Oven Baked Rice (How to Cook Rice in the Oven)

An all-around delicious and easy recipe for oven-baked rice. Not only is oven-baked rice taste great freshly baked, but this recipe can also be made ahead of time for tomorrow night’s fried rice.

 

This post contains affiliate links, please read my full disclaimer here.

Full Recipe Ingredients/Instructions are available in the 
recipe card at the bottom of the post. 
You can find important tips/tricks in the
blog post.

Making perfect and fluffy rice shouldn’t be scary or intimidating. And if you’ve struggled with cooking rice, then you need this oven-baked method in your life. Baking rice proves over and over again to provide consistent perfect results.

Once I learned how to bake rice in the oven, it became one of my go-to methods for making rice. Rice is a perfect pairing for many dishes, similar to mashed potatoes! Don’t think gravy only goes on potatoes; pour my Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy overtop white rice or this tangy Instant Pot Pork Chops and Gravy. You won’t be disappointed.

Prepare this rice a day ahead and let it chill overnight in the fridge. Leftover rice is perfect for any fried rice recipe or stir fry. My Steak Kimchi Fried Rice features leftover or prepared ahead-of-time white rice.

Ingredients and Tools Needed

• Long grain white rice – you can also use Jasmine rice, Basmati rice, or brown rice for this method. Brown rice does require a different ratio of water to rice as well as a longer cooking time.
• Hot water – I boil my water in a kettle before adding it to the rice.
• Unsalted butter – You can substitute this with a little oil or leave it out if you prefer.
• Kosher salt – Just a little salt will bring out the flavor of the rice.

Tools needed for this recipe

• Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid or a 2-quart baking dish with foil paper.

• Fork for fluffing the rice.

How to make oven-baked rice

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Rinse the rice until the water runs clear. This removes the excess starch and leaves your rice nice and fluffy.

Place into a dutch oven with a tightly fitted lid. You can also use a 2-quart baking dish and cover with foil. Add the hot water, butter, and salt to the baking dish until combined. Cover with heavy-duty foil or with the lid of the dutch oven.

Place in preheated oven and bake rice in the oven for 25-27 minutes, until the liquid is absorbed.

Remove from the oven and allow to rest covered for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, open the lid.

Fluff the rice with a fork. Serve and enjoy.

Can you make the rice ahead of time?

Oven-baked rice can be made ahead of time for future dinners or for prepped lunches. Using a dutch oven or a larger baking dish for doubling the recipe will work great for meal prep or if you’re expecting a larger crowd.

Flavor additions you can add to oven-baked rice

A beautiful base recipe of oven-baked rice lends itself to be seasoned or flavored in many ways that will fit your meal.

• Cilantro & Lime Juice
• Black Beans, Avocado Slices, & Salsa
• Veggies & Soy Sauce
• Pesto
• Saffron & Onion Powder

Swap out the water for other liquids to help enhance the flavor.

• Chicken broth
• Beef broth
• Shrimp stock

Brown Rice

The same method can be used for brown rice. For brown rice, use 2 cups of water or liquid for 1 cup of rice and bake in the oven for 1 hour.

Serving suggestions for oven-baked rice

Rice is one of those dishes that can be put into almost any recipe and it makes sense. You can serve rice with or in:

• Burrito bowls
• Soups
• Meat & Gravy
• Fried Rice
• Lettuce Wraps
• Tacos
• Shrimp Curry

It truly is such a versatile ingredient.

Tips for storing rice

Uncooked rice: Seal and store uncooked rice in an airtight container and in a dry place for up to a year or longer.

Cooked rice: Store leftover rice in the fridge for up to 4-5 days.

Freezing rice: Allow the cooked rice to chill and cool completely in the fridge. Once chilled, you can portion out the rice and freeze the portions in an airtight container. *Note: These are great to add to soups since, typically, freezing rice becomes drier once thawed.

Notes

• This recipe can be doubled; just use a large baking dish or dutch oven. 

Looking for more rice recipes? Try these out:

• Jamaican Rice and Peas
• Easy Dirty Rice Recipe
• Broccoli Rice Casserole
• Yellow Rice
• Instant Pot Cajun Dirty Rice

 If you have tried this recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please rate it and let me know how it turned out in the comments below!