Rice to Water Ratio Calculator

How the calculator works

Each type of rice has a ratio: how many parts of water it needs for one part of rice, measured by volume.

water = rice x ratio

For 1 1/2 cups of jasmine rice at 2 to 1: 1.5 x 2 = 3 cups of water.

Because the ratio is by volume, the size of your cup does not matter. A US cup, a metric cup, the plastic cup that came with a rice cooker or a coffee mug all work, as long as you measure the rice and the water with the same one.

The ratios

These are the ratios published by USA Rice, the trade body for American rice growers, for cooking rice in a covered pot on the stove:

• White rice, long grain: 2 parts water, 15 to 18 minutes
• White rice, medium grain: 1 1/2 parts water, 15 to 18 minutes
• White rice, short grain: 1 1/4 parts water, 15 to 18 minutes
• Jasmine and basmati, white: 2 parts water, 15 to 18 minutes
• Brown rice: 2 1/4 parts water, 40 to 45 minutes
• Parboiled rice: 2 1/4 parts water, 20 minutes
• Arborio: 4 parts liquid, 20 to 30 minutes
• Wild rice: 3 parts water, 40 to 50 minutes

The pattern is easy to see. The shorter and stickier the grain, the less water it takes. Rice with its bran still on, and wild rice, which is a grass seed and not a true rice, take more water and much longer.

Worked example

You are cooking for six and want about a cup of cooked rice each.

1. Six cups cooked / 3 = 2 cups of dry rice.
2. For basmati at 2 to 1: 2 x 2 = 4 cups of water.
3. Cooking time: 15 to 18 minutes.

For brown rice the same 2 cups would need 2 x 2.25 = 4 1/2 cups of water and 40 to 45 minutes.

Adjusting the ratio

A published ratio is a starting point. The right amount of water for your kitchen depends on things a chart cannot see:

• Rinsing. Rinsed rice carries some water into the pot with it.
• The pot. A wide pot or a loose lid loses more steam than a narrow pot with a tight lid.
• Texture. Rice for fried rice or a salad is better a little dry. Rice for a saucy curry can be softer.
• Custom. Many home cooks across Asia use less water for jasmine rice than the chart suggests.

That is why the calculator has a box for your own ratio. If your jasmine rice comes out too soft at 2 to 1, try 1.75 or 1.5 next time, and once you find the number you like, use it for every batch.

Rice cookers and pressure cookers

The ratios here are for a pot on the stove. A rice cooker or electric pressure cooker loses far less steam, so it generally needs less water. Use the lines marked inside the bowl or the amounts in your appliance’s manual. The maker tested them for that machine.

Tips and common mistakes

Measure the rice and the water with the same cup. Mixing a 180 milliliter rice cooker cup with a 250 milliliter kitchen cup is the most common reason rice turns out wet or dry.

Keep the lid on. Rice cooks in steam as much as in water. Each time the lid comes off, steam escapes and the top layer dries out.

Let it rest. Once the water is absorbed, leave the pot covered and off the heat for a few minutes before fluffing, so the moisture evens out.

Scale the water, not the time. Two cups of rice need twice the water of one cup, but about the same cooking time.

How much rice per person

Using the yield of 3 cups cooked from 1 cup dry: a third of a cup of dry rice gives one cup cooked, a generous side serving. For four people, 1 1/3 cups of dry rice makes about 4 cups cooked.