It’s so frustrating when you’ve found a fantastic recipe, and you’re cooking dinner, and it says you need two cups of rice, but you don’t know how much dry rice it is.
What if you don’t want a few cups of cooked rice left when you finish cooking and eating? This is why figuring out how dry rice converts to cooked rice quantities.
How Much Dry Rice Does ¼ Cup Make?
When you look at the rice box or bag, the measurements on there refer to dry product. So, ¼-cup of cooked rice works out to be right around ¾-cup cooked rice.
This is a significant difference, so it’s easy to see why people usually have rice left when they finish eating.
We want you to be able to cook with confidence and get the perfect amount of cooked rice for all of your dishes, so we’ve put together a conversion chart for you. We’ll also answer all of your popular questions below.
How Much Rice You Should Cook Per Person
Just like pasta, how much rice you want per person depends on whether you want to serve it as a side dish or as the main dish with other ingredients.
It also depends on who you want to serve it to because some people will have larger servings than others. Many recipes will call for a cup of cooked rice per serving.
The USDA and many dietitians claim that this measurement is too much, and you should only eat a ½-cup of rice per serving at any one time. Unless you’re watching your carbohydrates, somewhere in the middle is a good amount.
The Proper Rice to Liquid Ratio
The most common rice to liquid ratio is 1:2 or one cup of rice for every two cups of water, giving you three cups of rice. So, if you want to cook two cups of rice, you’d have four cups of liquid to get a total of six cups of cooked rice.
You don’t necessarily have to use water for cooking your rice either, and you can easily substitute vegetable or chicken stock at an equal ratio for more flavor.
Rice Equivalents and Conversions
- 1 cup of uncooked white rice gives you 3 cups of cooked rice
- 1 cup of uncooked brown whole grain rice gives you 4 cups of cooked rice
- 1 cup of long-grain rice gives you 3 cups of cooked rice
- 1 cup of dry pre-cooked instant rice gives you 2 cups of cooked rice
- 1 cup of cooked wild rice gives you 3 cups of cooked rice
For 1 Cup of Cooked Rice Per Person
- ¾ cup of uncooked rice feeds 2 people
- 1 cup of uncooked rice feeds 3 people
- 2 cups of uncooked rice feed 6 people
For ½ Cup of Cooked Rice Per Person
- ¾ cup of uncooked rice feeds 4 people
- 1 cup of uncooked rice feeds 6 people
- 2 cups of uncooked rice feed 12 people
How Much One Cup of Brown Rice Makes Cooked
Depending on how you cook your rice and the type of rice you pick out, a rough estimate is between two and four cups of cooked rice for one cup of dry rice.
Using this cooking method, a cup of long-grain brown rice will give you almost four cups of cooked rice.
For dry rice, there are two cups of rice in a pound. Every cup of dry rice will give you three cups of cooked rice, so you’ll get six cups of cooked rice for a pound of dry rice.
How Long You Cook ¼ Cup of Rice
To start, you add your liquid to a pan and bring it to a boil before adding the rice. Cover and allow it to simmer for 15 minutes before removing it from the heat. Allow your rice to rest for 15 minutes before fluffing it up with a fork and serving it warm.
How Much Rice You Need to Make One Cup of Cooked Rice
If you follow a few simple steps, it’s easy to understand how much rice you need per serving.
First, you have to know the ratio of water to rice, and you want to use two cups of water or liquid to one cup of uncooked long-grain rice if you’re cooking plain white rice. You’ll end up with three cups of cooked rice.
Is Brown Rice Bad for You?
Brown rice can be high in arsenic and contain anti-nutrients. Antinutrients are compounds from plants that can lower your body’s natural ability to absorb certain nutrients, and the biggest antinutrient brown rice contains is phytate or phytic acid. It can also have decent amounts of arsenic, and this is a toxic chemical.
Is Brown Rice Crunchy?
Brown rice can be more challenging to cook than plain white rice. The results can be varied, and it takes around 50 minutes to cook from start to finish.
Sometimes, brown rice can be slightly crunchy when you finish cooking it. You can add the following ingredients to brown rice to switch up the flavor:
- 1/2 teaspoon of dried basil
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
Why Does Rice Turn Out Mushy?
If you use too much water to cook, your rice can easily turn out mushy. However, having not enough water can cause the rice to harden again and stick to the bottom of the pan.
The same amount of liquid or water boils off each time you cook it, so you want to subtract the amount of rice from the liquid to get the perfect ratio.
Should You Boil the Water Before Adding the Rice?
You start by bringing the water to a boil, adding a bit of butter, and seasoning it with salt before adding the rice and letting it come back to a boil.
Quickly reduce the heat when it boils, put the cover on the pot, and keep the rice and liquid simmering just below the boiling point for 5 to 15 minutes to cook it perfectly.
How You Make Two Cups of Cooked Rice
For each cup of cooked rice you want to make, you’ll add two tablespoons of liquid. Cover the rice and liquid on the stovetop and heat it over medium heat for five minutes to heat the rice all the way through.
In the microwave, you put your rice in a microwave-safe dish and cover it before cooking it on high for a minute per cup of rice.
Is One Cup of Rice Enough for Two People?
One cup of dry rice can make enough cooked rice for two or three adults to eat, or it’ll make enough for two children and two adults. You might want to go for a little more than running out, even if rice is quick and easy to make.
Bottom Line
Now you know that ¼ cup of dry rice will make around ¾ cup of cooked rice. You know the correct liquid-to-rice ratio to get good results, and you can take this information and experiment until you get the perfectly cooked rice you want for all your dishes.
