How To Cook Rice

Showing you exactly how to cook rice with step by step photos! There are three important steps to ensure you get perfect, fluffy rice each and every time, whether you are making long grain white or brown rice.

Rice is such a staple in our house, we eat it at least three times a week. While I’ve shared seven different rice recipes to jazz up plain rice, today we’re talking about the important principles that will get you the perfect, fluffy texture each and every time.

The good news is that perfect rice is something that everyone can achieve, whether you are a kitchen newbie or a culinary pro! Let’s discuss.

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How to cook rice (with photos)

1. Rinse the rice

Rinsing your rice removes extra starch from the surface of the grains that can make it stick together and get gummy. Some people rinse using a colander, however I’ve found the most effective way is to cover the rice in the pot with 2-3 inches of water.

Swirl, dump the water (through a colander or just carefully without). Repeat 5-6 times for long grain white rices or until the water becomes more clear. For long grain brown rice, you only needed to do it 1-2 times.

2. Add vinegar

This might sound unusual, but is another great tactic to get perfect, fluffy rice. Add a teaspoon of vinegar (apple cider or white vinegar both work) to the cooking liquid of your pot of rice. The acid of the vinegar is thought to break down more of the starches inside the rice, helping each grain of rice absorb more liquid (1).

I find this particularly helpful in getting perfect, fluffy brown rice.

3. Always rest the rice

Resting the rice might sound like a skippable step when cooking rice, but it is crucial to allow the moisture to evenly distribute and absorb into the rice. If you skip this step, you could end up with crunchy rice on the bottom and soggy rice on the top.

To rest your rice, take the pot off the burner and let it sit on a cold burner (no peeking!) for 10 minutes.

4. Fluff up the rice

Fluffing the rice helps separate the grains, break up any clumps, and allows trapped moisture to evaporate. This should be the last step before serving it! Using a fork, gently stir up the pot of rice until light and fluffy.

You can also stir butter or coconut oil right into the pot when you do this step, helping to coat and flavor the rice grains.

Cook times for long grain rice

While ‘long grain white rice’ is a term that is often used interchangeably, there are actually several different types, each of which has different water and cook time requirements. Make sure to always refer to the package for water quantities and cook times.

Water ratios/cook times for long grain rice:

• jasmine rice– 1 cup rice : 1 1/4 cups cooking liquid; 12 min cook time, 10 min rest time
• basmati rice– 1 cup rice : 2 cups cooking liquid; 15 min cook time, 10 min rest time
• American long grain rice– 1 cup rice : 1 1/2 cups cooking liquid; 12 min cook time, 10 min rest time
• long grain brown rice– 1 cup rice : 2 cups cooking liquid; 40 min cook time, 10 min rest time

Using a rice cooker

I absolutely love using a rice cooker to cook my rice as it always produces perfectly fluffy rice. Because of the built in programs and sensors in rice cookers, you shouldn’t need to select any specialized program beyond choosing whether you have white or brown rice.

The resting period is built into the rice cooker program, you do not need to rest your rice; once the rice cooker beeps, the rice is immediately ready to fluff and serve.

I use (and love!) this 8 cup rice cooker.

Using an Instant Pot

While the Instant Pot has a built in rice program, in a side by side comparison, I actually preferred using the manual pressure setting. When cooking long grain white rice in the Instant Pot, here are a few tips:

1. Use a natural pressure release as the ‘resting’ period.
2. Skip the vinegar, as it seems to interact too vigorously with the high pressure, resulting in gummy rice in the Instant Pot.
3. Fluff the rice up with fats such as butter or coconut oil, then put the lid back on for a few minutes. This step really helps to get that ‘fluffy’ texture.

See my perfect, fluffy Instant Pot basmati rice recipe!

Storage and reheating

If not handled properly, rice can be at risk of growing harmful bacteria that can make you sick. If you follow the following steps, you will be perfectly fine:

• Get it into the fridge within 2 hours of cooking- do not let it sit at room temperature for too long as this is the temperature at which harmful bacteria can replicate
• Store in an air tight container for up to 4 days
• Reheat until steaming hot
• Do not reheat more than once

Read more about rice & food safety here!

Freezing

Rice freezes well. You can freeze it in meal prep containers or in freezer bags (I love these re-usable silicone freezer bags!). Some people add a little bit of water when re-heating freeze/thawed rice, as it does end up slightly dryer than fresh rice.

Adding extra flavor to your rice

While I have a whole post devoted to this topic with seven different rice recipes, here are a few quick tips for you:

• swap water for chicken or vegetable stock
• always add salt to the cooking liquid
• sauté a finely chopped onion or 2 cloves of garlic before adding other ingredients
• sauté the rice until golden in a little oil or butter (5 or so minutes until it develops a golden brown color) before adding the cooking liquid

You could also check out the following rice recipes:

(these were tested with basmati rice, but you can adjust the liquid ratios for other long grain rices)

• Herb Lemon Rice Recipe
• Coconut Rice
• Saffron Rice
• Mexican Rice Recipe
• Cilantro Lime Rice
• Pesto Green Rice
• Turmeric Yellow Rice