<img src="https://i2.wp.com/www.melaniecooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/rice_cooker_brown_rice2-773×1030.jpg" alt="How
to cook brown rice in a rice cooker” />
This method of cooking brown rice does exactly what it says: fluffy, tasty brown rice in a rice cooker! So easy and delicious!
I have resisted switching from white to brown rice for a long time. Although we all know that brown rice is much healthier than white, I always thought of brown rice as one of those “health foods” with an inferior taste. Until one day my husband (who is much more health conscious about food than I am) convinced me to try brown rice, and I was pleasantly surprised!
Most of the time brown rice is cooked incorrectly (even in restaurants), resulting in a soft texture and grains being clumped together. If you based your opinion on brown rice on trying a bad version of it, try again and you might reconsider.
One restaurant that consistently gets the right brown rice is Chipotle: it’s perfectly cooked with the fluffy texture and separate grains. Try Chipotle brown rice and if you like it, you can cook brown rice the same way at home with your rice cooker.
If you’ve ever tried cooking brown rice in a rice cooker, only to end up with a soft or undercooked mess, follow the instructions below for perfectly cooked brown rice.
How to cook perfect brown rice in a
rice cooker
1) What kind of rice cooker do you have?
The first question to consider: what type of rice cooker do you have? Does your rice cooker have a “brown rice” setting or just a standard “rice” or “white rice”?
If your rice cooker has a “brown rice” setting, you’re in luck! It’s already designed to cook brown rice properly, so all you need to do is use the rice cooker instructions for brown rice. If not, don’t give up, you can still cook brown rice, just follow my instructions below.
2) Do you have the measuring cup that comes with your rice cooker?
Most of the time, rice cookers come with their own measuring cups that are not the same size as the regular cup (they are about 2/3 to 3/4 cup). Why they do it this way is beyond me:) I’m sure tons of rice were ruined because people used the regular measuring cup to measure the rice and fill the water down to the labeled watermarks on the rice cooker, resulting in the wrong ratio and bad tasting rice!
The rice cooker has lines inside the bowl labeled with the numbers. Those lines indicate how much water to put inside the rice cooker based on the number of cups of rice. For example, if you put 2 cups of rice, fill the water to the line that has the number 2.
However, the water level lines of the rice cooker are only accurate if you use the cup that came with your rice cooker. If you use a regular measuring cup, do not use water level lines to determine the amount of water needed! Instead, use the ratio of brown rice to water for the rice cooker below.
3) Ratio of brown rice to water for the rice cooker
If you don’t have the measuring cup that comes with your rice cooker, simply use the following ratio:
1 cup brown rice per 2 cups of water 4
) Don’t use
less than 1 cup of rice
Amounts less than 1 cup of rice will not cook well in a rice cooker
. The best amount to cook is 2 cups of
rice with 4 cups of water
. If it’s your first time, that’s what I recommend you start with.
5) Add
salt
Salt makes a big difference in the taste of brown rice, so don’t forget to add it. I always add salt directly to the rice cooker, right after adding rice and water. I use 1/4 teaspoon of salt for every 1 cup of raw rice. If it’s not salty enough for you, simply increase the amount of salt next time to 1/2 teaspoon.
6) Cook in the rice cooker Place the rice cooker
to cook 🙂 If you have the “Brown rice” setting, use it. If you only have the “Rice” or “White rice” setting, just use it: if you used the brown rice-to-water ratio above, it should work out.
Be sure never to open the rice cooker while the rice is cooking, or you will spoil the rice! Be patient and wait until the cooking cycle is over.
7) Forked fluff after
cooking When the rice
finishes cooking in the rice cooker, it won’t look like the fluffy rice in the picture above. To make it fluffy, you have to fluff it with a fork! Just take a regular fork and stir the rice with it, separating the grains until it looks tasty and fluffy.
8) Add optional
seasonings
You can eat your brown rice as is, or to increase the flavor, you can use additional seasonings. You can add some butter and a splash of lemon juice, as well as a pinch of your favorite spices to season brown rice. Enjoy!
