Repeat after me: No more mushy rice! No more mushy rice! I’ve been using this brown rice cooking technique for years, and it never fails.
A few reasons to love this recipe:
- You don’t need a rice cooker or any special equipment (just a pot with a lid, and a kitchen stove).
- You can use this technique on any type of brown rice (long, medium or short grain, as long as it’s not a quick-cooking variety).
- It’s so easy to remember, you’ll never need to look up how to cook brown rice again.
For this technique, you’ll boil your rice in an abundance of water for 30 minutes. Drain off the excess water, return the rice to the pot, cover, and let the rice steam for 10 minutes. Ta da! Perfect brown rice, every time.
I originally found this technique on Saveur, and I’m so thankful I did. Their recipe calls for 12 cups of water (that’s a lot) per cup of rice, and I’ve learned that it really only needs 6 cups.
However, you don’t actually have to measure the water as long as you’re using a large enough pot. If too much water evaporates during the cooking process, just add more and return the water to a boil. Your rice will still turn out perfectly!
Watch How to Cook Brown Rice
How to Cook Perfect Brown Rice
- Author:
- Prep Time: 2 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 32 minutes (plus 10 minutes for steaming)
- Yield: 3 cups 1x
- Category: Side dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Whole grain
Once you try this easy technique, you’ll never want to cook brown rice any other way. You can scale this recipe up or down as needed. The basic ratio is 1 part brown rice to 6 parts water, which yields 3 parts cooked rice. As written below, the recipe yields 3 cups cooked rice.
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown rice (short, medium or long grain brown rice will work, as long as it’s not a quick-cooking variety)
- 6 cups water
- Salt, soy sauce or other desired seasonings, to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to boil, using at least 6 cups water per 1 cup rice. Rinse* the rice in a fine mesh colander under running water to remove excess starch.
- Add the rice to the boiling water. Reduce the temperature as necessary to prevent overflow, but maintain a steady boil. Boil, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
- Drain off the remaining cooking water and return the rice to the pot. Cover the pot and let the rice rest, off the heat, for 10 minutes. Fluff, season as desired, and serve.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Saveur.
*Note on rinsing: I’ve forgotten to rinse my rice before, and the rice turned out almost as good. The cooked grains are a little more starchy—you can see a thin layer of gluey starch at the bottom of the pot after steaming. If you’re in a hurry, skip the rinse.
Make it gluten free: Rice is gluten free, so just be mindful of your additions. Soy sauce, for example, is not gluten free (substitute certified gluten-free tamari instead).
Wild rice option: For wild rice, use 8 cups water and boil for 40 to 55 minutes, until tender but pleasantly chewy.
▸ Nutrition Information
5 Recipes Featuring Brown Rice
The following recipes feature this brown rice cooking technique. I have many more brown rice recipes here. You’ll find brown rice risottos, paella, mujaddara and more.
1) Thai Red Curry with Vegetables
Gluten free and vegan
“Made this yesterday following the recipe quite faithfully. Hubby said it tastes exactly like the red curry at our favorite Thai restaurant! This is a winner and will be bookmarked and made often! The details provided in the recipe such as time to cook at each step ensure that you can’t go wrong with the recipe. And so I would feel confident making this recipe for company too.” – Poornima
2) Kale, Black Bean & Avocado Burrito Bowl
Gluten free and vegan
“I’ve made this twice now and love it! The lime juice-marinated kale totally converted me to eating raw kale! This is a perfect recipe to make for weekday lunches in the office because it’s easy to pack and reheat and leftovers taste just as great. Thanks!” – Lauren
3) Extra Vegetable Fried Rice
Gluten free and easily vegan
“I made this last weekend and love love loved it so I’m making it again this weekend! My husband really liked it too, and it’s a tall order to get him to eat a lot of vegetables so this will be entered into our regular rotation for sure. So glad I found this blog, I’ve email subscribed and have just purchased your cookbook! Thanks Kate!!” – Julia
4) Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Crispy Baked Tofu with Honey-Sesame Glaze
Gluten free and vegan
“Another amazing recipe, perfect combination of sweet and spicy. I pitched this to my meat loving boyfriend as vegetarian general tso’s, and it worked! Every recipe I cook from this blog is so delicious – all I want to know is when is the Cookie and Kate cookbook release date! Thank you, Kate, your recipes have renewed my love of cooking and make breaking bread with loved ones even more special.” – Ailla
5) Anything-Goes Kale Salad with Green Tahini Dressing
Gluten free and vegan
“Thank you so much for this lovely salad, beautiful and delicious! The dressing is such a nice combination. Just the thing after a weekend of not-so-healthful eating.” – Wendy
More resources you might appreciate: 23 make-ahead breakfast recipes, 45 recipes that pack well for lunch and 20 simple weeknight dinners. You can shop my essential kitchen equipment here. Don’t forget to follow us on Pinterest for a steady stream of recipe inspiration!
Vegetable enthusiast. Dog lover. I'm probably making a big mess in my Kansas City kitchen right now. 
Tammy
Made this exactly as written, perfect! I was too lazy to haul out the rice cooker and this was perfect.
★★★★★
Deb
My favorite way to cook brown rice. Thanks!
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, Deb! Thank you for your review.
Pam
TY for such a simple solution to perfect brown rice!
★★★★
Delina
You are my hero! I’ve been cooking brown rice for over 25 years and almost all of it was a disappointment. I tried on the stove, in the crockpot, in a rice cooker, all of the different types and brands. It was too mushy, too sticky, too clumpy or all of the above. I tried your way and it was perfect! Thanks so much. I wish I would have found this recipe years ago.
Tradologie
Informative Article! Very helpful for users.
★★★★★
Brittany
Perfect brown rice! I avoided making it because it never turned out – I did about 25 minutes for my rice. Thanks a bunch! It will make meal planning much easier especially when I can freeze it.
★★★★★
Natalie Trepanier
Simply the simplest way to make brown rice brilliant, its game changing!
★★★★★
Robin
I’ll never cook brown rice any other way again! After years of never quite getting it right…this is it!
amos
worked perfectly for brown rice, but can i do this for regular / long grained white rice as well?
★★★★★
Kate
Hi Amos, this won’t likely work with white rice as timing is usually different. It cooks faster usually.
Chris
This is my go to recipe for brown rice. It has a really nicely textured result.
Your granola recipe is also awesome. We never buy the ready made stuff now. So easy!
The maple syrup available here in New England add a nice touch to granola.
Sorry to get off track but you are two for two now on recipe hits.
Thank you!
★★★★★
Judy
I had always avoided making brown rice because it never turned out right. Thanks to your foolproof method, I just made a pot of perfectly cooked brown rice today, and it was so easy. Thanks, Kate!
Kate
You’re welcome, Judy!
Julie
Absolutely perfect! I had given up on making brown rice, but I’ll be making it like this from now on. Thank you for sharing your technique.
★★★★★
Marvin
I want to thank you for the recipe on brown rice it has sure made eating rice easier. Marvin
Valentina
Hi thanks for sharing this
Does this method works for wild rice blend with brown rice??
Thanks
Kate
Hi, I have How to Cook Perfect Wild Rice as it does vary. Enjoy!
michael
This recipe was so easy you can’t screw it up! But I did – I forgot to pre-rinse the rice and the rice still came out perfect.
★★★★★
Ethelyn Dietrich
I tried this recipe for the first time today. The only change I made was that I used basmati rice, which is similar to jasmine rice. It turned out great and I’m sure I will make it again.
Sharon
I also saw the recipe on Saveur a few years ago. I have shared it with many. This is the only way I cook brown rice.
Linda
I could never get brown rice cooked properly so had given up on it. I have made it, twice now, according to your instructions and it has come out perfect. I will be adding brown rice dishes back in to my meal menu. Thanks so much for sharing with us!
★★★★★
Charles Dean
I just used this recipe and to my surprise it was fantastic—- the brown rice is delicious—— thank you.
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, Charles! Thank you for your review.
Ren
Thank you so much! I just tried it although, I skipped the resting for ten minutes since it was perfectly cooked after steady boiling for a half hour. If I wasn’t using it for fried rice later, I’d be eating it now. The ones I tasted to be sure they were done were so good, no seasoning at ALL!
★★★★★
Dani
The only way I make rice now!
★★★★★
Kate
That’s great, Dani!
Elizabeth
I love pretty much *every* recipe I try on your site but this rice recipe just didn’t work for me. The rice absorbed almost all 6 cups of water and turned to mush, even with the pre-rinse. Not sure what happened.
★
Kate
Hi Elizabeth! I’m so sorry to hear that. Was your rice new or old? I haven’t had that with this technique before.
Elizabeth E Baylor
Good point. It was older, which is disappointing since I have a ton of early bulk-buying rice remaining. Any ideas on techniques/recipes that would be a little more forgiving with older grains?
Sybil G.
I bought organic basmati brown rice from Trader Joe that cooks for only 15 minutes. I used your method, but for 15 minutes only, followed by the 10 minutes steaming. Excellent result! Thank you.
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, Sybil!
Elizabeth
After 50 (yes I said 50) years of sporadic unsuccessful attempts to cook brown rice, your instructions have finally given me the ability to get perfect results every time! Revolutionary! Thanks for posting this.
★★★★★
Kate
I’m glad they were helpful, Elizabeth! I appreciate your review.
John
I was pretty skeptical about this recipe at first (I mean who doesn’t boil all the water down) but I needed a switch up because all the other brown rice I’ve made recently sucked. I four times this recipe so I could meal prep and it turned out wonderfully! Very pleased with the results!
★★★★★
Kate
I’m glad you tried it and enjoyed it for your meal prep, John! Thank you for your review.
Barbara Shoffner
Perfect
★★★★★
Nouranlkd
You know when they say that something is too good to be true it probably is? Well this is the exception! I did NOT expect this to work. Usually I don’t make brown rice because it’s such a pain but with this recipe I’ll never look back! Thank you so much. This is literally life changing!
★★★★★
Kate
Hooray! I’m glad it worked for you.
Alexandra
★★★★★
Jennifer
I will never make brown rice any other way! This is PERFECT. Thank you!
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, Jennifer!
Jen
I will never make brown rice any other way! This is PERFECT. Thank you!
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, Jen!
John
If there’s one thing I appreciate, it is a recipe that works. That is this recipe, perfect texture and taste. Thank you for helping others in the kitchen!
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, John! I’m glad you liked this method.
Sherley Crutchfield
Will never cook brown rice any other way I loved it it was perfect thank you so much I’m 86 years old and the only rice I eat is brown rice love love loved it
★★★★★
Jan
This is a game changer!!! I just made this and it came out perfect! Thanks for sharing
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, Jan! I appreciate your review.
Beatrice Manti
Do you stir the rice while cooking?
Kate
Hi! You can if you find it settling. But, I didn’t find I needed to.
NY2CA
Perfect medium grain brown rice! Will make this again
★★★★★
Kate
Great to hear!
Darleen V Gillyard
I tried your method and it worked perfectly! My son was recently told that his Blood Sugar was a bit high and has to take meds. So instead of my usual rice – I made him Brown Rice – followed the directions on the pkg, and ended up with hard chewy rice . . . your method was PERFECT – the rice was done, not chewy, just nice and fluffy. Thank you!
Pam
BEST BROWN RICE EVER!!!
Comes out perfect every time! I’m going to try the same method for wild rice soon.
Thank you!!!
★★★★★
Sarah
Never again will I buy packet rice. This worked perfectly, thank you so much!
★★★★★
Kate
I love hearing that! Thank you for sharing, Sarah.
Kay
I love this method for cooking brown rice! It has seriously changed our lives. No more stuck on rice at the bottom of pots and over night soaking. Rice using this method turns out perfect every time! Thank you
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome! I’m happy it worked out so well for you, Kay.