How To Make No-Fail Big-Batch Brown Rice in the Oven

Recipe from Alton Brown

Husband-Tested in Alice's Kitchen

Makes about 4 1/2 cup cooked rice

Switching from white rice to brown rice is a good start to healthful eating. Here's how to make absolutely perfect brown rice using the oven!

2½ cups water

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

1½ cups brown rice (long, short or medium grain)

First, preheat the oven to 375 F degrees. 

Put the water, salt and butter in a saucepan or in a glass measuring cup. Heat to boiling either on top of the stove or in the microwave. 

Meanwhile, place the rice in a strainer and rinse well and drain. (You can skip this step, but I think the rice comes out fluffier when it is rinsed.)

Place the rice into an 8-inch square glass baking dish or 2 quart glass baking dish with a tight-fitting lid.

When the water is boiling, pour it into the glass dish. Put the lid on the glass dish. Or, if using an 8-inch square glass baking dish, cover the dish tightly with foil.

Place the covered dish in the oven and set the timer and bake for 60 minutes.

When 60 minutes is up, remove the dish from the oven and take off the lid or foil. This is what the rice will look like.

Use a fork to fluff up the rice.

See how perfectly the rice turns out? Generally most rice will triple when cooked, so 1 cup of raw rice will yield 3 cups cooked. You'll have plenty of cooked brown rice for a big family dinner. Rice also keeps chilled for several days in the fridge.  

Serve brown rice as a side, in wraps, in soups, in salads, with stir-fry or under a main dish such as this Fall Vegetable Curry.