Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink

How to Reheat Rice Perfectly So You Can Keep It Fluffy

By
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Rice is one of the most versatile foods. From the Italian risotto and the Nigerian jollof rice to rice and beans to the base layer of Japanese sushi, there are endless recipes for rice. Whatever your preferred rice dish, having your rice warm is rather satisfying. Heating your rice brings out its authentic and natural taste.

You shouldn’t have your rice leftovers or takeout cold — it won’t be truly satisfying. The key to making your cold rice fluffy and fulfilling is to find the best way to reheat rice. You can use either a microwave, oven, stove, or a cooking wok to warm up your meal. We’ve listed the best ways for reheating your rice to perfection and provided the steps you should take. Read on for exciting and easy tips on how to reheat your rice.

Recommended Videos

Related Guides

How to Reheat Rice and Keep It Fluffy

Alexander Ortega / Shutterstock

Microwave

An essential kitchen appliance, a microwave provides for the simplest and mess-free way of reheating your rice. It’s great for warming up cold rice in small portions:

  1. Place your rice on a flat plate.
  2. Cover the place of rice with a dampened paper towel.
  3. Microwave your rice for about two minutes.
  4. Serve immediately when ready.

A microwave risks drying out your food, but covering your plate with a wet paper towel or plastic wrap improves the overall texture and flavor. You can also sprinkle the rice with one or two tablespoons of water for each plate before reheating, plus a dash of salt for flavoring.

Oven

An oven makes an excellent option for reheating rice for a group of people. Still, you can use it to warm up just a plate of rice for yourself. Follow these steps:

  1. Put your rice in a large, shallow baking dish — spread it out in the dish to ensure even heating.
  2. Sprinkle the rice with water or vegetable stock.
  3. Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil.
  4. Bake your rice for 20 minutes at 300°F; for small portions, bake for 5 minutes.
  5. Turn off the oven and serve when ready.

Be sure the rice is warm all way through before serving. This is particularly important when reheating large portions.

Stove Top

You can reheat rice using the stove. You can use a pan or pot to reheat your rice, allowing you to add other ingredients if needed. A stove makes an ideal option for repurposing plain white rice.

  1. Place your rice in a pot or pan.
  2. Pour 1/4 cup water over rice. Add more water if you need more moisture or less if you want a drier rice.
  3. Add other ingredients and flavorings, if you desire, at this step.
  4. Cover the pot and heat it over a medium-low heat.
  5. Stir your rice as needed to ensure even heating.

If you consider repurposing your rice, you can add it to a finished soup, turn it into dessert, or a stir-fry.

Wok

Stir-frying your rice in a wok is also effective in warming up the meal. It also lets you add additional ingredients, such as veggies and meat, for a tantalizing dish.

  1. Heat a tablespoon of your preferred oil in a wok.
  2. Add your veggies and meat ingredients, starting with those that need to be cooked longer and ending with those that need the least amount of cooking.
  3. Once veggies and meats are cooked, add the rice to the wok while breaking up any large clumps.
  4. Sauté the rice continuously to ensure even heat distribution.
  5. Cook the rice uncovered for three minutes.
  6. Serve when the internal temperature is 165°F.

Make sure all the added ingredients are well cooked before serving.

Can You Reheat Rice If It’s Been in the Fridge?

You can definitely reheat your cold rice and enjoy it as a main dish or side dish, depending on your recipe. While it’s okay to eat refrigerated rice, it’s vital to cook rice to the proper temperature the first time, store it, and heat rice to the proper temperature when reheating. Rice left at room temperature can cause food poisoning due to a toxin produced by a bacteria called Bacillus cereus. Symptoms are generally mild and go away on their own with rest and hydration, but consist of vomiting and diarrhea. The most important factor in preventing this type of infection is to cook and store rice properly the first time you cook it. If it is left at room temperature and then cooled, it could result in bacterial growth. In fact, keeping this food out for more than just one hour could result in growth of Bacillus cereus. Try to refrigerate rice within one hour of cooking. If you suspect that your rice is contaminated, you should throw it out, according to LiveScience.com. In general, keep hot foods above 140°F and cold foods lower than 40°F.

How to Store Cooked Rice in the Fridge

Storing your rice correctly is essential to ensure a tasty meal when you want to reheat it for lunch or dinner. The key is to freeze or refrigerate it as quickly as possible after cooking. Ensure it’s cooked at high temperatures to prevent the growth of bacteria.

After cooking, make sure your rice’s temperature is out to the danger zone — 40°F and 140°F. Then, follow these steps to store your cooked rice in the fridge:

  1. Allow it to cool to room temperature — but aim to refrigerate it within one hour after cooking.
  2. Pack your cooled rice in airtight containers.
  3. Store it in the fridge for up to four days.

Ensure the food is stored at a safe temperature — 40°F and below. Your fridge should always be at this temperature. If you keep your cooked rice in the freezer, you can extend the shelf life by one month. Remember white rice lasts longer than brown rice.

Can You Eat Cold Rice?

While reheating cooked rice only takes a few minutes, you might eat cold rice for various reasons. Some recipes, such as sushi and rice salad, call for cold rice. Eating cold rice is completely safe as long as it was cooked properly the first time and has been stored properly. Make sure your refrigerated foods are appropriately kept to avoid the risk of food poisoning. Always wash your hands and storage containers carefully before handling and storing your cooked rice.

Rice is a food staple all over the world. Enjoy your rice fresh, cooled, or reheated!

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
Sheena Pradhan
Sheena Pradhan
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Sheena Pradhan is a serial entrepreneur and digital marketer. She started her career as a Registered Dietitian and…
How to make a nutritious smoothie you’ll actually want to drink
This guide will give you more insight than you ever thought you could have on smoothies
Man preparing a breakfast smoothie in the kitchen

We've all experienced it. That moment where your partner or friend hands you a glass of some sort of unidentifiable, brownish-green, lumpy goo they call a smoothie -- expecting you to guzzle it down with delight. Not to hurt their feelings, you do, holding back tears and your gag reflex.

A huge misconception out there is that you can blend up any combination of healthy ingredients and expect the result to taste like a smoothie from your favorite local juice bar. Sadly, this is not the case. Like with any food recipe, smoothies need to follow specific guidelines to get the best end product. You also need to add ingredients with complementary flavors.

Read more
You can make a quick hollandaise in your microwave in under 2 minutes – here’s how
It's time to stop cursing at broken sauces
Eggs Benedict on plate

During my very first break from culinary school, I went home to visit my parents. As one does, I'd decided to show off with all of my fancy new culinary know-how and spent the weekend preparing a royal spread of pastries, breads, desserts, and every meal I could dream up...or had at least had jotted down in one of my notebooks. But on the third or fourth morning, exhausted from croissants and brioche, I decided to make for my my parents eggs benedict, complete with the most silky and buttery of all the sauces - hollandaise. Hollandaise sauce is truly something straight from the gods. Traditionally made from egg yolk and butter, emulsified slowly over low heat and accentuated with a lemony kiss, this velvety sauce is what brunchtime dreams are made of. Traditionally served over a number of dishes, it just doesn't get any more delicious than a classic hollandaise.

Unfortunately, however, this delicious sauce can also be one of the most finicky to make. That morning with my parents, hopeful and full of joy and optimism after spending a few nights in my childhood bedroom, I set to work making a perfect eggs benedict with hollandaise for my sweet parents. I did everything right. The eggs were tempered, the bain marie was perfect, the eggs were poached to perfection. And then, out of nowhere and with no warning, along with my sweet young heart, my hollandaise broke. In a fury of embarrassment, I poured the entire batch down the drain and started again. And again. If memory serves, it was the fourth batch that finally worked, though I'd done absolutely nothing different than in the first three batches. Needless to say, it was a frustrating (and expensive) morning.

Read more
How to lower cholesterol without medication: You can do it naturally
If you want to manage your cholesterol on your own, read this list of tips
High cholesterol burger.

For a lot of people, living healthier can be an elusive goal; they're not sure how to go about it, whether that's how to start a running routine or how to lower cholesterol. Cholesterol is a scary word but it shouldn't be. It makes up the cells of your body and does some great bodily work, like helping to make steroid hormones and bile acids. But high cholesterol is a different story, otherwise known as hyperlipidemia. It is defined by high levels of LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol, the kind we like to keep to a minimum.

In contrast with high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, or “good” cholesterol, which actually helps remove excess LDL cholesterol from the bloodstream, high LDL cholesterol increases the risk of atherosclerosis, or arterial hardening and plaque buildup, along with heart disease and other vascular diseases. For example, studies show that compared to those with normal cholesterol levels, people with high cholesterol are about twice as likely to develop cardiovascular disease, one of the leading causes of death in the U.S.

Read more