Homemade Annatto Oil. Easy to make, inexpensive alternative to saffron. Beautiful color!
Annatto Oil colors rice yellow.
Annatto Oil
Hi. It's Lois in the kitchen with Recipe Idea Shop. Don and I live in an area of Virginia where there are many Hispanic immigrants. Harrisonburg has several Mexican grocery stores and restaurants/food trucks where we can get inexpensive ingredients or meals. A friend told me about making and using inexpensive Annatto Oil (which has no noticeable flavor) instead of expensive saffron in recipes.
Annatto Oil is quick to make, just about 11 minutes! It colors everything a beautiful yellow. And it works great!
Try it with Yellow Rice with Raisins.
What You Need
You only need 2 ingredients: oil and annatto seeds.
Homemade Annatto Oil Recipe
Author: Recipe Idea Shop
Ingredients
- ¼ cup Annatto seeds
- ½ cup canola or corn oil
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, heat the oil and seeds over low heat until the seeds release their beautiful yellow color.
- Remove the seeds and put the oil in a cruet.
- Use about 1-2 tablespoons when you want to make yellow rice.
- Just stir it in and it will dye the rice.
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Kathy acquired the blog, Recipe Idea Shop in 2024. She was raised on a farm in Arkansas where having a big garden and good food to eat was the norm. She shares recipes for homemade comfort food and new trending dishes.
Kathy began her blogging journey in 2011 when she founded PetticoatJunktion.com, a home décor blog focused on repurposing and upcycling furniture, and thrift store finds.