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.
The dark does not destroy the light; it defines it. It’s our fear of the dark that casts our joy into the shadows.
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
Wonderful recipe, I loved it, thank you so much! I was wondering if I can freeze leftovers.
Bravo 👌
Thanks
Just made it last night and we loved it! I added an extra cup of veggies and next time will add even an additional cup- as it is a lot of rice! But the flavor is great! I did not make the mint-cilantro chutney as I did not have any mint- but hoping to make that next time as well! Great recipe!
Real delicious, just a warning to check the heat level of your chili powder, as our’s turned out a little overwhelmingly hot! But very nice flavour indeed.
Mine is pretty mild?
Vegan biryani a great recipe. So easy to follow and and tickled pink with the
result. Chuffed to bits to now have in my go to recipes.
This looks fabulous. I would like to try this with brown basmati rice. Do you recommend just cooking it longer? Or maybe pre-cooking the rice before adding? Thanks!
Yes, it will need to cook a bit longer and perhaps add more liquid?
Perfect for our vegan friend, who is always a challenge.
Easy and excellent
This was so good! I made it with gluten free rice. Delicious 😋
I made this recipe. The family just loved it. It is balanced, healthy and very tasty. I recommend.
Too much work for little taste. Something is definitely missing!
Hummm, that’s strange and I’m sorry. Is it possible an ingredient was left out or it was undersalted? Did you make the Green Sauce?
I agree. I followed exactly and it is not flavorful
Sorry, I will need to remake this one.
Absolutely amazing! Our whole family love it.
It is very good. I have just finished cooking your dish. I like it very much. Thank you
Very delicious dish, tasted really well with the chutney. I used only 1 cup of rice and a bit less water because we’re only with two people, and the level of spice is a-ma-zing.
Yum!
Delicious! Very fresh and healthy, loved it.
This recipe was incredible. I made it just as you said and it was amazing. I was hesitant as I thought the variety & amount of spices would be overwhelming but they were not. I will definitely add this to my favorites.
One thing I have to know though, is what is the purpose of removing the 1 cup of the mixture and then adding it back. To make it visually pleasing when you remove the tea towel? LOL.
Yes, so some of the onion mixture is on the top. 🙂
Thanks. Mystery solved!
First recipe I’ve made from your site and I loved it. I even ate some of it cold!
Didn’t have the ingredients to make the chutney but it was still delicious.
Thanks so much!
Glad you liked this Melanie!
Can this be made without the raisins? If so, is it ok by itself or does it need the raisins or other dried fruit to complement the flavors? All I have is dried cranberries and was wondering if those would work..
Yes Kelly, you can leave the raisins out -or try the cranberries. The raisins add a subtle sweetness…cranberries may be too tart?
This recipe worked really well. My partner dislikes spicy food so I reduced the chili to 1/4 teaspoon and that was tolerable. Also used 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger as fresh ginger is very expensive here. Also used peanuts in place of cashews for cost savings. One note is that our zucchini came out really soft – it probably didn’t need any pre cooking. Next time I will use carrots I instead. I also recommend cauliflower – it goes very well with Indian spices.
Delicious, I served with a side of home mad daal makhani, it was heavenly.
The one recipe that the entire family all agree on, delicious!!!!
Sorry, do not usually give really negative reviews. I made this tonight and found that it had very little taste whatsoever. Followed the recipe exactly, except I didn’t have coriander. Dont really think that would have made that much of a difference. I added more spices, cinnamon, cumin, salt, but to no avail. Sorry. Usually like your recipes.
Sorry it wasn’t for you Isabel.
We made this recipe expecting to use this as a main course. I feel this makes a better side dish then a main course. We left out the added salt and I feel that it would have been tastier with the extra salt. We also substituted quinoa for rice which I think made this dish a little drier. All in all, I enjoyed the flavors of this dish.