How to Make Rice, 101: Foolproof Cooking & Buying

Rice – A simple food, but tricky to prepare.  Do you have trouble making consistently good rice?

Here is how to make good rice, every time – Use a pan with a well-fitting lid. The pan should be twice the size of your finished rice. Use 1 3/4 cups of water for every cup of rice. Bring to a boil, stirring so it won’t stick. Cover and turn heat to low. Cook 18 minutes, never lifting lid. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 10 more minutes. 

That’s the usual way, but read on for a bevy of other methods that are far easier, delicious, and foolproof. 

Baking Rice in the Oven: try it once, love it forever 

This is my go-to method for making rice.  There are three reasons why I love it – First, it makes absolutely flawless rice, every, single time.  Second, it needs no babysitting.  There’s no waiting for it to come to a boil, no extra stirring, no turning down the heat, and certainly no boiling over.  Finally, clean-up is simple.  Unlike my metal pot, the casserole dish and its lid can go into the dishwasher, or store any leftovers, no need to transfer to a container.  

The only time I do not prepare rice this way is during the summer – My oven shuts off on Memorial Day and doesn’t go back into service until after Labor Day!  

• Preheat your oven to 375° F, and put on your kettle.  

• You’ll need a 2-quart casserole dish with a lid for this.  Cut  1 Tablespoon of butter. Use a bit of it to grease the casserole dish, and place the rest on the bottom. 

• Add to this butter 1 1/2 cups of rice, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 2 1/2 cups of hot water (from the kettle). 

• Stir until butter melts.  Cover with lid and bake on a lower-middle rack for 35 – 40 minutes.  Let stand about ten minutes before serving.

 One thing I enjoy doing, if there are leftovers, is making rice pudding while I’m cleaning up after dinner.  It’s so easy, because I don’t need to take out another dish, and my oven is usually still warm.  

Making Rice on the Stove: the most common method

This is how most of the people I know make rice.  It’s how I made rice, and how my mother, before me, made rice.  We had some pretty lousy rice.  I mean, I got to the point where it was usually OK, but definitely not in the class of rice perfection as when I use the above baking method.  

Chances are, however, this is the way you are looking to cook rice, which has brought you to this article; so here we go – 

• Pan selection is crucial to good rice.  To make 4 – 6 servings of rice, use a 4-quart pan with a good-fitting lid.  

• Place in the pan one cup of rice, 2 cups of water, and one teaspoon of salt, and stir.

• Bring the uncovered pan to a bubbling boil over medium-high heat, stirring every couple of minutes.  Stay close – You don’t want it to boil over.

• Once the rice has started to bubble, give it one more stir, cover it, and turn it to low.

• Let it cook, covered, for 18 minutes.  No peeking!  If you do, too much of the water will be released (as steam), and your rice will dry out, stick, and burn.

• After the 18 minutes, simply shut off the burner, leaving the pan covered for at least 10 more minutes.  In this time, the rest of the water will be absorbed.  It will also be less likely to stick, making for easier clean up. 

All About Microwave Rice Cooking

Alton Brown has a good rule about not cluttering one’s kitchen with gadgets that only do one thing.  He is, however, not afraid to break that rule, for a few irreplaceable items.  One such product is the microwave rice cooker.

There are electric rice cookers (check prices), which are very popular with some who eat a lot of rice.  I’m sure these do a wonderful job, but I’d just as soon not have to deal with an extra appliance.

The microwave rice cooker (check price) is a cover with a two-piece lid, which snaps on.  I just measure the rice, measure the water, stir in the salt, and pop it in the microwave.  Don’t add butter to it until after, though.

A few caveats about this method – First, it is not a speed method.  It cooks for 15 minutes and still needs to sit for the ten minutes afterward.  Next, I always set the cooker in a plastic container, in case it boils over (I use a round takeout container with 2″ sides).  

Finally, if you let it sit in the microwave after it’s done, your microwave will be wet from steam.  Of course, if you get in there with a towel, you’ll find that the steam has loosened every speck in your microwave.  If, however, you do not want to deal with a wet microwave, remove the cooker right after the 15 minute cooking time.

The pros of this cooker are that it is a fairly foolproof way to make rice, and the cooker cleans up nicely in the dishwasher.  It’s my favorite way to make rice during the summer, because it doesn’t heat up the kitchen.  The cons are that it gets very hot, and I do feel a bit apprehensive about cooking in plastic, especially at such high temperatures.

How to Make Success Rice

This is a good way to make rice, if you don’t make rice too often, and you’re only feeding two or three people.  Each box of Success Rice comes with three pouches.  You simply boil one in a pot of salted water (no need to measure), and then drain and serve (follow directions on the box for the specifics).  

The rice comes out moist; not sticky, but not separate, either.  Some may not like that texture.  The flavor is good. Their Jasmine rice is tasty, as well.

How to Make Minute Rice

This is as advertised – It’s done in a Minute, and it is rice.  Sadly, however, those are the only positive things I can say about it.  You’d better have something really good to serve over it, because Minute Rice is extremely bland and tasteless, even by rice standards.  

It doesn’t need cooking, so much as rehydration. You simply heat water, stir in the rice, cover, and it’s ready in five minutes (follow directions on the box for the specifics). 

The texture is separate and rather dry.  If you overcook it, it becomes mushy and grainy, almost like oatmeal.

Which is the Best Rice to Buy?

The most important thing to know about saving money on rice is that the bigger bags are much cheaper per pound.  Rice keeps indefinitely, so don’t be afraid to stock up.  The exception is brown rice, which will develop a rancid taste, if not refridgerated, especially in the warm weather.

This is not an exhaustive list by any means, just a few kinds that I really like.

If you want brown rice, by the way, the oven method is the only way I do it.  Let it bake about 10 additional minutes.  I dislike the way it comes out on the stovetop; plus, it takes twice as long.  I don’t even like it from restaurants.  Oven cooking gives the best taste and texture.  

One downside for brown rice lovers can be the cost.  Price Rite and Dollar Tree charge the same for brown as they do for white, but most stores charge quite a bit more for brown rice.

Parboiled rice cooks the same way as regular rice.  It is the best choice for those who like the grains to stay separate.  Long grain rice also has this quality, and was the only kind my mom was ever able to cook successfully (in Mom’s defense, I think her pans and lids had all been dropped so many times, that there was never that tight fit which is so essential to perfect rice).

Jasmine rice and Basmati rice both have a pleasant flavor.  They taste buttery, even with no added butter.

My favorite rice, by a longshot, is Goya Canilla Rice.  Those who like separate grains can fluff it up with a fork before serving.  If you prefer it more on the firm, sticky side, scoop it out with a food scoop.  It has a mild, buttery flavor that the whole family loves.  As a bonus, it is often the cheapest rice out there, costing even less than the house brand.

Is Rice a Healthy Food?

The US Rice Council has beautiful printables to help you make rice fun and healthy.  They even have a good tip for people with diabetes who want to enjoy rice safely:

For those who are using carb counting for meal planning, the grams of fiber in food can be subtracted from the total grams of carbohydrates.” 

– Meriterese Racanelli, M.S. 

A Few Interesting Rice Facts

• According to the World Atlas, nine out of the top ten rice-eating countries are all in Asia. Number 10? Brazil, which only goes through about 6% the amount of rice  consumed by the Chinese.

• Rice contains trace amounts of arsenic. “Consumer Reports food safety experts believe those levels do carry a risk.”  If you’re consuming rice products more than  two or three times a week, check out the Consumer Reports article below, for tips on mitigating the risk.

• Rice can be handy around the home for other things beside eating, like this tip from Readers’ Digest:

Soothe aches and pains with a homemade hot compress. All you need is a clean sock and uncooked rice. Fill the sock with the rice, leaving enough room for the grains to move around and be able to conform to your body. Tie the end of the sock tightly with string (if using a long sock simply tie the end in a knot). To heat, microwave the filled sock for one minute. If it’s not warm enough, continue heating in 30 second increments until it reaches desired temperature. The compress can also be used as an ice pack by chilling it in the freezer for 30-45 minutes.”

Reader’s Digest

Resources for Further Exploration 

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