Want rice that turns out perfectly every single time? This easy way to cook rice in the microwave yields rice that is fluffy and clump free. It’s so simple to do and a great time saver for an easy dinner!
HOW TO COOK RICE IN THE MICROWAVE
and it turns out perfectly every time!
For years, we have cooked rice in the microwave, and everyone always asks us how we get our rice to be so clump free and the perfect rice? I always say, we just do it in the microwave! Seriously the easiest way ever!!
Making rice in the microwave is something I don’t even think much about since we have done it SO much. Everyone at our house loves rice, so it’s a side dish at our house quite often!
We love to eat rice as a side dish to go with this teriyaki grilled chicken! So tasty!
And, no worries about it sticking to the bottom of the pan like it does so often if you make it on the stove. And, no extra appliance needed, just your good old microwave!
ALL YOU NEED IS THE RIGHT RATIO OF WATER TO RICE, AND YOU CAN HAVE RICE THAT TURNS OUT PERFECTLY EVERY TIME!
So, what do you need to know if you’re wanting to cook rice in the microwave?
- the right ratio of dry rice to water
- the right size dish since the rice will triple in volume when cooked
- not to use 100% power on your microwave!
So here’s what I did when I wanted 4.5 cups of COOKED rice–
I used 1.5 cups of dry white rice and 3 cups of water.
If you want it to yield more or less rice, all you need to do is change the ratio of water to rice. Use a 2:1 ratio for regular white rice. (The larger number being the water amount, of course.)
Use 2 1/4 cups of water to 1 cup of rice for whole grain brown rice. If I’m doing brown rice, I usually just splash a little more water in the casserole dish.
So for making my 4.5 cups of cooked rice, I used 1.5 cups of dry white rice and 3 cups of water.
I placed the water, rice and a couple of tablespoons of butter or margarine and a dash of salt in a 2.5 quart casserole dish with a lid.
I used a casserole dish similar to THIS and love all the Corningware products out there!
Basically you just need room for the water to boil and rice to expand as it will triple in volume as it’s cooking. So, depending on how much rice you’re cooking, you might have to experiment with what size casserole dish works best.
When we have more people home or people over for dinner, we know that we can get 2.5 cups of dry rice and 5 cups of water in our large casserole dish. . . . and just barely! And, how do we know? Because after making it over and over and it would boil over, we decided to experiment with how much we could get in there and it still fit. We got it to where it was the most we could get in the casserole and it still fit. Haha!
I put the prepared casserole dish (with it’s lid on) in the microwave at 70% power for 25 minutes.
(We have this microwave–a Whirlpool, over the range microwave, 1000 watts of cooking power.)
When it was done, I let it sit another 5 minutes and then fluffed it with a fork.
After being fluffed with a fork, it was ready to serve! So simple!
How to Cook Rice in the Microwave
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups dry white rice
- 3 cups water
- 1-2 tablespoons butter or margarine
- dash of salt
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a 2.5 quart microwave-safe casserole dish with a lid.
- Microwave at 70% power for 25 minutes.
- Let sit for 5 minutes.
- Fluff with a fork and serve!
Notes
- 1/2 cup dry white rice, 1 cup of water yields 1.5 cups of cooked rice
- 3/4 cup dry white rice, 1.5 cups of water yields 2.25 cups of cooked rice
- 1 cup dry white rice, 2 cups of water yields 3 cups of cooked rice
- 1.25 cups dry white rice, 2.5 cups of water yields 3.75 cups of cooked rice
- 1.5 cups dry white rice, 3 cups of water yields 4.5 cups of cooked rice
- 1.75 cups dry white rice, 3.5 cups of water yields 5.25 cups of cooked rice
- 2 cups dry white rice, 4 cups of water yields 6 cups of cooked rice
- 2.25 cups dry white rice, 4.5 cups of water yields 6.75 cups of cooked rice
- 2.5 cups dry white rice, 5 cups of water yields 7.5 cups of cooked rice
So, here’s a basic ratio done for you:
- 1/2 cup dry white rice, 1 cup of water yields 1.5 cups of cooked rice
- 3/4 cup dry white rice, 1.5 cups of water yields 2.25 cups of cooked rice
- 1 cup dry white rice, 2 cups of water yields 3 cups of cooked rice
- 1.25 cups dry white rice, 2.5 cups of water yields 3.75 cups of cooked rice
- 1.5 cups dry white rice, 3 cups of water yields 4.5 cups of cooked rice
- 1.75 cups dry white rice, 3.5 cups of water yields 5.25 cups of cooked rice
- 2 cups dry white rice, 4 cups of water yields 6 cups of cooked rice
- 2.25 cups dry white rice, 4.5 cups of water yields 6.75 cups of cooked rice
- 2.5 cups dry white rice, 5 cups of water yields 7.5 cups of cooked rice
THIS FLAT-ROASTED CHICKEN PAIRS NICELY WITH RICE
