How to Fix Undercooked Rice in Just a Few Minutes

Cooking rice is pretty easy, right? Not always — it can sometimes turn out dry or undercooked. But don't throw it away! We'll teach you how to fix undercooked rice in a few steps.

The key to perfectly-cooked rice is to use the correct ratio of water to rice and cook it for the right amount of time over low heat. If you follow these rules and rinse or soak rice beforehand, you can easily make fluffy rice every time. If you don’t use enough water, the rice can end up either crunchy and dry or soft on the outside but hard in the middle.

Sometimes you follow the recipe and the rice still ends up not being cooked properly. If you’ve overdone it, check out our guide on how to fix mushy rice. If you haven’t cooked it enough, just follow these simple steps.

How to Fix Undercooked Rice (With Remaining Water in Pot)

The easiest way to fix undercooked rice is to simply let it cook longer. If you’ve cooked the rice for the correct amount of time but find that it’s undercooked and there’s still water left in the pot, keep the heat on low and cook covered for another few minutes (or until all of the water has been absorbed). You can check intermittently to ensure the water has been absorbed and the rice isn’t burning.

After removing from the heat, let the rice stand for ten minutes before serving.

How to Fix Undercooked Rice (With No Remaining Water in Pot)

If the rice is undercooked at the end of the allotted cooking time and there is no water in the pot, there are a number of options, depending on the state of the rice.

Try these methods depending on the consistency of your rice:

1. Dry — Add a quarter cup of boiling water and keep cooking on low heat for five minutes, covered. Remove from the heat and let the rice stand for ten minutes before serving.
2. Soft on the outside and chewy inside — Remove from the stove, place the rice in a microwaveable bowl, and cover. Microwave for about two minutes or until the rice softens and steam starts to rise.
3. Slightly chewy — Remove from the stove and spread the rice evenly on a glass baking dish (don’t press down on it, or it will stick together). Bake at 350°F for ten minutes or until the rice is completely soft.

If you have leftover rice, remember that you can easily freeze cooked rice to use for later.

Tasty Rice Recipes

Rice is versatile and comes in a variety of types and colors. Cooked rice can be used to make puffed rice which is great as a snack or even as a breakfast cereal. Alternatively, use cooked rice to make a main course, such as fried rice, stuffed eggplants or rice patties. You can also try Cuban congri rice, Indian poha or another of our favorite leftover rice recipes.

Read more:

• Try This Quick, Cheap Veggie Fried Rice Recipe
• How to Make Rice Water for Hair: DIY Rice Shampoo for Hair Growth
• 4 Delicious Coconut Milk Desserts

Important Information regarding Health-related Topics.

** Links to retailers marked with ** or underlined orange are partially partner links: If you buy here, you actively support Utopia.org, because we will receive a small part of the sales proceeds. More info.

Tags: Cooking Guide Healthy Living Recipes Waste Prevention