simmer. When simmering, cover the pot with a thin dish towel, then place the lid over the top of the towel, and bring the four corners of the towel up and over the lid. This will tighten the seal and keep the steam in, allowing the rice to cook more quickly and evenly.
- Simmer on medium-low, 15 to 20 minutes or until the rice has soaked up the liquid. Take a quick peek, if done, replace the lid, turn the heat off, and let stand for 5-10 minutes.
- While it is simmering, make the Cilantro Mint Chutney!
- Uncover the Biryani and fluff up with a fork. Top with the toasted cashews and cilantro.
- Serve with optional Chutney.
Notes
***Instant or “Quick Cooking” Basmati Rice does not taste good here.
Basmati Rice: The liquid rice ratio may vary -please refer to your rice package instructions. For example, my basmati rice says 1 cup rice to 2 cups water. If yours says 1 cup rice to 1.5 cups water, please adjust veggie stock accordingly.
Brown basmati rice: soak it in hot water while you prep your ingredients. Brown rice will require 10-15 more minutes of cooking time and more liquid. Check package directions for cooking time and liquid requirements- adding more liquid if need be! Each rice is different.
Variations: You are welcome to add other veggies to the biryani- here I’ve added thinly sliced sweet peppers. Zucchini, eggplant or even mushrooms (saute them first) would be nice. If you want to add chicken to this, make sure to season it well and brown it first before adding to the rice mixture to simmer.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 ¼ cups
- Calories: 385
- Sugar: 10.2 g
- Sodium: 416.2 mg
- Fat: 6.8 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 73.6 g
- Fiber: 5.5 g
- Protein: 8.6 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
I bought some locally-grown chickpeas so in searching your blog, found this easy and delicious recipe !Everyone loved it – my oldest called it “fragrant and yummy,” and my house definitely smells great tonight. Veg biryani is now added to my list of staple dinners – so adaptable. All I had for vegetables were sweet red peppers and carrots, and it was really good. Of course I made the chutney, too (luckily the mint is finally coming up!) Thanks, Sylvia!
So glad you ALL enjoyed Angie. this made me happy. xo
Love the flavors in this and how easy it was to make. And that Cilantro/Mint Chutney!! OMG!!
Great to hear Lori!
I made this delicious recipe for my family. It was flavorful, quick and easy! I was inpired to find something to go with the cilantro mint chutney and I
found it! Thank you so much for sharing your fantastic recipe. Definitely a keeper.
Great to hear!
Never had biryani before, happy I tried this one. I think this can become a new dinner staple. I will use less rice and more veggies, peas, spice and oil next time I think. I didn’t fluff it up before serving to keep the rice somewhat separate from the veggies and peas, and the kids enjoyed it! Well at least they ate the rice part and I am pretty sure they ate some veggies too without really meaning to.
I cooked it a bit too long because I got this rice crust at the bottom of the pan – I quite liked that! 🙂
Thanks- so happy you enjoyed this!
I really liked this dish overall- I would use less cumin, though, as I couldn’t really taste the other spices.
Thanks Catherine- I appreciate this feedback.
I agree that the cumin can overpower the other flavours and also reduced the quantity used. But, lovely biryani! Thank you!
I have made this recipe yesterday and it was amazingly delicious.
I have added pure saffron threads also from http://www.sevensaffron.com
i realy loved the general taste of this dish!
strongly recommend.
MamaMia Sylvia! This recipe and the Cilantro Mint Chutney are absolute AWESOME! I could eat this every day..Thanks ever sooo much… just loove trying out your recipes, as I know they will look and taste heavenly :-))
Awww thanks Sonja!
Great recipe. Turned out perfect except I made the mint sauce a bit runny. Felt like a chef in dishing it up. Everyone love it. Thank you for your recipes looking forward to try some others. My whole cooking yummy and fun
Thank you for this recipe and the one for the Cilantro Mint Chutney. Both were excellent, my husband and I both loved it and it will be included in our regular rotation! I made the biryani using carrots, a red bell pepper and cauliflower and it turned out wonderfully. Thank you again for sharing, Happy New Year!!
I made this Biryani. Its is fabulous and so tasty. Mist of all its easy
Great to hear, thanks!
The recipe states “rinsed” rice. Does this mean uncooked rice but you rinse it?
Yes, uncooked rice, that is rinsed well with water, then strained.
I’m really looking forward to making this today. I don’t have a Dutch oven though. What would your next best suggestion be??
You can use a large lidded skillet or saute pan. 🙂
Just started on our vegan journey and looking forward to trying your recipes. Thanks
Thanks! So happy you are here!
Hello,
I just wanted to thank you for all of the vegan recipes. I have been a cook with milton and started at a new property about 9 months ago. I was moved to the employee dining room where I have a quite a bit of leeway and sass lays cook at least a vegetarian option. However I’ve been doing more and more vegan because we have 5-6 vegans and quite a few vegetarians. I made the biryani recipe and even the native Indians said it was authentic. so thank you for expanding my culinary skills
Thanks David! So happy everyone enjoyed!
Oh my goodness! This was so delicious! My husband and. Have recently started eating more meatless dishes which I love ! I made this after a busy day at work. It took me about an hour from start to finish, if I skipped the chutney it would have probably been about 45 and the dish is very flavored even without it The sauce adds another layer of deliciousness. Yummy!
I’m so glad you liked this!
Hi. I made the dish but i must have done something wrong. First of all – 1,5 tablespoons of cumin seems to be a lot of cumin. It really overwhelms every other spice. Are you sure it wasn’t supposed to be 1,5 teaspoons?
Then the rice. I used 4 cups veggie stock/water (I didn’t have enough stock) and a bit less than 2 cups of basmati rice – but it all turned into a dense mush. Even though I cooked it only for 10-15 minutes, since that was the prep time on the rice box. It didn’t look anything like your photos. It was just one mass, and I had to add some more water to make it less dense. I didn’t care for the cashews either – they became soft and virtually indistinguishable from chick peas.
All in all It wasn’t all that bad – I liked the sweetness from raisins and the chutney added a lot of interesting aroma. I think I’ll try it again some time, with some modifications to the recipe.
Hi Matt, thanks for this. I made some adjustments in the recipe. It sounds like you may have used quick-cooking basmati rice?
Foil is a better option to improve the seal of the pot—tea towel overhanging pot + gas stove = fire hazard (well, unless you have induction burners). Bet this would work great in an instant pot!
That’s why you tie each corners together this is way you would cook traditional Indian food.
Excellent recipe. I added some fresh vegetables as well when I added the rice. The cilantro yogurt sauce really augments the flavors.
Thanks so much!
YOU HAVE A NICE RECIPE…KEEP IT UP
This recipe was a big hit with my partner and I (no lost points for my 7-yo not liking it, she’s hard to please!). It made a HUGE pot and we ate the leftovers all week with great pleasure. I so enjoy your recipies – thank you!
Thanks so much Dona!! Glad you enjoyed it!
I used 2 glasses of broth for 1 container of brown rice and cooked longer. The spices were well balanced and it was a warm and pleasant lunch. I love your site and your recipe.
making this dish right now, i can see and smell that its gonna turn out yummy.
Thanks for sharing
cheers
What size can of chickpeas is recommended?
Just s regular sized can, 14-15 ounces.
Hi,
can I use brown rice instead of basmati? it keeps me fuller bc it is whole grain. Will it change the cooking time? Or maybe I should cook the brown rice separately?
Hi Allison, I have never tried it with brown rice. My guess cooking time will be longer and you may need more water??? But I’m guessing here!! If you do try it will you let me know what you discover and any notes?
It was amazing! I used 2 cups of stock to 1 cup of brown rice and just cooked it longer. The spices were perfectly balanced and it was a warm and comforting lunch. I LOVE your site and your recipes. Thank you so much!
Oh Alison! Yay!!! I’m so glad it worked out, great to know!!! This will help other readers too, so very appreciated! Have a beautiful day. xo
Voilà une très belle recette qui va compléter ma liste de biryani. Merci Sylvia, et je vais la faire ben sûr.
Bien amicalement Chris 06
PS:::je vous lis toujours avec plaisir.
Translation- This is a very nice recipe that will complete my list of biryani. Thank you Sylvia, and I’ll do it for sure.
Kind regards Chris 06 PS ::: I always read you with pleasure.
Thanks Chris, Im so glad you enjoyed!!!