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Home Β» Cooking Basics Β» How to Cook Brown Rice

July 16, 2020 (last updated July 8, 2021)

How to Cook Brown Rice

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I’ll show you how to cook brown rice without stress. Are you terrified at the thought of cooking brown rice? I don’t blame you. So many things can go wrong. It might come out too sticky, too mushy or half cooked. If you don’t use just the right size pot, the water evaporates too quickly so you have to add more. But how much? Ack! Just follow me . . .

My cooking method is so easy and error-proof you’ll want to make it every day. Since I found this stress-free method, I make it more often.

white bowl with raw brown rice on burlap mat with wood spoon

Arsenic in Rice

For those of us who are gluten-free and eat a lot of rice, this cooking method is best. A study was done a few years ago by Consumer Reports to determine arsenic levels in rice and rice products. Arsenic is not necessarily dangerous. It is normal to have some level of arsenic in your diet. The bottom line of the study was that if you eat a lot of rice you could be ingesting more than recommended arsenic levels. Because of the way rice is grown, it has the ability to absorb inorganic forms of arsenic.

For this reason the rice is rinsed before cooking and then, because it is boiled like pasta, some of the arsenic is drained away in the water. See this blog post for more info about expanding your gluten-free diet beyond rice.

This method for cooking brown rice will work for both short grain and long grain brown rice but not for white rice.

How to Cook Brown Rice

Ingredients

  • 1 cup brown rice (short grain, long grain or basmati
  • 1 Tbsp kosher salt
  • 2-3 quarts water

Method

  • Step one is to get the pot of salted water boiling, just as you would do with pasta. A four quart pot is ideal for 1-2 cups of rice.
  • Step 2 is to rinse the rice under cold water.
  • When the pot of water is boiling add the rice and give it a stir,
  • Set a timer for 30 minutes. As long as you use a big pot, you shouldn’t have to worry about the water bubbling over the top. So feel free to prep the rest of your meal or even do the laundry! If you feel like it, stir it once or twice but it’s not mandatory.
  • When the 30 minutes is up, pour into a strainer to drain the water.
  • Put the rice back in the pot, cover and let it sit for 10 minutes. The residual heat will finish the cooking process.

This method is almost exactly like cooking pasta. Boil salty water, add rice, boil, drain. You may cringe at the amount of salt used, but this is the best way to flavor the rice. It absorbs the salty water so the flavor gets inside of the rice grain. It is so much better than adding salt when it’s already cooked

white bowl with raw brown rice on burlap mat with wood spoon

How to Cook Brown Rice

Author: Janet Harlow
Course: Side Dishes
Cuisine: American
Servings: 3 cups
This is an easy, stress-free method of cooking brown rice.
No ratings yet
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Prep Time 2 mins
Cook Time 30 mins
Additional Time 10 mins
Total Time 42 mins

Recommended Products

  • ORGANIC BROWN SHORT GRAIN RICE – Lundberg Family Farms

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup brown rice short grain, long grain or basmati
  • 1 Tbsp kosher salt
  • 2-3 quarts water

Instructions
 

  • Using a mesh strainer, rinse the rice under cold water for 30 seconds.
  • Use a 4 quart pot. Add the water and salt and bring to a boil over high heat.
  • When the water is boiling rapidly, add the rice. Give it a stir. Do not cover the pot.
  • Set the timer to 30 minutes and go about your business. No babysitting required.
  • When time is up drain the water, put the rice back in the pot and let it sit covered for 10 minutes.

Nutrition

Serving: 1/2 cup cookedCalories: 114kcalCarbohydrates: 8gProtein: 1gSodium: 1182mgFiber: 1g
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Posted In: Cooking Basics, Side Dishes · Tagged: cooking lesson, how to, rice

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