Ever wondered how to make the perfect pot of rice without a rice cooker? We got you. This no-fail method works for short-, medium-, and long-grain white rice.
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What you’ll need
Measuring Cups
$28 At Bon Appétit Market
Measuring Spoons
$10 At Bon Appétit Market
Sieve
$18 At Amazon
Medium Saucepan
$50 $39 At Amazon
Wooden Spoon
$7 At Amazon
Fork
Recipe information
Yield
Makes about 3 cups
Ingredients
1
½
Preparation
Step 1
Rinse 1 cup long-grain white rice in a fine-mesh sieve until the water runs clear (this may take up to a minute). Alternatively, you can rinse the rice in a bowl or pot with several changes of cold water, draining carefully between rinses, but we think the fine-mesh sieve method is the least annoying. Rinsing rice before you cook it is key—it washes away the starchy powder that would otherwise make the grains of rice clump up and stick together. Combine rice, ½ tsp. kosher salt, and 1¼ cups water in a medium saucepan.
Step 2
Give everything a gentle stir. Bring to a boil, then cover pot with a tight-fitting lid and reduce heat to low, aiming for the lowest possible flame. Cook rice, undisturbed—that means NOT opening the lid!—for 18 minutes.
Step 3
Remove pan from heat. Let stand at least 15 minutes or until ready to use. Uncover and fluff cooked rice with a fork before serving.
Leave a Review
Reviews (179)
Back to TopFinally rice that's as fluffy as my favorite Indian cuisine restaurants!! Some tips for those who had trouble: 1. If your sauce pan lid has a hole in the top of it (to release steam) then you can take tinfoil and cover the top of the sauce pan, then press the lid down over the tinfoil to create a nice seal between the lid and sauce pan. 2. I recommend washing your rice with the 2 bowl method instead of a strainer. Wash hands and put your rice in one bowl, run coldish water into the other bowl until it fills up. Then you'll dump the cold water into the rice bowl and carefully pour the starchy water out until there's only a little left. Make a claw with your right hand and stir the rice to release more starch. While you're stirring your water bowl will fill up and you repeat the process until the water runs clear (3-4 times).
Jake L
Kansas City, MO
1/7/2024
I found this rice recipe a week ago. This is no doubt the absolute best way to cook rice. I doubled the recipe to make fried rice and couldn't believe how fluffy and not sticky the rice turned out. I'm actually making another batch right now to make Dirty Rice. Thank you so much!!!
Dave
Falls Church, VA
12/23/2021
We have searched for years for the perfect way to prepare rice. This method never fails! I can add whatever flavorings I want and it’s always the perfect pot of rice. The rice cooker always burned our rice, this is better than any other way I have cooked rice. Thank you
Cass
Utah
9/25/2021
Perfect rice! We are at our cabin without our rice cooker. I was worried because we are at a slight elevation ~4000FT and our pot cover has a tiny hole, so not quite tight fitting. Anyway, I eliminated rice but carefully followed the cooking instructions and the rice is perfect. As tempting as it is to lift the cover, do NOT do so until after cooking and resting time are complete.
Nanci
Bay Area, CA
7/30/2021
I don’t have a problem with stovetop rice, but decided to try this anyway. It failed for me the first time out. I used my right back burner, designed for “low simmer,” and the flame was too low. I rescued it with an additional ten minute on regular burner on low. The recipe did work for me the second time, but it turns out we prefer our rice sticky and clumpy. The individual grains didn’t satisfy. As other reviewers have pointed out, this recipe takes longer than necessary. I’ll stick to my old method for plain white rice. No rinsing. 12 minutes on low heat, covered. Have a peak at 10 minutes to check for doneness. Raising the cover does no harm to the finished product.
ChrisKnitz
Oconomowoc
4/19/2021
I'm 12 And It Worked Pretty Well But It Is To Slow For Me
Owen
C
3/21/2021
There is a quicker way to cook rice. Follow the instructions but cook rice for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit for 8 - 10 minutes. Fluff up and serve perfect rice. Works every time. :)
Big Joe
Montreal,Canada
3/2/2021