Rice to Water Ratio Calculator (Stovetop, Rice Cooker, Instant Pot)
Water, cooking time and cooked yield for any amount of rice, by rice type and cooking method.
Inputs
- Working
- 2 cups rice × 1.75 = 3.5 cups water (about 828 ml)
- Ratio (water : rice)
- 1.75 : 1 — chart says 1¾–2 cups per cup
- Simmer time, covered
- 15 min
- Cooked rice, about
- 6 cups
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Rice to Water Ratio formula
stovetop water = rice × ratio for the rice type · long grain white 1¾–2 : 1 · medium/short grain 1½ : 1 · brown 2–2½ : 1 · parboiled 2–2½ : 1 · instant 1 : 1 · Instant Pot 1 : 1 (short grain 1⅛ : 1) · rice cooker: line = rice in 180 ml cooker cups
The absorption method uses just enough water that the rice drinks all of it as it cooks, so the amount is a fixed multiple of the rice: measure the rice, multiply by the ratio for its type, and that is the water. The ratios here are the extension-service cooking charts, not a brand's packet: long grain white rice takes 1¾ to 2 cups of water per cup of rice and simmers about 15 minutes; medium and short grain take 1½ cups; brown and parboiled rice take 2 to 2½ cups and brown needs 45–50 minutes because the bran has to soften; instant rice has already been cooked and only needs an equal volume of hot water. Where the chart gives a range, the page uses the lower end — undercooked rice takes a splash more water and five more minutes, while too much water makes it soggy. It also gives the cooked yield: a cup of dry white rice makes about 3 cups cooked, brown and parboiled about 4. A sealed pot loses almost no water as steam, so an Instant Pot uses far less: Instant Pot's own recipes are an equal volume of water for jasmine, basmati and brown rice, and 2¼ cups to 2 cups for sushi rice. A rice cooker publishes no ratio at all — it has a line per rice type inside the pan, counted in its own 180 ml cup rather than a 240 ml US cup, so the page tells you which line to fill to.
Rice to Water Ratio worked example
Two cups of long grain white rice: 2 × 1¾ = 3½ cups of water (about 830 ml). Bring the water to the boil, add the rice, cover and simmer on low for 15 minutes without lifting the lid, then leave it off the heat for a few minutes. It makes about 6 cups of cooked rice. Brown rice for the same two cups would need 4½ cups of water and 45–50 minutes.
Where the Rice to Water Ratio calculator can give the wrong answer
- Basmati and jasmine are long grain white rices, so they take the long grain line here. Their packets often say 1½ cups of water per cup, especially for rinsed rice — if the packet says so, choose Custom and type the packet's figure; the packet knows the rice.
- Rinsing changes the answer. Rice rinsed until the water runs clear has already absorbed some water and starts wetter, so it needs slightly less. The extension charts assume unrinsed rice; the USU fact sheet also notes that rinsing enriched US rice washes off the vitamin coating.
- Rice cooker lines assume rice measured with the cooker's own cup. Scoop with a US cup and fill to the same number line, and the pan holds a third more rice than the line was drawn for — the rice comes out hard. The page converts US cups for you; parboiled and instant rice have no line and should follow the packet.
- Instant Pot times are for its own recipes at sea level, with the release the recipe names. Brown rice in particular varies between Instant Pot's recipes (one uses 1 : 1 for 25 minutes, another 1¼ : 1 for 22), so treat a firm first batch as a cue for a little more water.
- At altitude water boils at a lower temperature, so rice takes longer to cook and can need a little more water. The USU timetable carries the same warning: lengthen the time for altitude.
- The ratios are by volume, so any cup works as long as you use the same one for rice and water. A US cup is about 237 ml and a metric cup 250 ml; mixing the two puts the ratio off by 5%.
- The chart is for plain rice in water. Pilafs, risottos and paellas add liquid in stages, and rice cooked in broth or juice follows the USU note of counting that liquid as part of the total.
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Rice to Water Ratio FAQ
- 1¾ to 2 cups of water per cup of long grain white rice, simmered covered for about 15 minutes, according to the Purdue and Nebraska Extension chart. Medium and short grain white rice take 1½ cups. So 1 cup of long grain rice needs 1¾ cups of water, 2 cups need 3½, 3 cups need 5¼.
- 2 to 2½ cups per cup of brown rice, and 45 to 50 minutes of simmering — roughly three times as long as white rice, because the bran layer is still on the grain. The page uses 2¼ cups per cup: 2 cups of brown rice, 4½ cups of water.
- They are long grain white rices, so the extension chart's 1¾ to 2 cups per cup applies. Many packets say 1½ cups, particularly for rice that has been rinsed and soaked; if yours does, pick Custom and enter 1.5. Start at the lower figure and add a little water next time if the rice came out firm.
- About 3 cups for regular white rice, and about 4 cups for brown or parboiled rice, which absorb more water. A cup of instant rice makes about 2 cups. The page shows the cooked amount so you can work backwards from how many people you are feeding.
- Fill to the line that matches the rice, measured with the cooker's own cup: 3 cooker cups of white rice, water to the 3 on the white rice line. That cup holds 180 ml, a quarter less than a 240 ml US cup, so 3 US cups of rice is 4 cooker cups and goes to the 4 line. Brown rice has its own, higher line.
- 1 : 1 for white, jasmine, basmati and brown rice in Instant Pot's own recipes — far less than on the stove, because the sealed pot loses almost nothing to steam. Jasmine cooks 3 minutes and basmati 5 at high pressure with a 10-minute natural release; brown rice 25 minutes. Sushi rice uses 2¼ cups of water to 2 cups of rice, 10 minutes at low pressure.