How to Cook Rice on the Stove

This is a tip we feel a little silly posting. As we always make rice on the stove (as opposed to in a rice cooker) we feel it is obvious.

It is not, however, obvious to the many people who ask us how to cook rice. It's quite simple to make it on the stove, and here is how we do it. You may do it differently, however...

Pre-cooking: We like to rinse our rice in a colander or strainer, but this is not 100% necessary so we don't include it in these steps. We like to rinse the rice to get any extra dust or chaff cleared out.

1. Measure water and rice. Depending on the kind of rice you use, the ratio of water to rice varies from 1 1/2 cups of water to 1 cup rice to 2 cups water to 1 cup rice. Check the package for specific instructions.

For most rice we use a 2:1 ratio - about two cups of water to one cup rice. Also, we plan on about 1/2 cup (uncooked) rice for each person we are serving.

2. Boil the water, with a little salt and/or butter. Bring the water to boil in a large saucepan, like the ones we recommended here for cooking rice.

We add several dashes of salt, and sometimes a pat of butter, too - depending on the final use for the rice.

3. Stir in the rice and bring to a simmer. When the water has boiled, stir in the rice and bring back up to a low boil.

4. Cover and cook on low heat . Cover the pot, turn down the heat, and let the rice cook. Don't take off the lid while cooking! This will let the steam out and make your rice undercooked. Approximate cooking times:

• White rice: About 18-25 minutes
• Brown/wild rice: About 45-60 minutes

5. Turn off the heat and remove lid. When the rice is done, turn off the heat and take off the lid. Let the rice sit for a few moments to "dry out" and lose that wet, just-steamed texture.

Also see: What's the Deal with Rice Cookers?

Rice stays good in the fridge for several days, so you can make extra ahead to serve later. We like rice in or with these dishes:

• Green Coconut and Pork Curry
• Saffron Rice with Peas and Cashews
• Malaysian Beef Curry
• Fried Brown Rice with Ginger and Scallions
• Thai Green Curry

Comments (27)

Someone I know is always bragging about her rice cooker and how I should get one, too, but I agree with Faith--it's really simple to cook rice on the stove, and that's one fewer appliance I need.

I made red rice last night. What i do is I first fry a bit of onion and garlic in oil, when the onion is soft I add the rice to fry a bit until all the grains turn white, stirring so that it doesn't burn. Once that's done I add the water and some tomato paste, and salt. Bring it to a boil and then lower the heat, and let it cook for about 20 min. And what you get is sort of reddish mexican rice.

I've burned so many pots of rice that my husband bought me a rice maker. I'm no longer "allowed" to make rice on the stove.

Thereâ€™s an even easier way to cook rice on the stove. Cook it like pasta, in a large quantity of boiling water, for about 13 minutes (how long depends on the rice, but this way is a little quicker than the traditional way), and then use a strainer to drain it. Youâ€™ll never scorch the pan again.

I make rice much like Sofia - but cook onions and tomatoes first, then add the rice for a fewminutes and then the water.
And I actually relish the crispy (not burnt) bits. So tasty!

I guess I never realized that people burned rice. As long as you don't buy in bulk, the rice has instructions on it. I can't believe people are on this site who can't follow the simple instructions. Weird.

I've burned rice cooking it on the stove, too. And often, when it's cooked in the rice cooker, it gets too brown on the bottom.

I'm always stumped about the type of measuring cups to use. Logic says use a dry measuring cup to measure the rice, and a liquid measure cup for the water. When I do that, the end product just doesn't seem right. It's usually too watery cooked at the recommended time.

When rice is processed, it loses most of its nutrients. In order to replace these, a vitamin-mineral mix is sprayed onto the rice. If you rinse it, you lose this benefit.

A Puerto Rican neighbor of mine gave me a good method for cooking rice. I've never burned it yet and it comes out nice and fluffy and dry.

Put two cups of long grain rice in a large microwavable bowl. Pour on about a tablespoon of oil. Add salt to taste. I do about 1/8 tsp. Add two and a half cups of water. Do not cover. Microwave for 15 minutes. Cover the bowl with a large plate. Microwave for 5-8 minutes more. Let sit covered until ready to use. You may need to tweak the cooking times a little bit based on your microwave strength.

I used to cook the rice in the microwave using a 2 cups of rice to 4 cups of water proportion and cook it covered the whole time but the rice would split at the ends and I always had the nagging feeling that I should buy a rice cooker. Learning this technique has saved me the 90 dollars that a good rice cooker would cost.

I learned to cook rice like Sofia and Renee, though I don't add tomatoes. Using broth or stock instead of water also makes the rice more flavorful.

My never-fail method for cooking jasmine rice came from the fabulous Seductions of Rice cookbook.

1.5 c rice
1.75 c water

Put *both* in the bot and bring just to the boil, then cover and turn down to simmer for 15 minutes. Don't stir or remove the lid during this time. Then remove from heat and leave covered for 5 minutes. Again, keep your paws off it, and don't peek at your rice yet. When the 5 minutes are up, then fluff and enjoy.

My rice turns out consistently well following this method.

My family has always made a savory rice pudding called "breakfast rice." It is served at (can you guess?) breakfast. It's one cup white rice to one cup milk and one cup water, with a dash of cayenne and a dash of nutmeg, generous white pepper and salt. Follow the directions for cooking time, and let the rice rest for a few moments covered when it's done cooking. Then add between two and five tablespoons of cream (yeah cream, what of it). Stir it all up and serve it next to sausage patties or fried eggs. Southern delicacy!

The key to burning rice for me is not getting the heat quite right. Too low and its hard, too high and its charred. Either way its not worth the minimal difference in taste compared to using the microwave. With active chopping and high heat wok cooking going on simultaneously I just can't baby my rice.

"For most rice we use a 2:1 ratio - about two cups of water to two cups rice."

Did you mean one cup of rice?

thanks! fixed.

Ooh, I learned a great trick from my Persian aunt - cook 3 cups rice until slightly softened, drain and rinse again. Then melt butter at the bottom of a heavy pot and coat the bottom with a layer of thin potato slices. Pile the rice on top in a cone shape with a few pats of butter on top and about 1/4c water. Cook on low heat, covered, for about an hour. It's a more labor-intensive method for special occasions, but the potatoes serve two wonderful purposes: they prevent the rice from burning while it steams and they end up deliciously golden crispy - my favorite part!

kassie - it's not that we can't read directions - i don't buy packages of rice with directions! I buy rice from the korean shop or the vietnamese shop. they don't have instructions in english on the bag :) also, even if i did buy a smaller container, i don't like food stored in bags in the cupboards. i like it all in tupperware type things. and if you're forgetful and clumsy like me - rice tends to burn. which is why i got my giant soon-to-be-gone rice cooker in the first place!

That was a bit rude, Kassie.

My failsafe method of cooking rice on the stove (without instructions or measuring tools) is as follows:

1. Place hand perpendicular to the rice in the pot - the tips of your fingers should lightly touch the rice.
2. Fill the water till it reaches the first segment of your pointer finger.
3. Heat the rice on medium heat until it boils, then turn it down to a simmer. You have to be quite vigilant of the pot until this point.
4. When the steam from the pot flows straight up (versus flowing all over the place), the rice should be done. It usually takes about 10 minutes for me.

This is an old Korean method I learned from my mom; there's altogether a different "hand measure" when cooking rice in a rice cooker.

i just forget it's on the stove, or the timer goes off and somehow it's already burned. We got a nice compact cuisenart rice cooker, and it saves me alot of scrubbing.

- I hadn't seen a nasty comment on here in a long time, so I thought it was safe to comment again, I guess i was wrong.

There are lots of different ways to cook rice.
Boiled (like pasta) in a lot of water

Pseudo-steamed with the just the right amount of water starting at high heat and finishing at very low heat

Hybrid of the two styles (start with a lot of water, put pour off some of the water partway through -- more trouble than it's worth, I think)

Pilaf-style where the rice is fried in fat first and then pseudo-steamed in rice or broth. Additional flavoring are usually added.

Risotto style involves constant stirring and frequent additions of small amounts of water

True steaming

And I'm sure there are others. Different types of rice work best with different methods and if you've grown up eating rice, you probably prefer one method over all others. The end results don't taste or feel the same. You wouldn't want to cook Japanese rice pilaf-style, nor would you want to boil basmati rice like pasta.

i love buying these packets of saffron or yellow rice - they're just enough for three (or so) people and the job's truly easy. while the instructions are easy (ahem) it's taken me some time to get it right. instructions are not failsafe!

so, i tried making coconut rice not too long ago...burned the bottom AND it came out goopy and mashed. how does one manage to screw it up in two totally opposite ways?? ;)

kdkaboom, I'm just guessing here.... but I think there are two unrelated problems. The goopy and mashed are probably due to too much liquid and too vigorous boiling. The burned bottom is probably from too long over too high of heat. A thick, heavy pan helps to prevent burned bottoms, but it's always something of a threat.

yeah, you've got it. i always think i have the heat on too high, and i always use this same crappy ikea pot from like ten years ago. maybe i need to take my rice more seriously, eh? :)

this is to funny as i was just saying the other day i felt like the last person who cooked rice on the stove. I also do a 2c water per 1c rice but at whole foods by the bulk bins there was a "guide to bulk products" book. it was only one dollar and has gotten a ton of use becasue it tells how to cook each different style of rice. super handy! if you have a whole foods it was tucked up high so just look. I burned rice in my new house because the stove was a differnt style then iwas used to.ignore the mean people who make perfect rice :)
http://organicandnaturalmom.blogspot.com/

I'm a little late to the party, I know, but I cook my rice like Jazzybel. I learned it from my (half-Japanese) dad and it normally works, as long as I don't get distracted until I smell that horrible burned-rice smell. I've done with with sticky rice and brown rice.

Something I've found that helps with the the crunchy-in-the-middle problem is letting it sit after I add the water and before I add heat until the grains turn white in spots.

I also never refrigerate leftover rice. It dries it out and makes it gross.

I learnt from my aunt who makes the most incredible rice. i could eat it alone without any sauce or side dish

1. As it is norm in latin america, the first thing you do is make a sofrito-meaning various tasty things fried together, usually with onion as the basic ingredient.
for rice, I heat about two tablespoons of oil and throw in chopped onion, garlic, chopped red bell pepper and chopped carrots.
2. After they are soft and the onions clear, you put in the rice. when it has changed color, you add boiling water-about twice as much as the rice.
3. Wait for the water to boil and add a teaspoon of salt for each cup of rice. lower the heat and wait for the water to evaporate until you can see the grains of rice. cover and let it cook for 20-25 minutes on the lowest heat possible. turn off the heater and take the lid off the rice so the steam evaporates.

It turns out fluffy and so, sooo tasty!

Thanks so much for posting this. I know it's going on two years since the last comment on this post, but I've been referring to it for a while! A former rice-cooker-user, I've been cooking the grains on the stove since the cooker broke. Thanks to you, the rice is great every time and we've no need of purchasing another cooker. Cheers.