How to Cook Rice: Ratios for Stovetop, Microwave and More

Start on the stove: simmer 1 cup of long-grain white rice in about 2 cups of water, covered, for 15 to 18 minutes, then let it rest off the heat. Short-grain, brown and wild rice need different ratios and times, and so do the microwave, rice cooker and Instant Pot. The chart covers each one.

Quick version

• Long-grain white, jasmine, basmati: about 1 cup rice to 2 cups water on the stove (1.5 if your lid is tight), 15 to 18 minutes.
• Short-grain: about 1 to 1.25 cups water per cup of rice. Brown rice: 2.25 cups and 40 to 45 minutes.
• Don’t lift the lid or stir while it cooks.
• Rice cooker: use the cooker’s own cup and the lines inside the pot.
• Leftovers: refrigerate within an hour, eat within a day, and reheat only once until steaming hot.

How to cook rice, type by type

Ratios are cups of water per 1 cup of uncooked rice. Stovetop and microwave figures come from USA Rice’s cooking chart; microwave times assume a 1,200-watt oven. Instant Pot settings come from the Instant Pot Duo manual; its water ratio is our own starting point (see below). Package directions beat any chart, so check the bag first.

The Instant Pot column uses 1 cup of water per cup of rice. America’s Test Kitchen cooked 17 kinds of rice sealed in bags at a 1:1 ratio and found every one came out properly cooked; the extra water in stovetop ratios is there to replace what evaporates. A pressure cooker loses very little, so 1:1 is a sensible starting point there. Adjust after your first batch.

USA Rice notes that rice triples in volume as it cooks, so use a pot big enough for that.

On the stove

1. Measure the rice and water with the same cup. Accuracy matters more than technique here.
2. Rinse if you want to (see below), then put the rice, water and a pinch of salt in a 2- to 3-quart pot with a lid.
3. Bring it to a boil, uncovered, and stir once or twice so nothing sticks.
4. Turn the heat to low, cover tightly and set a timer for the time in the chart.
5. Don’t lift the lid or stir. Stirring releases starch and makes it sticky; lifting the lid lets steam out.
6. When the timer goes off, check. If there’s still water or the rice is firm, cover and cook 2 to 4 minutes more.
7. Take it off the heat, keep it covered for about 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.

If your rice keeps coming out wet, your lid fits tightly; cut the water by a few tablespoons next time. If it’s crunchy on top, add a splash of water and steam a few more minutes.

Cooker, microwave or Instant Pot

For a rice cooker, use the small cup that came with the cooker, not a standard measuring cup, and fill water to the matching line inside the pot. Pick white or brown and press start; the cooker switches to keep-warm when the water is gone.

In the microwave, use a deep, microwave-safe dish (2.5 to 3 quarts) with a lid, because rice foams up. Cook on high until it boils, then drop to half power. Microwaves vary, so your first batch is a test.

In an Instant Pot, rinse, add rice and equal water, lock the lid and choose Rice for white rice or Multigrain for brown. The manual lists no rice ratio, so 1:1 is our starting point; in a 6-quart, cook at least 1.5 cups of rice so there’s enough liquid to build pressure, and add a splash more water for brown rice if it comes out firm. The manual recommends a 10-minute natural release for fluffy white rice.

To rinse or not to rinse

The experts don’t agree. USA Rice says American-grown rice doesn’t need washing and that rinsing removes the iron and B vitamins added to enriched white rice. Maangchi rinses Korean short-grain rice until the water runs clear, then soaks it 30 minutes before cooking it with equal water. Kenji López-Alt says he doesn’t rinse his rice and doesn’t find it makes much difference. A reasonable rule: rinse sticky short-grain or imported rice when texture matters, and skip it for enriched long-grain rice.

Leftovers: chill in an hour, eat in a day

Uncooked rice can carry spores of Bacillus cereus, which survive cooking. The longer cooked rice sits at room temperature, the more the bacteria can multiply and make toxins that reheating won’t destroy. The UK Food Standards Agency advises:

• Chill leftover rice as fast as possible, ideally within an hour. Spread it in shallow containers; don’t let it cool in the pot or rice cooker.
• Keep it in the fridge no more than a day before eating or reheating.
• Reheat only once, until it’s steaming hot all the way through.
• To freeze, get it into the freezer within an hour of cooking, thaw it in the fridge, and reheat until steaming.

USDA FSIS’s general rule is to refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours and reheat them to 165°F. For rice, stick to the UK’s one-hour, one-day window.

What the pros say

• Maangchi, a Korean home cooking creator and cookbook author, makes Korean rice in a heavy pot: she scrubs and rinses short-grain rice until the water runs clear, soaks it with an equal amount of water for 30 minutes, boils it about 10 minutes, then simmers briefly. Leave it longer and you get nurungji, the crisp layer on the bottom, which she eats as a snack.
• J. Kenji López-Alt, a chef and the author of The Wok, says fried rice needs dry rice, not necessarily day-old rice, so he spreads freshly cooked rice on a sheet tray to steam off for 15 to 20 minutes. He also suggests following the bag’s water ratio, noting jasmine takes about 1.5 cups of water per cup.
• America’s Test Kitchen, the test kitchen behind Cook’s Illustrated, found that set ratios fail home cooks because evaporation depends on the pot’s size, how tight the lid is and the heat, and recommends learning your own equipment.
• Christine Lee, MD, a Cleveland Clinic gastroenterologist, is featured in an article explaining that B. cereus spores can survive the microwave or a quick fry on the stovetop. She says cooking rice, leaving it out and reheating it creates a perfect environment for the germ, which is why leaving cooked rice on the counter is the real risk.

Gear that helps

You can cook great rice in any pot with a lid, but if you make it often, these three are popular picks; we compared specs and listings and did not test them ourselves.

Do this this week

• Check your rice bag for the package ratio and compare it to the chart.
• Make one batch on the stove and write down the water amount that worked in your pot.
• Cook a double batch for our budget meal prep plan.
• Buy shallow containers for leftovers if you don’t have any (our first apartment checklist has a kitchen list).
• Put a sticky note in the fridge: rice in within an hour, out within a day.