How To Cook Brown Rice

How to Cook Brown Rice FAST and Easy! Are you frustrated with a pot full of mushy or undercooked and crunchy brown rice? I am sharing my tips on How to Cook Brown Rice quickly and easily. Brown rice is a healthy option, and cooking up a batch on the stove for meal prep will help you with your clean eating goals.

Gluten free brown rice in a jar on a marble counter

Is that a bold statement? The easiest method ever? How DO you cook brown rice quickly?

Read on, and you can tell me.

As someone who has cooked the equivalent of a mountain of brown rice, I feel as though I am qualified to assess how easy it is or isn’t. I’ve tried the ‘instructions on the package’ method, the Alton Brown method, and I’ve even mastered the ‘forgot about the rice on the stove’ method (not recommended).

I’ve tried it all and have found the answer!

Rice in a scoop

The two very important factors are taste and texture. You don’t want gummy, you don’t want burnt, and you definitely don’t want crunchy. Brown rice has a tendency to clump together and can be starchy.

Also, how do you cook brown rice quickly? This answers that question too.

So here we go.

You will . not . believe . how easy this is going to be.

HOW TO COOK BROWN RICE

I was reading through the comments of another blog on a post about how food mastermind Alton Brown makes his version of foolproof rice and stumbled across this amazing gem of advice.

Basically, cook the brown rice like you would make pasta.

Boom.

Boil up a saucepan full of salted water. Pour in the rice, stir, cook, drain, rinse. Repeat every week! 😉

Rice is a sieve being dumped into a pot of boiling water

No starchiness, no clumps of gluey yuck.

You can even taste test it to your liking like you would test to see if your pasta was done to a perfect ‘al dente’.

Perfectly cooked brown rice in a sieve

I know it’s probably weird (if it’s not weird to you, we could for sure be best friends), but it makes me so giddy every time I think about how simple cookin’ up a batch of brown rice is going to be from this day forward.

The recipe below is two cups of dry brown rice which yields four servings. However, doubling up is a good idea. It’s always smart to have cooked grains on hand for the week to toss into a dinner salad or veggie enchiladas.

Rice is the perfect vehicle for adding chopped herbs like parsley and cilantro and transforming it into a lovely, delicious, and fresh-tasting dish like this chimichurri rice.

It’s a great way to add fiber and staying power to your meals like these Vegetarian Mushroom Cabbage Rolls.

For an easy weeknight dinner, use the orange chicken Trader Joe’s is famous for and serve it alongside this rice. Delicious and super simple!

Brown rice in a glass storage jar on a white marble counter

HEALTHY RECIPES USING BROWN RICE:

Chicken Fried Brown Rice

Curry Chicken Brown Rice Bowls

Mexican Spiced Beef and Brown Rice Bowl

*Originally posted November 17, 2014. April 18, 2019*

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a jar of rice.

How To: Cook Brown Rice – The Easiest Method Ever!

Sharon Rhodes
How to Cook Brown Rice, fast and easy! Are you frustrated with a pot full of mushy or under cooked and crunchy brown rice? I am sharing with you my tips on How to Cook Brown Rice and it is the fastest and easiest method ever! Brown rice is a healthy option and cooking up a batch on the stove for meal prep will help you with your clean eating goals. 
4.80 from 5 votes
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 6
Calories 229 kcal

Equipment

  • large saucepan

Ingredients
  

Instructions
 

  • Bring the water and salt to a boil in a large saucepan.
  • Meanwhile, rinse the brown rice well.
  • Add the rinsed brown rice to the boiling water and set your timer for fifteen minutes. Stir periodically to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom.
  • Test the texture of the rice after ten minutes and every minute after until it's cooked how you like it. We find fifteen minutes is perfect.
  • Drain the rice and serve warm.

Nutrition

Calories: 229kcalCarbohydrates: 48gProtein: 4gFat: 1gSodium: 2mgPotassium: 169mgFiber: 2gCalcium: 21mgIron: 1.1mg
Keyword gluten free recipes, how to cook brown rice
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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40 Comments

  1. How much water? This is an important part of the recipe, how much water is needed to cook brown rice!

    1. This is similar to how you make pasta so fill the saucepan 3/4 of the way with salted water. I would say about 6 cups or so. I will update the recipe. Thanks!

  2. I must be the only person this method did NOT work for. 35 minutes in it was still somewhat crunchy, but also kind of mushy. Once it finally got done, (maybe after 45 minutes?) it was fairly stuck together in the pan. Despite stirring, it did end up a little burned in some areas. All in all, it required a lot of babysitting and the finished product was not great. I will stick to the normal method.

    1. Hey Sarah! I might be able to troubleshoot why this didn’t work for you – it sounds like maybe you needed more water. The rice shouldn’t be able to burn as you describe if the pot is filled with water. Can I ask how much water and how much rice you used? Also, the size of your pot can be a factor. You want to make sure you are using a large pot so there is lots of room for water and for the rice to move around and cook properly, just like as with cooking pasta noodles.

  3. 4 stars
    Didn’t make yet. Gave 4 stars because I have a question.Does throwing out the water lose the
    nutrients?

  4. This quite fast as compared to mine. my method of boiling it is little time-consuming.
    I will follow your method of doing it now. thank you for sharing

  5. I do mine in the microwave… Takes longer than your method, but it is fool proof.
    I do 2 cups of brown rice, some salt and 4 cups of water (plus a bit more to make sure it doesn’t come out dry). I put that in a covered casserole dish, like Corning Ware or Pyrex. I put it on HIGH for 5 minutes, and then on 60% power for about 43 minutes. I usually put it over chili or something, and I do it when the chili has about an hour to go.
    I fluff it with a fork when it’s done. FOOLPROOF!!

  6. What a quick and easy way to do brown rice. I don’t always want the amount the rice cooker makes so this will be great. A note of caution on the leftovers, cooked rice can grow unpleasant bacteria. Get the leftovers in the fridge right away and don’t reheat multiple times – only reheat the amount you need, and you should be fine.

      1. Wow, how interesting all these recipes are. I have never ever cooked rice like this before but definitely going to try it. Jay’s also in the oven…..
        I love Mexican food after working in restaurants so always looking for new recipes that are easy to throw together. But I think I like the green chili sauce better with chicken. I have made my own enchilada sauce and it is amazingly good compared to the canned stuff. I highly recommend it since it is so easy to make who knew!

        1. Thanks so much Kate! I love this method for rice. So much easier and no guesswork. I’ve never actually tried a green chili sauce! I better get on it. 😉 Thanks again. 🙂

  7. I would love to try this. I am not sure I found exactly how much water. to put in the large saucepan. Thank you

  8. The method my folks use is very different but tasty. In baking dish mix 1 cup brown rice and 1 1/2 to 2 cups water or chicken broth. ( check amount of water recommended on rice package ) Season to taste with salt garlic onion, thyme and a bay leaf. Add 1 tsp coconut oil and cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 50-60 mins. It is worth the wait:)

      1. So easy! I was kicking myself that it took so many years before trying out this method. Thanks Judy! 🙂

  9. Okay, I’m definitely going to give this a try. We eat a ton of brown rice and just the thought if it cooking in 15 min opens up a whole new world of possibilities.

  10. I don’t get it. How can cooking brown rice take only 15 minutes? It usually takes about 40 minutes. Once the water is boiling, you add the rice and continue to simmer for 15 minutes then turn the heat off and it’s done? What do you mean by rinsing it?—-after it’s cooked. I think I’m confused. 🙁

    1. Treat the rice like you would cooking pasta. Keep the water boiling and test the grain for doneness. Rinse your rice before and after cooking it. Super easy!

  11. I’ve never even thought of cooking brown rice this way. But it’s so much faster – my way takes 40+ minutes!

  12. Okay, I need to try this method. I have the hardest time making rice on the stovetop. It seriously drives me insane that I can’s seem to make it work. I’ve always been able to make really good rice, that is up until we moved to Colorado. The elevation makes cooking some foods so difficult. I’ll let you know how it goes 😀

    1. 25 minutes works in Denver – we moved off the mountains a few years ago, so I don’t know how long at 9000 ft., anymore, but I would add another 10 minutes.

  13. This is how we’ve always cooked rice at our house. I wasn’t even aware of any other ways of cooking it! (probably because I never read instructions. lol)

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