Baked Rice is simple and fuss-free. It steams perfectly and tastes great every time. If you’ve ever felt like a failure making rice, those days are over when you bake rice.
When you cook rice in the oven, you take all the guess work out of the process. It’s quick, easy, and completely hands-free. Even better, you can cook more than one dish at the same time. Slide in a pan of Hands-Free Cashew Chicken for a perfect pairing with your oven rice.
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I can’t make rice.
My rice never turns out.
I don’t know what it is, but I just can’t make good rice.
Have you ever said those words? Believe me, you are not alone.
Rice is the one good cheap eat that I hear folks struggle with continuously. What is it about rice that makes it such a stumbling block to home cooks?
Thankfully, it really is easy to make, especially when you cook rice in the oven!
Why Make This
It’s easy! Baked Rice is a no-brainer side dish to prepare. It takes very little effort and can bake alongside other dishes in the oven, making dinner prep a snap. I particularly like to bake rice in the oven alongside a pan of Hands-Free Cashew Chicken.
It goes with anything! Rice is a delicious, versatile, and inexpensive side dish that is embraced by cultures the world over. This humble grain is featured in Mexican food, Italian risotto, Asian bowls, Catalan paella, Cajun Jambalaya, French pilafs, and Mediterranean dishes. It’s the base of many a curry or Chicken Tikka Masala.
It’s foolproof. Since rice is featured in so many dishes and serves as a supporting side to so many delicious things, it’s in your best interests to learn how to make good rice. This foolproof method to bake rice in the oven will give you confidence to make rice a regular dish in your meal planning.
Ingredients
The ingredients list here is short. All you need is rice, salt, and very hot, boiling water. Rice is readily available at almost any grocery store, so nothing special needed.
We use regular long-grain rice for this baked rice recipe, but you can easily swap in other types of rice, though you may need to adjust the ratio of water to rice or how long you cook it.
Nonstick cooking spray helps your rice not stick to the glass baking dish.
While it doesn’t really matter what kind of rice you use, it does matter what equipment you use. Either bake your rice in a Dutch oven with a securely fitting lid, or use heavy-duty aluminum foil (as we do here) to securely cover the 9×13-inch baking dish so that the heat does not escape. You want the rice to steam/bake covered.
Variations
Once you’ve mastered simple baked rice, be sure to try Baked Lemon And Thyme Rice – that’s packed with flavor.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Baking rice in the oven requires three ingredients and about 30 minutes of your time. It comes out perfectly almost every time, and takes only one dish! Any recipe that allows you to cook and serve in the same vessel is a winner in my book.
The process is very simple:
- Grease a baking dish and boil some water. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Put uncooked rice and salt in the prepared pan.
- Add the boiling water.
- Cover the pan tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Bake for 20 minutes.
- Fluff the rice with a fork and serve.
This really is a simple dish! Be sure to watch the video to see how easy it is!
What to Do With Leftovers
Provided that you haven’t overcooked your rice or left it out too long to dry out, you can package the leftovers and reheat them within the next four days.
Cold, dry rice is perfect for Vegetable Fried Rice! I regularly make extra so that I can make fried rice in the days to come.
Freezing Instructions
You can freeze cooked rice. Just package it in an airtight container, chill completely in the refrigerator, and then freeze. To reheat, thaw and warm the rice.
Sometimes, after freezing the rice is a bit dryer than it was beforehand. This makes it ideal for adding to soups or using in fried rice.
Tips for Success
- Follow the ratios – for every cup of long grain rice, use 2 cups water; for every cup of brown rice, use 2 cups water, but increase the baking time to 45 minutes; for every cup of basmati or jasmine rice, use 1 ½ cups water.
- Make sure your water is boiling – You want boiling water added to the rice. Hot water just won’t cook it properly.
This oven baked rice recipe takes 20 minutes when you use white rice. If you’re going to use brown rice, increase the cooking time to 45 minutes. The goal here is to make sure the grains are cooked through and the water has been absorbed. Use boiling hot water for best results.
For this recipe we just used long grain white rice, like we use for our Seasoned Rice Pilaf. If you use a different type of rice it may affect how long it takes for the rice to be baked. For instance, brown rice will take 45 minutes to bake.
Store rice in an airtight container in a cool, dry place. I place the bags of rice in a large food service container in my pantry.
Many white rices can be stored indefinitely at room temperature, however, brown rice has a shorter shelf life than white rice, about 3 to 6 months at room temperature. You can extend its shelf life by storing it in the refrigerator or freezer.
You’ll know when brown rice is no longer good when it has a rancid, off odor.
It’s important to keep rice free of contaminants and bugs, so make sure you seal the container after each use.
Recipe Costs
If you love rice in a variety of dishes and flavor profiles, then it’s in your best interests to buy it in bulk. This 10-pound bag of rice cost me $3.52 at my local Ralphs. That’s about 35 cents/pound.
Shop around and consider keeping track of prices at the stores you normally shop at. Make a habit to buy rice at the store with the lowest unit rice.
At my target price, a batch of baked rice costs me about 35 cents!
More Great Rice Dishes
Baked Rice
Ingredients
- 2 cup long-grain white rice uncooked
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 cup water boiling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°. Grease a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- Place the rice and ½ teaspoon salt in the bottom of the pan.
- Pour the boiling water into the pan and cover it right away with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Seal the edges tightly.
- Place the pan in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Fluff the rice with a fork and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published February 9, 2019. It has been updated for content and clarity.
Karen
Love this way of making rice but I do think a 9×13 pan can be a little dangerous as some of the hot boiling water splashed out even with the foil cover on it! Next time I made it I switched to a 2 1/2 quart round casserole dish with the higher sides and it still turned just fine in the same amount of time. Just feel it’s a little safer to use the casserole dish and will always make rice like this from now on. Thank you!
Jessica Fisher
I’ve never had the water boil and splash like that. I wonder if maybe your oven is running at a higher heat. Have you checked it with an oven thermometer recently? Glad you found an alternative dish that you feel comfortable with.
Andrea
So I wanted to try this recipe but, wanted to know if I could make this ahead of time and reheat?
Jessica Fisher
Yes, rice reheats well as long as it’s not overdone. If it looks a bit dry, add some water, cover with plastic wrap, and microwave until hot. Fluff.
Lisa Broussard Januska
I will never look at my ninja foodi, or my stove top, ever again to make rice. This is hands down the MOST incredibly perfect flavorful, rice I have ever eaten in my life… That says a lot, coming from this Cajun girl who cooked rice everyday growing up! My Dad had to have rice.every.single.day and it was the least we could do for that sweet man!! Thank you so much for this recipe…each single grain was perfectly cooked, not one piece was dry, it was a dream to pack up and refrigerate, as I made tripled this recipe, used three cups, so I’d have rice for stir fry later this week! The possibilities on what you can do with this recipe, are endless!
Jessica Fisher
Yay! So glad you saw success!
Dolores Shady
Awesome recipe! I used chicken broth instead of water and salt. Best rice I have ever made delish!
Jessica Fisher
Yay! So glad to hear you had great results.
Shanna
If I halved the recipe would I leave everything else the same? Well other than the pan side.
Jessica Fisher
I think so. I haven’t made one cup, but as long as you use a smaller dish, you should be good. Let me know how it goes!
Lina
I’ll give the lemon & thyme rice a try. Thanks!
Lina
I’m searching for a baked vegetable rice and came across this recipe! What do you think…would adding seasoning or veggies (to cook along with it) make a difference in the amount of water needed or the cooking time? Or should these all be added after? In any case, can’t wait to try it!
Jessica Fisher
I haven’t tested it with vegetables included. You can absolutely add seasonings though. In fact, we have a version here: Baked Rice with Lemon and Thyme.
Lina
I’ll give the lemon & thyme rice a try. Thanks!
Valerie
Can you double the recipe without changing time or temp?
Jessica Fisher
I have tested this with three cups of rice with fine results. More than that, I would suggest simply cooking two pans at the same time. That will ensure even doneness throughout.
Dee Robertson
Needed to make Spanish rice for a crowd and decided to use this recipe as a guide since I’ve never baked rice in an oven before. It came out perfect! In fact, I think it came out better than it does on the stove. So glad I found this recipe!
Jessica Fisher
Awesome!
Pped39
No joke that I can’t cook rice! This simple recipe was life changing!! Who knew. Lol
Thx
Jessica Fisher
Yay! Glad you were successful.
Emma
I can cook a lot of things, but perfectly cooked rice on the stove top always eluded me. No more! This recipe is so easy and has made perfect rice each time I have used it. And not having to monitor one more pot on the stove top is an added bonus. Thank you, thank you!
Jessica Fisher
Yay! So glad to hear it was successful!
Elise
This makes the perfect sticky rice! & not having to watch & stir it means I can just focus on my stir-fry, so the veggies & meat turn out perfect, as well.
Jessica Fisher
Glad to hear it’s working for you! 🙂
Jennipher
I have used this recipe twice recently without fail! I live at high altitude and baking the rice is an awesome hack for this adjustment. This quick, fool-proof method is a meal prep game changer. I will never go back to trying to cook rice with the variables of high altitude, humidity, under/over cooking. This recipe will get you over the intimidation of cooking rice perfectly!
Jessica Fisher
Yay!
JJ Groves
Great recipe, but the photos show a glass 9 x 13 pan – did you use this pan at that high temperature?
Jessica Fisher
All the photographs on the site are of real food made according to what’s pictured. I’ve never had a Pyrex pan break — except for the time a kid put it in the cupboard precariously and it dropped on the floor. A quick google search shows that Pyrex is safe up to 500 degrees. It’s the sudden change in temps that can cause issues.
Claudia
Excellent recipe. If you want a fluffy non sticky rice soak and rinse pour off milky water. Place in pan to cook when rice rinse water is pretty clear. Wash away the starch creates a much fluffier rice.
Jessica Fisher
Thanks, Claudia!
Elise
Good to know, though I love a good sticky rice (makes eating with chopsticks so much easier)!
Sara Schaffer
I am in Colorado, making meals at altitude. I needed to add a little more time to the recipe, but the rice was the best we’ve had! Thanks, Jessica, for helping this part of our “Thai Thursdays” be a success!
Jessica Fisher
Sounds yummy!
Kathleen L.
So I used the Jasmine rice that you get from Costco, with the elephant on it:), and I made 3 cups of rice, so double the water, same salt, foiled it up tight, and baked for 22 mins….at 450 ….turned out absolutely perfect! No sticking or burning on the bottom of the pan….magic! Thanks! My kiddos like the baked rice over the stove top, too!
Jessica Fisher
Thanks for letting us know the numbers on jasmine!
Megan
I’ve made this rice many times – such an easy way to get perfect rice! My rice cooker died a couple years ago, but I do not miss it at all now that I have learned this method. 20 minutes is usually just right; sometimes there’s still a little bit of water remaining in the bottom of the pan – I just pop it back into the oven for a couple minutes for the rice to absorb the rest of the water and it’s fine.
Jessica Fisher
Love it that it’s working so well for you.
Tina L.
This worked great! It was perfect. I have made baked rice before, Mexican and brown, but always cooked them at 350 degrees. I think the higher temperature in your recipe works better. Can’t wait to try brown rice next! This would come in super handy when you have company – one less thing to worry about! Thank you so much for this recipe and for all the others that you share with us. They are appreciated!!!
Jessica Fisher
Yay! So glad it was a win for you! And yes, it’s fantastic for hands-free dinners.
Rachel B
Oh my! This recipe is fantastic! Other than using a microwave and instant rice, I’ve never had success making rice. These directions were so easy to follow and my rice turned out fantastic. Who knew it was so simple? Thanks so much for sharing!
Jessica Fisher
Awesome! Now you are a rice-making winner!