![]() |
Oven-Baked Brown Rice | ![]() |
Year-Round Kitchen Staple. Weeknight Easy, Weekend Special. Weight Watchers Friendly. Naturally Gluten Free. Not just vegan, Vegan Done Real. Great for Meal Prep.
What Brown Rice Is. And Isn't.
Think of brown rice as the emperor with his clothes on.
You see, brown rice isn’t its own variety of rice, as is often thought. Instead, every variety of rice starts off brown because brown rice is just unmilled rice, rice with all its "clothing" layers still intact.
Once those "clothes" are polished away, inside every grain of brown rice is a white, starchy and yes, naked, kernel stripped of flavor, fiber and nutrition.
I’ve loved brown rice for the longest time but had trouble getting it to cook consistently on the stove-top. Now that I’ve learned how to bake brown rice in the oven, it’s welcome at the table, in all its fully clothed goodness.
Plain Brown Rice Goes Spicy ... and Sweet
SPICY! So I love cooking brown rice this way so-so much, it's one of a few staples in my kitchen. But over the years, I got a little bored with its sameness and so decided to use the same effective technique with other grains – and to give the grains a little extra "zip" with savory spices. The result? The very wonderful Oven-Baked Whole-Grain Pilaf with Quinoa, Barley, Kamut & Other Grains, you'll want to try it too!
SWEET! Leftover brown rice? Turn it into Brown Rice & Quinoa Rice Pudding!
- Oven-Baked Brown Rice Made the List!
- Best Recipes of 2008
- "So stinking good!!!" ~ Pamela
- "This recipe came out PERFECT! The kids LOVE it." ~ msadinkra
- "You've given me my go-to method for this dish." ~ Anonymous
- What're you waiting for?!
OVEN-BAKED BROWN RICE
Time to table: 1-1/4 hours
Makes 4 cups
- 2-1/3 cups water (or chicken broth or even beer)
- 2 teaspoons butter (or ghee or bacon fat for more flavor or olive oil for vegan rice)
- 1 cup (200g) brown rice, any variety
- 1/2 cup (100g) wild rice (or another 1/2 cup brown rice, see ALANNA’s TIPS)
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt
Set oven to 375F/190C. Bring the liquid and butter (see TIPS) to a boil in the microwave.
Meanwhile, in an 8x8 glass baking dish (or equivalent size round glass baking dish), stir together brown rice and wild rice. Sprinkle with salt. Pour hot liquid over rice and gently stir, distributing rice and salt evenly throughout dish. Cover tightly with a double layer of foil (or the glass top for a baking dish).
Bake for 60 minutes (see TIPS).
Remove from the oven. Fluff rice with a fork, then cover lightly with a paper towel and let rest for 5 minutes. Uncover and fluff again, let rest another 5 minutes. Serve and enjoy!














Delicious with Oven-Baked Brown Rice
(hover with a mouse for a description; otherwise click a photo to view the recipe)Shop Your Pantry First
(helping home cooks save money on groceries)~ rice ~
~ wild rice ~
~ All Recipes, By Ingredient ~
~ How to Save Money on Groceries ~
© Copyright Kitchen Parade
2008, 2016, 2019 & 2020
I am definitely making this! (And I just made turkey and wild rice soup with cabbage this week!) Yum.
ReplyDeleteAlanna, I've had trouble with brown rice on the stovetop AND in my rice cooker. I'm going to give this version a whirl -- I'd love to have it more readily available in my fridge at all times, because I know I'd just toss it into salads and soups and casseroles and even just eat it straight up. Yum!
ReplyDeleteVery pretty, with all the right flavor extras. Lately I've discovered brown rice + pearled barley, which seems to make them both better. I wonder why some people have trouble with stovetop rice? Is it one of those DNA things?
ReplyDeleteI've never made brown rice...but need to try it someime soon I guess:) yours looks tempting!
ReplyDeleteYou can get food poisoning from rice?!?!?!?
ReplyDeleteI get brown basmati (the only kind of brown I can get) which I absolutly love.. and it cooks in 20 minutes!
I made the rice for dinner tonight, but instead of just brown rice, I included barley, red rice, and millet, in addition to the brown basmati. So stinking good!!!
ReplyDeleteI have a similar recipe for curried rice using white rice. So I think I will try your variation asap. My recipe calls for a diced onion, and half Tablespoon (or more) curry powder. It also calls for the water to be boiling when you measure it. Make sure you pour and stir it carefully so you don't burn yourself.I might be able to get my daughter to eat brown rice prepared this way. Thanks
ReplyDeleteSo I just HAD to say thanks for this recipe! I came upon the rice pancake recipe with the link to this recipe and am soooo glad I found it. I have always had a hard time getting the time vs water and rice mixture right for brown rice. This recipe came out PERFECT! The kids LOVE it. Now we mix in roasted veggies after baking and have such a delicious meal! Thanks so very much!!
ReplyDeleteI followed the recipe to a t, and although it turned out better than when I cook it on a stove top. It was really dried out and half of it was stuck to the bottom of the bakeware dish. I don't think my stove is too hot, normally I'm able to follow bake times with no problem. What am I doing wrong?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous ~ Wow, I'm not sure, I make this so often, others do too (click through to the Foolproof recipe on A Veggie Venture) and its source is Cooks Illustrated. Let me think through possibilities -- (sorry, some may sound like you don't know what you're doing but I'm just checking), did you happen to use an instant rice? is it possible that the liquid was a cup or even 1/3 cup short? could the foil or lid not have been tight onto the baking dish? These are the things that come to mind that would result in such extreme dryness.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry that the rice didn't work out for you, I hope you'll try again. It's so worth being able to count on, I made another dish just last night!
I've been doing Alton Brown's baked brown rice for several years and it comes out perfect every time
ReplyDeleteAnonymous ~ Just checked the Alton Brown recipe, it's very much the same! My own variation is the addition of wild rice, one of my favorite foods. Natural, for a Minnesotan!
ReplyDeleteI was looking for a low-fat way to bake a combination of brown and wild rice and this was perfect. I added some chopped onion, celery, carrot and mushrooms to the mix and used chicken broth made from a commercial base and the flavor was just right. I didn't even add the salt. You've given me my go-to method for this dish.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous ~ You go-to method? I’m honored! I’ve been cooking rice like this for almost ten years, it’s still a staple here too. I’ve adapted the recipe once again, however -- with spices and a whole collection of rices, grains and pulses. It’s here -- http://www.kitchenparade.com/2012/11/oven-baked-whole-grain-pilaf.html -- thanks so much for writing, truly!
ReplyDeleteHmmm, let’s try a clickable link, Oven-Baked Whole-Grain Pilaf. Enjoy!
ReplyDelete