Cook perfect, tender, fluffy rice every time with this easy oven-baked rice recipe. Combine rice, butter, and salt with boiling water, seal tight, and oven-bake. Make delicious rice for two or a crowd in 30 minutes!
🍚Ingredients
Long-grain white rice
Butter
Salt
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Featured Comment from Jo:
"5 stars. 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."
Get tender oven-baked rice every time. Just combine rice with boiling water, butter, and salt. Seal tightly and let the rice steam cook in the oven.
This easy-baked rice recipe is perfect every time in your home oven—no rice cooker is needed, and no rice is sticking to the bottom of the pan.
👨🍳How to Cook Rice in the Oven—Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 375°F conventional or 350°F convection. Use a 2-quart casserole dish, a 6X9 inch baking dish, or an 8 to 9-inch round baking pan.
2. Add butter and Kosher salt to boiling water in an oven-safe pan—stir well, then mix in white long-grain rice.
3. Tightly cover with a piece of aluminum foil. Bake for 25 minutes until the rice is tender but not mushy, and all the liquid should be absorbed. If it's not done, bake for another 2 to 4 minutes.
4. Fluff it with a fork to let the steam out, and serve. If you don't fluff, the rice may continue to cook and become mushy.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
⏲️How long does rice take to cook in the oven
Uncooked rice will take about 25 minutes to cook perfectly cooked rice. 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.
🍚What rice to use?
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.
👨🍳How to cook brown rice in the oven
Baked brown rice needs more water and time than long-grain rice. One cup of brown rice will need 2 cups of boiling water, 1 tablespoon of butter, and 1 teaspoon of kosher salt.
The cooking time will be about 1 hour. Use the same endpoint for tender rice and all water absorbed.
Cook rice for two or a crowd.
This recipe uses 1 cup of uncooked rice to make about 3 cups of cooked rice—6 servings. You can easily 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.
Other rice recipes
Check out other easy rice recipes, like Plain Fried Rice, Easy Mexican Rice, and Cheesy Chicken, Broccoli & Rice Casserole.
How to use baked rice
This recipe is easy to combine with other baked recipes. The baking time matches Convection Oven Chicken Breasts, Seared and Baked Pork Tenderloin, and many other main dishes. Or serve with Chinese recipes, like 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.
Reheat in the oven or microwave.
❓FAQs
No, 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.
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.
No. It will add some flavor and help prevent the sticking of rice grains.
It will add some flavor; beef and chicken broth will work well. You can add other herbs and spices if you wish.
This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.
Have you tried this recipe, or have a question? Join the community discussion in the comments.
📖 Recipe
How to Cook Rice in the Oven
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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.
- Add butter and Kosher salt to boiling water in an oven-safe pan—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 a piece of aluminum foil. Bake for 25 minutes until the rice is tender but not mushy, and all the liquid should be absorbed. If it's not done, bake for another 2 to 4 minutes.
- Fluff it with a fork to let the steam out, and 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. It is never a problem if you rinse the rice under running water. Just put it in a large strainer and rinse for a minute or two until the water is clear. But 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.
- Don't skip the butter; it helps stop the sticking. Also, don't skip the salt. Rice without any salt is not good.
- Leftover rice can be refrigerated for 3-4 days. I'm not a fan of freezing cooked rice; you can if you want but I think 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.