A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) method for the quantification of the longitudinal (T1) and/or transverse (T2) relaxation times in a sample. According to the MRI method, a sample is subjected to an unbalanced steady state free precession (SSFP) sequence comprising a series of consecutive radiofrequency (RF) pulses. By means of the unbalanced SSFP sequence, a first order SSFP FID signal (F1), a lowest order SSFP FID signal (F0), and a lowest order SSFP Echo signal (F−1) are acquired. Based on the F0-signal, the F1-signal and the F−1-signal, the longitudinal (T1) and/or transverse (T2) relaxation times of the sample are determined.