This easy oven-baked rice recipe guarantees perfect, tender, fluffy rice every time. Combine white long-grain rice, butter, and salt with boiling water, seal tightly, and oven-bake. In 30 minutes, you can make delicious rice for two or a crowd!
🍚Ingredients
Long-grain white rice
Butter
Salt
Jump To (scroll for more)
- 🍚Ingredients
- 👨🍳How to Cook Rice in the Oven—Step-by-Step Instructions
- ⏲️How long to cook rice in the oven
- ✔️Make it right every time
- 👨🍳How to cook brown rice in the oven
- 🍚Other types of rice
- ↕️Adjusting the recipe size
- 🤔Troubleshooting
- 🍽️How to use baked rice
- ❄️Storage of leftovers
- 🔥How to Reheat Rice
- ❓FAQs
- 📖The Recipe Card
Featured Comment by Jo:
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"I am thrilled that this recipe works so well. The moistness and fluffiness of the rice was perfect after 25 minutes. I don't believe I've ever made perfect rice before."
Are you "rice impaired"? Is your rice usually mushy or burned? Are you tired of cleaning the slimy pots? Is a rice cooker just not right for you? Baking your rice in the oven is the answer to your rice issues for perfect rice every time.
White long-grain rice generally requires a 1:2 ratio of rice to water to make 3 cups of cooked rice from 1 cup of rice. This recipe uses slightly less water.
Check out other easy rice recipes, such as Egg Fried Rice, Easy Mexican Rice, and Cheesy Chicken, Broccoli & Rice Casserole.
👨🍳How to Cook Rice in the Oven—Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 375°F for conventional or 350°F for convection. Boil water, then add butter and salt before mixing in the rice.
2. Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the rice is tender but not mushy, and all the liquid has been absorbed. If it's not done, continue baking for another 2 to 4 minutes.
3. Fluff it with a fork to release the steam, then serve. If you don't fluff it, the rice may keep cooking and become mushy.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
⏲️How long to cook rice in the oven
In a 350° convection oven, uncooked white long-grain rice will take about 25 minutes to cook perfectly. The thickness of the ingredients in the pan will affect time, as will the hydration status of the rice. The rice is done when all the water is absorbed and the rice is tender.
✔️Make it right every time
You can use a 2-quart casserole dish, a 6X9-inch baking dish, or an 8- to 9-inch round baking pan. For instructions on adjusting the recipe's size, see the section below.
You do not need to rinse the rice, but you can. Some rice seems to have some powder on it. It is never a problem if you rinse the rice under running water. Put it in a large strainer and rinse for a minute or two until the water is clear. But mostly, rinsing is not needed.
Fully preheat the oven before starting.
Always check for tender results before you stop baking the rice.
👨🍳How to cook brown rice in the oven
Baked brown rice requires more water and time than long-grain rice. To prepare one cup of brown rice, you will need two cups of boiling water, one tablespoon of butter, and one teaspoon of kosher salt.
The cooking time will be about 1 hour. Use the same endpoint for tender rice and all water absorbed.
🍚Other types of rice
Long-grain white rice is best for this recipe. It is the most commonly available type of rice and is cheap. Other varieties like basmati rice or jasmine rice will cook about the same. Do not use short gain, converted, or minute rice.
↕️Adjusting the recipe size
This recipe uses 1 cup of uncooked rice to make about 3 cups of cooked rice—6 servings. You can quickly cook smaller or larger amounts.
- Use the recipe card and adjust the number of servings to your desired amount.
- Use the amount of ingredients in the ingredient list, not the instructions—those do not adjust.
- Use a smaller or larger baking dish if needed. If you are cooking a large amount, a large Dutch oven works well, and you can skip the foil if the top is tight.
- Cooking time will be about the same but will be affected by thickness.
🤔Troubleshooting
Crunchy baked rice can have several causes: insufficient fluid, too high a temperature, a poor pan seal, or not cooking long enough.
Mushy baked rice is the opposite of the crunchy rice problems.
🍽️How to use baked rice
This recipe is easy to combine with other baked recipes. The baking time matches Oven Baked Chicken Breasts, Seared and Baked Pork Tenderloin, and many other main dishes.
You can also serve it with Chinese recipes, such as General Tso Chicken, Honey-Glazed Grilled Chicken, and Cashew Chicken.
❄️Storage of leftovers
If sealed airtight, you can store cooked rice in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
You can freeze rice, but I'm not a fan of the change in texture that can happen. If you do this, freeze in small amounts in an airtight container for up to 2 months—thaw in the refrigerator before reheating.
🔥How to Reheat Rice
To reheat cooked rice in the microwave, sprinkle a little water, cover with a damp paper towel.
To reheat on the stove top, use low heat and sprinkle with water. Stir frequently.
❓FAQs
Follow the recipe. The package instructions on the rice will say 1 cup of rice to 2 cups of water. Here, we cut back the water to 1 ¾ cups to ensure the fluid is absorbed.
Adding the "suggested" 2 cups will probably get you mushy and sticky rice.
Just tight foil will do. Some people will add a layer of plastic wrap under the aluminum foil, but it is unnecessary.
If the baking dish has a glass lid, it will not fit tight enough to contain the steam, so the foil is still needed. However, most Dutch ovens have heavy, well-fitting lids, so you can skip any other sealing.
No. It will add some flavor and help prevent the sticking of rice grains. If you skip it, add a splash of oil during the fluffing of the rice to prevent sticking.
It will add some flavor; beef and chicken broth will work well. You can add other herbs and spices if you wish.
📖The Recipe Card
Baked Rice
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Ingredients
- 1 cup long grain rice
- 1 ¾ cup water - Boiling
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375°F conventional or 350°F convection.
In an oven-safe pan, add butter and Kosher salt to boiling water. Stir well, then mix in white long-grain rice. Use a 2-quart casserole dish, a 6X9-inch baking dish, or an 8 to 9-inch round baking pan.- Tightly cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 25 minutes, until the rice is tender but not mushy and all the liquid has been absorbed. If it's not done, bake for another 2 to 4 minutes.
- Fluff it with a fork to release the steam, then serve. If you don't fluff, the rice may continue to cook and become mushy.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips:
- Use boiling water.
- Some rice seems to have some powder on it. Rinsing the rice under running water is never a problem. Just put it in a large strainer and rinse for a minute or two until the water is clear, but it is mostly not needed.
- Seal with foil tightly.
- Use the amount of water stated in the recipe—not the amount indicated on the bag.
- Check if the rice is done at the end of the recommended cooking time. Add a few more minutes if needed.
- Fluff at the end of cooking, or it will continue to cook.
- Brown rice takes longer—about 1 hour and 2 cups of water.
- Leftover rice can be refrigerated for 3-4 days. I'm not a fan of freezing cooked rice; you can if you want, but it affects the texture.
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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Originally Published February 23, 2014. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Susan Snyder says
I scorch rice very darn time I make it on my gas stove-top, so I looked up this recipe for making it in my oven. I used long grain rice and followed the recipe exactly. Perfection! I'll never make rice any other way!! Thank you!
Danielle says
This is a great recipe that always works! I put olive oil in place of the butter so that it won't be dairy and it comes out awesome. Thanks guys posting!
Sam says
I tried this recipe tonight. I doubled it & followed the directions the same just doubling the amounts used the same cook time. My kids really liked it said if we added cilantro it tastes just like chipotles. Very easy recipe went well with tacos. Thanks for sharing.