How to Cook Brown Rice

Looking for how to cook white rice? Head over to my how to cook white rice guide. Brown rice is cooked similarly, but takes a bit longer. Here are all the topics we are going to cover when it comes to cooking brown rice:

If you’re here to learn how to cook brown rice, I will be teaching you how to properly cook brown rice and you can ignore the instructions on packages!

There are three different methods to cook brown rice: rice cooker, stovetop, and Instant Pot. You’ll notice that I don’t have a microwave as an option. In general, I don’t particularly like cooking any rice in the microwave but especially brown rice. The results aren’t good so I am not including microwaving in my instructions as the failure to success rate is extremely low and with so many variables, I feel like it’s not worth it to even give you that option to try.

How to Cook Brown Rice

These are the three methods of cooking brown rice perfectly:

• Rice cooker (best, most consistent, hands-off, and forgiving method)
• Stovetop (great results if properly cooked, need to be more hands-on and watchful)
  • For brown rice, there are two methods — the simmer method and the boil and drain method. For me, I have found that the boil and drain method is the best so that is what I will be showing you today.
• Instant Pot/pressure cooker (fastest and hands-off)
  • I use a 6 quart Instant Pot.

What Type of Brown Rice to Use

For this specific guide, you’ll want to use brown rice (both medium and long grain brown rice work).

Do not use this for the following:

• White rice – here is the guide for cooking white rice.
• Jasmine rice – it needs less water than the traditional rice ratio.
• Sushi rice – this type of short grain white rice is specifically labeled “sushi rice” as it’s specific to making sushi!
• Sticky rice – this is also known as glutinous rice and it’s a short grain rice that needs to be cooked a completely different way.
• Wild rice – this is usually like a long grain black or purple rice.
• Arborio/risotto rice – this is used in risottos and cooked low and slow with a lot more liquid.
• Paella rice – this is similar to arborio rice and cooked similarly as well.

Why Does Brown Rice Take Longer to Cook?

The exterior of brown rice has a harder hull than white rice and basically you’re asking water to penetrate the harder hull to cook the rice. It takes a longer time to do that, but those of us who love brown rice love that flavor, the chew, and the nutritious exterior so it’s worth it for us!

How to Cook Brown Rice in a Rice Cooker (my preferred, go-to method)

1. Add 1 cup of unrinsed brown rice into the insert of your rice cooker. Add 3 cups of water to the rice. Close the rice cooker lid and cook.
   • If you rinsed your rice, take out 2 tablespoons of water.
   • Various rice cookers have different settings. Mine is a basic 1 switch – cook or keep warm. If yours has various settings, toggle it to BROWN RICE.
   • If you prefer a chewier brown rice, reduce water to 2 cups.
   • I noticed that since brown rice is starchier, it tends to spit a bit out of the vent when cooking. This is normal, albeit a bit of an annoyance. Do not cover the venting spout, though!
2. After it is done cooking, allow to rest and steam for an additional 10-15 minutes.
3. Open and fluff the rice with your rice paddle or fork.
   • If it’s basmati brown rice, do not fluff with a fork or you’ll break it too much. Use a rice paddle!

How to Cook Brown Rice on a Stovetop (Boil and Drain Method)

1. Add 1 cup of unrinsed brown rice and 6 cups of water to a pot on the stovetop over medium high heat. Bring to a boil and keep the lid off.
2. Boil for 30 minutes.
3. Place a metal strainer over a large bowl and carefully strain the rice. Ensure you have shaken off excess water.
4. Pour the rice back into the pot and put the lid on and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
5. Once 10 minutes have passed, open the lid and fluff the rice with your rice paddle or fork.
   • If it’s basmati rice, do not fluff with a fork or you’ll break it too much. Use a rice paddle!

How to Cook Brown Rice in an Instant Pot

1. Add 1 cup of unrinsed brown rice and 1 ½ cups of water to the insert of your Instant Pot or pressure cooker.
2. Place the lid on the Instant Pot and make sure the venting knob is on SEAL. Press MANUAL, HIGH pressure, and set the time to 22 minutes.
3. Once the rice is done, wait 20 minutes then manually release the pressure.
4. Open the lid and fluff the rice with your rice paddle or fork.
   • If it’s basmati brown rice, do not fluff with a fork or you’ll break it too much. Use a rice paddle!

Rinsing Rice vs. Not Rinsing

This is a widely controversial topic. I have been taught this ever since I was old enough to be in the kitchen with my mom to rinse rice. She says you want to wash the rice multiple times to rinse the starch off – and you will definitely see the water change each time you wash it; it becomes clearer and less foggy – but this is also the perfect time to pick out imperfect rice.

That is the only reason we washed our rice, but some people think that rinsing rice vs. not rinsing rice affects the fluffiness of rice and that is simply not true!

There is no right or wrong and you can do what you wish (I do suggest if you don’t buy it from retail to rinse it i.e. buying it from a rice farm or farmers market). You just have to remember that if you rinse your rice, either drain it extremely well with a strainer or take away 2 tablespoons of water (this doesn’t apply to the boil and drain method) otherwise your rice will be mushy!

Troubleshooting

• The bottom of your rice is burned. The heat was too high and the base of the pot scorched the rice. You want to keep it on low heat after you boil the water.
• Water still remains after letting the rice sit. You added too much water. Did you measure correctly (see tips below) and if you rinsed your rice, did you make sure you take out 2 tablespoons of water?
• The rice is unevenly cooked.
  • Did you keep opening the lid? This is like slow cooking or baking – you don’t want to keep opening the lid to peek because it allows the steam to escape and the cooking process has to start over again and/or build up again.
  • Did you let it rest? This is one of the most important steps! Allow the rice to rest allows it to fully absorb the extra liquid and allow the rice to fully cook through.
• The rice is still hard and crunchy. You didn’t cook it long enough or it didn’t have enough liquid to cook all the way through.
• The water overflowed. Make sure you use a pot that is 3 times larger than the water you need. For example, if you need 1 cup of water, make sure your pot can hold at least 3 cups of water or more.

Tips

• Measure correctly!
  • You don’t have to use measuring cups, although recommended. As long as you are using the same ratio, you can use whatever to measure. For example, you only have a drinking glass to measure. If you fill the entire drinking glass with rice, make sure you use that drinking glass for the water!
• Use the right pot size for the amount you are making. If you’re making 1 cup of rice, you don’t need to use an 8 quart stockpot. The water will evaporate faster and you’ll be left with burnt rice! You only need a pot that is about 3 times more than the water you are using.

Storage and Freezing Instructions

I keep leftover rice in a glass storage container with a lid in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. There is a bit of controversy around it and I have been doing it my entire life and haven’t had issues so you can take that with a grain of salt. To err on the side of caution, I would recommend only 4 days, but you do what you think is best. Use your nose!

Rice freezes so incredibly well and my favorite way to freeze cooked rice is to use Souper Cube trays so I can freeze 1 or 2 cups of rice into cubes that will easily pop out when I need them. Frozen rice can last up to 4 months!

For uncooked brown rice, I keep it in a medium-sized Cambro container with a lid in the pantry. When I get home, I cut the packaging and pour it into the container. It seals it better than a bag.

How to Reheat Brown Rice

If you’re reheating from the refrigerator in a glass container, I open the lid and put a damp paper towel on top of the rice then close the lid and heat for 2 minutes on high. The damp paper towel creates a steamy environment and your rice will be good as new!

For frozen rice, you can do the same in a microwave-safe container. Pop out the rice from the tray, cover with a damp paper towel and reheat for 3 minutes on high.

What to Make with Brown Rice

You can replace any white rice in any recipe with brown rice. Take care to note that if the recipe is asking you to bake or cook the brown rice from an uncooked state, you will need to likely add more liquid and allot more time to cook the dish as you have learned from this post that brown rice takes a bit longer to cook!