Perfect Fluffy Rice with Tips (White AND Brown Rice)

A bowl of cooked, fluffy brown rice topped with a little fresh thyme.

4.60 from 37 votes

Perfect Fluffy Rice with Tips (White AND Brown Rice)

Six top tips for making perfect fluffy rice every time, and guidelines for how much water to use, and how long to cook white and brown rice. The below cook time is for white long-grain rice, but the Notes include cooking brown rice. This recipe also includes sautéing the rice grains in olive oil before adding broth.

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

Total Time20

Course: Main Dish, Side Dish

Cuisine: Any

Keyword: fluffy rice, tips for cooking fluffy rice

Servings:

Calories: 191.7kcal

Author: Susan Pridmore

Ingredients

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup basmati long grain white rice
1 ½ cups water or water
1 teaspoon Better Than Bouillon, Roasted Vegetable Paste
½ teaspoon kosher salt (¼ teaspoon sea salt)
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves

Instructions

Rinse the rice under cold water, and strain using a fine mesh strainer. Dry with a towel if you plan to sauté it in olive oil before adding the cooking water.
Warm the olive oil in a heavy bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Combine rice with the oil and toss with a wooden spoon to evenly coat the grains. Toast the grains for 5 - 10 minutes until fragrant, and some grains begin to turn a light brown.
Heat the water in the microwave oven almost to a boil, and stir it into the rice, along with the Bouillon and salt.
This is a good time to add any other spices you want for flavoring the rice.
Lower the heat, and bring to a low simmer, stir one final time, cover with a lid. and reduce the heat to maintain a low simmer. Simmer for 10 - 12 minutes without stirring.
Carefully pull out a few grains on the top and check if they're done to your satisfaction. If not, cook a little longer.
When the rice is done, stick a spoon straight down into the rice all the way to the bottom of the pan. Gently nudge a little rice away just enough to see if there's any broth still at the bottom of the pan.
If the bottom of the pot is dry, remove the pot from the heat, add the fresh thyme, and lightly mix into the top layer of cooked rice. Cover the pot for 10 minutes, and fluff the rice with a fork. Add additional thyme if desired.
(If some broth remains in the pot once the rice is cooked, strain it out by dumping the cooked rice into a fine mesh strainer, and quickly dump the rice back into the pot, and continue with the above step.)

Notes

For Cooking Brown Rice

Use 2 ½ cups of water and 2 teaspoons of Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Paste.

Sauté in olive oil as directed above. Add the water, Bouillon and kosher salt. Simmer for 35 - 40 minutes, or until al dente. Follow the remaining directions for cooking white rice.

Six Tips For Perfect Fluffy Rice

Cooking rice should be easy, and yet we often end up with sticky rice when we want it fluffy. Here are 6 tips for ensuring you always end up with tender rice that's fluffy.

Use a heavy bottomed pot to prevent burning or scorching. It's harder to control a heated surface that is thin.
- This is important to the finished texture of the rice.

Sauté the rice in a little olive oil until lightly toasted before adding the water.
- This not only kicks up the flavor of the rice, it also coats the grains, allowing them to slide against each other without developing starchiness. So, even if you don't sauté the rice first, still add that little bit of oil.
- As a side benefit, this sauté step also shortens the cook time (see the above section on cooking time for rice).

Use the correct water to rice ratio (see the above section on how much water to use for white rice versus brown rice).
- Too little liquid can result in partially cooked rice stuck to the bottom of the pot, a seemingly permanent condition.
- Too much liquid can give you soggy rice.

Cover the pot while the rice is simmering and be sure to keep it at a low simmer.

Don't be tempted to stir the rice while it cooks. Ever.

When the rice is done, remove from the pot from the heat and keep it covered for 10 minutes before tossing it with a fork.
- This gives the rice time to evenly distribute its moisture. Otherwise the rice on top will be dry, and rice on the bottom will be wet.

Nutrition