This is a recipe that takes me right back to childhood into my grandma’s kitchen. My dad is 100% Slovenian, and both sets of my paternal great-grandparents immigrated to northern Minnesota from Slovenia. My paternal grandma kept as much of the culture alive as she could, but as was typical for immigrants at the time, they learned to speak only English in their home and to assimilate with the American culture. I did grow up eating Slovenian food, singing Slovenian songs, learning a smattering of Slovenian words, and enjoying Slovenian polkas! 

What is Rižot? 

I was always told that, loosely translated, rižot (“rih-zchuht) means “meat and rice” in English. It is such a simple dish, made with practical ingredients you have on-hand; I have found this to be a similar theme with most Slovenian dishes. If you Google rižot, you will find explanations of it being a Croatian version of risotto; this makes sense as that Eastern European countries of Slovenia, Croatia, Yugoslovia, etc. changed borders so many times that there are a lot of crossovers of cultures. In our family, rižot means cooked ground meat with rice and seasonings. How it is put together can be customized according to taste. 

An Easy, Simple, Nourishing Meal 

Rižot is a great meal for both big and small households – it is very versatile, and you can cook it to your family’s taste. Start with a ground meat of choice (beef, venison, pork, turkey, or a mix of the above), rice of your choice (white, brown, jasmine, etc.), chicken or beef broth, garlic, onions, salt, and pepper. I also add in any leftover vegetables in my fridge that need using, or you could throw a bag of frozen veggies into the skillet. You can also leave the vegetables out and make a side dish of your choice. My grandma always served this meal with bread and butter, so it is my preference to eat it the same way. This is also a meal I have always had with a LOT of black pepper – so delicious! 

How to Make Rižot 

Brown your ground meat of choice until mostly cooked through. Add any seasonings you desire to the meat; you can also add fresh garlic and minced onions at this point to cook with the meat. You can drain the fat or not – I usually just leave it if there isn’t a huge pool of it since it gives great flavor to the rice. While the meat is cooking, cook your rice per the package instructions, preferably using homemade bone broth as your liquid (beef or chicken are both tasty). Once the liquid in the rice has absorbed and your meat is browned, add the rice into the meat skillet and mix together. Add salt, pepper, and any other desired seasoning to taste. If you are going to add vegetables, you can do that now, and cook while covered until warm. Serve with buttered bread on the side or make half sandwiches with it – this is a delicious way to eat this dish!