Many people avoid eating brown rice because they feel it is more difficult to make than white rice. Don’t worry, here are tips on how to cook brown rice!
Here are some tips on how to cook brown rice by stove top, by oven and using a rice pressure cooker.
Table of Content
Tips On How To Cook Brown Rice
General Brown Rice Cooking Information
Brown rice can be cooked plain, with a bit of salt, in vegetable or meat broth, with various seasonings and herbs or in a combination of any of these depending on whether you want your rice flavored or not.
Some people recommend rinsing or soaking rice prior to cooking but, neither of these steps is necessary when cooking brown rice.
Rinsing rice was once necessary to remove impurities in it. Today these impurities are no longer a problem in most of the rice you get in a package from the store. Rinsing could remove some of the nutrients that rice contains.
Soaking rice is part of the cooking process for certain types of long grain rice and for certain dishes, but when making simple brown rice, soaking is not necessary or recommended.
Stove Top Method
Cooking rice on top of the stove is actually pretty easy as long as you follow a few simple easy directions.
- Start with a heavy pan that has a lid. Heavier pans distribute heat more evenly, which makes it less likely that your rice will burn.
- For every cup of brown rice you will need to add 1 ½ to 2 cups of water or broth. Brown rice absorbs more water than does white rice during the cooking process and therefore requires more liquid when being cooked. Too little liquid and your rice will dry out and can actually burn.
- Put rice, liquid, and any seasonings you want into the sauce pan and turn your stove on high and bring to a boil. Once the rice is boiling, put a well fitting lid on your pan, reduce the heat to simmer and cook for 25 to 35 minutes.
- Once the rice is cooked remove from heat, let stand for 4 or 5 minutes to finish absorbing the water and then fluff with a fork. Fluffing the rice with a fork is an important step as it allows steam to escape that otherwise would continue cooking the rice resulting in mushy rice.
Cooking Brown Rice in the Oven
If you are cooking a large meal and don’t have enough burners on the stove to cook everything you need to, it is possible and easy to cook your rice in the oven. All you need is a small oven safe pan with a lid or a baking dish and some tinfoil and you are ready to go.
- Preheat oven to 375
- You will need one cup of uncooked rice for every 4 people you are planning to serve.
- You will need 1 ¾ cups of water or broth for every 1 cup of brown rice.
- Start your water or broth heating on top of the stove with ¼ tsp butter for each cup of rice (You can either use the pan you plan to use in the oven or transfer the water after it boils.)
- Bring it to a boil and add your brown rice (or put your brown rice in a separate baking dish and pour the water over it.)
- Cover the pan and place in the oven, baking the rice for 50 to 60 minutes or until tender and not mushy.
- Remove from the oven, let stand a few minutes, fluff with a fork and serve.
Cooking Brown Rice in a Rice Pressure Cooker
Instant Pot DUO60 6 Qt 7-in-1 Multi-Use Programmable Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker, Rice Cooker, Steamer, Sauté, Yogurt Maker and Warmer
Cooking brown rice in a pressure cooker designed specifically for rice is the easiest way of all to cook brown rice.
In fact, some rice cookers come with a special brown rice setting. If not, then follow the water to rice ratio directions on the side of the package. It should be somewhere around 2 1/8 to 2 ¼ c cup of water per cup of brown rice.
Set the cooker and let it do its job. It’s that simple and easy.
Knowing how to make brown rice all three ways will allow you to enjoy this tasty side dish anywhere at any time. You can even have it for breakfast with a little milk and sugar or a fried egg on top.
More Rice Cookers to Consider
Aroma Housewares ARC-914SBD 2-8-Cups (Cooked) Digital Cool-Touch Rice Cooker and Food Steamer, Stainless SteelZojirushi NS-TSC10 5-1/2-Cup (Uncooked) Micom Rice Cooker and Warmer, 1.0-LiterAroma Housewares 6-Cup (Cooked) (3-Cup UNCOOKED) Pot Style Rice Cooker and Food Steamer
