We've cooked a lot of rice and discovered that sometimes it can be difficult to get exactly right. The texture is either too mushy, too chewy, or too stuck together. But with our method, your brown rice will come out perfectly every time you cook it. And that can only make everything you serve it with taste just a little bit better.
How to Cook Brown Rice Easily
With this technique, the grains come out tender, slightly chewy, and fluffy without being sticky or mushy. It will make perfect brown rice every time. This makes four servings.
Ingredients
- 1 cup of uncooked brown rice
- 5 cups of water or broth
- 1 teaspoon of salt or to your taste
Instructions
- Rinse the rice first. Place the rice in a strainer and hold it under cold, running water. Mix the rice around with your hand to ensure that it is thoroughly rinsed.
- Bring the water or broth to a boil in a stock pot with a lid.
- Once the water boils, stir in the brown rice.
- Turn the heat down immediately to medium and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Stir it once in a while.
- After it has simmered for half an hour, pour the rice into a strainer and allow it to drain. If you've used broth, you may want to drain it into a bowl and save it.
- Turn off the heat.
- Pour the rice back into the pot, cover tightly, and allow it to steam on the stove for ten minutes.
- Uncover and fluff with a fork for perfectly steamed brown rice.
Why This Works Better
Brown rice still has a bran coating on it, which can become sticky. When you use less water, the cooking time must be longer, and the result is sticky, overcooked rice. By boiling in a lot of water, draining, and then steaming, you rinse away the sticky gluten.
This will work for any brown rice (and quinoa, too), but brown basmati rice has the best results.
Perfect, Fluffy Brown Rice
These directions are different from the package instructions. But we've tried it many times, and the rice comes out perfectly every time. It's worth the extra steps to get your rice just right, we promise.
