Asia → Saudi Arabia → Riyadh
🍽️ DINNER
Saleeg
A Hijazi Saudi dish of short-grain rice cooked soft in milk and chicken broth to a creamy porridge, topped with roasted chicken.
Saudi · medium · serves 6
prep 20 min · cook 75 min
~756 cal · 65g protein · 62g carbs · 24g fat · 1g fiber · 7g sugars · 10g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Saleeg is the creamy, comforting rice dish of the Hijaz, especially the mountain city of Taif, often described as a Saudi answer to risotto. Short-grain rice is cooked slowly in chicken broth and then milk until the grains dissolve into a soft, velvety porridge.
A whole chicken, first simmered with and cinnamon for the broth, is browned or broiled and set on top of the rice, and a little is drizzled over. It is a dish of refined simplicity, its flavour resting on good broth and patience, and it is a staple of Saudi hospitality served with a sharp chili daqoos on the side.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 6
- 1 (about 3 lb) whole chicken, in pieces
- 2 cups short-grain rice
- 3 cups whole milk
- 3 tbsp butter or
- 1 onion, quartered
- 4 pods
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 small pieces mastic (optional)
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- to taste salt
Instructions
- 1Simmer the chicken with the onion, cardamom, cinnamon, bay, pepper and salt in water to cover for about 45 minutes. Lift out the chicken and strain the broth.
- 2Brown or broil the cooked chicken pieces with a little butter until golden, and set aside.
- 3Melt the butter with the mastic in a pot, add the rinsed rice, and toast for a minute.
- 4Pour in 4 cups of the reserved broth and simmer covered until the rice is very soft and most liquid is absorbed.✎ Chef’s noteUse starchy short-grain rice, not basmati: you want it to break down, not stay separate.
- 5Stir in the milk and cook gently, stirring often so it does not scorch, until thick and creamy.
- 6Spread the creamy rice on a platter, top with the browned chicken, drizzle with ghee, and serve with chili sauce.
Hijazi Taif tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Riyadh. Riyadh heaps kabsa onto a communal platter, spiced rice cooked with lamb or chicken and shared by hand among guests. Najdi hospitality shapes the meal, with dates and cardamom coffee before it and jareesh crushed wheat alongside.
🗺️
Saudi Arabia. Saudi cuisine centers on kabsa, spiced rice with meat, and the Bedouin traditions of dates, camel, and coffee. Hospitality is sacred, and vast shared platters define feasts across the kingdom.
🌍
Asia. A grain line runs across the continent. Rice dominates the wet south and east, wheat the drier north and west, and the tools follow it: the wok and the steamer where rice is milled, the tandoor and the griddle where wheat is ground. Tea travels the other way, drunk green, black, salted, buttered or with milk depending how far it got from China.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Saudi Arabia
KabsaSpiced rice cooked in aromatic broth with chicken, dried lime, and a whole-spice perfume, heaped high for sharing.
MasabibSoft, holey yeasted pancakes drenched in date syrup or honey, a Hejazi and Saudi breakfast.
MutabbaqA thin folded pastry stuffed with spiced minced meat and egg, griddled crisp, a favorite Saudi street snack.
Browse all Saudi Arabia recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan.
Storing it: Cool leftover rice quickly and refrigerate within an hour. Keep up to 2 days and reheat until piping hot all the way through.
Make it a Saudi Arabia meal
Sobia (Hejazi Ramadan Barley Drink)Drink
AreekaDessert
MutabbaqLunch
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Palestinian MaqlubaPalestine
Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Saleeg?
A Hijazi Saudi dish of short-grain rice cooked soft in milk and chicken broth to a creamy porridge, topped with roasted chicken.
Where does Saleeg come from?
Saleeg is a Saudi dish from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Can Saleeg be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Saleeg recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Saleeg safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Saleeg take to make?
About 95 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 75 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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