You’ve been cooking Jasmine Rice wrong your whole life! Most recipes get it wrong because it’s not widely known that jasmine rice is softer than most, so you need LESS water than normal white rice so it’s fluffy rather than gummy. Use just 1 1/4 cups water for every 1 cup of jasmine rice (the standard for typical white rice is 1 1/2 cups water to 1 cup rice).
Use for all things Thai – and anything really. It’s just a really great rice!
Also see How to Cook: White rice | Basmati Rice | Brown Rice
How to cook Jasmine Rice
Jasmine rice is a lovely, subtly perfumed rice used across South East Asia. It’s strongly associated with Thai food, and used for serving with everything from Thai marinated chicken to Chilli Basil Stir Fry, Satay Skewers and the many Thai curries out there.
It’s also used to make Thai fried rice and Pineapple Fried Rice which is the other recipe I’m sharing today!
The secret for how to cook jasmine rice perfectly
What most people do not know is that jasmine rice is softer than most white rice, which means you need less water in order for the rice to cook so it’s soft and fluffy, rather than gummy on the outside.
So while most rice is cooked with 1.5 cups of water for each cup of rice, for jasmine rice, it’s reduced to 1 1/4 cups of water.
Yes, 1/4 cup really makes a difference! I made a lot of overly soft jasmine rice in my life that I was never really happy with until I finally figured this out.
There is NO NEED to rinse rice!!
Busting an age old myth here – that rinsing the rice is mandatory for fluffy rice. NO it is not! I have made so much rice in my time verifying this exact fact.
Here’s what I know:
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No rinsing – if you use 1 1/4 cups of water for every 1 cup of jasmine rice, your rice will be fluffy even without rinsing
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If you rinse, you must reduce the water by 2 tablespoons to factor in the extra water than remains in the rice (ie 1 1/4 cups water minus 2 tablespoons)
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If you rinse AND soak for 1 hour, you must reduce the water by 3 tablespoons (ie 1 1/4 cups minus 3 tablespoons)
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Rinsing vs no rinsing – rinsing yields a barely noticeable marginal improvement in fluffiness. It would not be noticeable to most people;
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Only rinse IF you buy your rice direct from a rice farm, or similar, to remove debris and anything that night remain from the processing; and
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No need to clean if you buy retail – If you buy rice at the store in shiny plastic packets, your rice should already be clean – and that includes less starch too.
Let’s face it. Rinsing rice is a pain. For an extra 2% fluffiness, it’s just not worth it (in my humble opinion).
If you need to rinse the rice to clean it, if you just can’t break the habit, or if your Asian mother would have your head if you didn’t, here’s how:
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Place rice in bowl, fill with water. Swish with hand then drain. Repeat 3 to 4 times – water will never be completely clear. Drain in colander, cook per recipe.
How to cook Jasmine Rice
Once you get the rice and water ratio right, then the steps are exactly the same as cooking normal white rice and basmati rice:
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RAPID SIMMER – Put water and rice in saucepan, bring to simmer on high heat as fast as you can. You want the whole surface to be rippling, the edges bubbling and white foam;
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COVER and turn to LOW – Turn heat down and cover, cook 12 minutes. Do not lift lid!
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Stand 10 minutes to let the rice finish cooking. If you skip this, the grains are wet and slightly hard in the middle;
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Fluff! Use a rubber spatula or rice paddle – this stops the grains breaking (Jasmine rice is softer than most white rices).
And voila! Fluffy Jasmine rice. 🙂
Use for all things Thai, Vietnamese dishes, stir fries, and use for fried rice like Nasi Goreng. Though traditionally associated with South East Asian foods, it will goes perfectly with any Asian foods, and even Indian food if you don’t have basmati rice.
And just generally for anything you want to serve with rice, whether Asian or not! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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How to cook Jasmine Rice (stove)
Ingredients
No rinsing method:
- 1 cup jasmine rice
- 1 1/4 cups water (cold tap water)
Rinsed rice:
- 1 cup jasmine rice
- 1 1/4 cups MINUS 2 tbsp water
Instructions
No rinsing (my everyday method):
- Place rice and water in a medium saucepan (one with a tight fitting lid). Bring to rapid simmer with NO LID on medium high.
- Turn down to low or medium low so it's simmering gently, then place lid on. Do not lift lid during cook.
- Cook 12 minutes or until water is absorbed by rice - tilt pot to check (if lid not glass, then QUICKLY lift lid to check).
- Keep the lid on then remove from heat. Stand 10 minutes, fluff with rubber spatula or rice paddle, then serve.
RINSED RICE (Note 3):
- Place rice in a bowl, fill with water and swish. Once cloudy, drain. Repeat 2 - 3 more times until water is pretty clear - it will never be completely clear.
- Drain rice in a colander, transfer to saucepan.
- Add water - 1 1/4 cups of water MINUS 2 tablespoons per 1 cup of rice. Follow cook steps above in No Rinsing.
Recipe Notes:
- Use a medium to large saucepan for up to 2 cups. For 3 cups rice+, use a pot.
- If lid is not tight fitting or heavy, then you may get bubble overflow - reduce heat if this happens, it will subside as water gets absorbed by rice.
- Glass lid is easiest - you can see what's going on inside without lifting the lid, especially useful at end to check if all water is absorbed.
- Reason we bring to simmer without lid is to reduce risk of overflow once lid goes on. If you bring to simmer with lid on, you need to be more careful about exactly when you turn the heat down so it doesn't get foamy overflow. Much easier to to lid off first, then lid on when you turn it down.
Nutrition Information:
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Sylvia says
Works every dang time! Thank you for this, Nagi.
Carita says
I followed Your step by step directions for jasmine rice and it was perfect. My rice came out perfectly. Thank you!
Lisa B says
Oh my gosh. This resulted in the most perfect jasmin rice. This will be my jasmin rice bible from now on. I cooked mine in mostly water with a touch of leftover chicken broth, (probably 1/4 cup).
Chanlatte Zimmermann says
Followed this exactly, except that the water was gone after 9.5 minutes. Took it off the heat and rested 10 mins. This was the best jasmine rice I have ever had. fully cooked and not at all mushy…pure perfection! Thanks for sharing!
Bryan Thomas says
First person, who actually knew how to cook rice!
Kevyn says
great recipe. it really is fail proof. even my 15 y/o niece, who is just learning to cook, makes it perfectly. i also use chicken broth, beef broth or vegetable broth rather than just cold water and it is delicious. thanks for the recipe!
Dianne says
Fabulous recipe! I have made rice twice following this recipe exactly and both times were perfection! I will continue to use this recipe and follow this site!
Dianne says
Fabulous recipe! I have made my rice this way twice now ad both times were perfection! I will continue to follow this recipe and this site.
Scuttle says
This came out perfectly! Rice has always been my downfall. But not anymore! Love your site even more now than I did before…Thank you
Becky A says
I get to much foam on top and spills under my lid and all over the stove top. Heat to high?
Nagi says
Hi Becky, it’s a sign that the heat is slightly too high – try turning it down a little. N x
Mari says
I tried this method with exact measurements step by step and my rice burned?? This is the first time this has ever happened. Please help?
Nagi says
Hi Mari – sorry you had issues here, sounds like you’ve had the heat up a little to high causing it to burn. N x
Tamar Taylor says
This is the best and only way to cook rice. Like you seriously can’t f it up. Thank you Nagi! Your blog is the best. Easy to follow and the time you take to provide the extra notes is very much appreciated. Off I go to stalk your blog for some more yummy recipes 🙌🏼
Morgan Madurski says
needed rice for a teriyaki dish i made and this came out PERFECT! added a little bit of salt at the beginning and it didn’t take the full 10 mins at the end (mostly because i was impatient but it was still perfect!) love this!
Ally says
Thank you. You’ve just made my entire year. I’ve always struggled to cook rice. I’ve always bought Jasmine rice and thought that was the same as white rice. You taught me they need to be treated differently, so I followed your instructions and I have never in my life cooked more perfect rice! Light, fluffy and no sticking to the bottom of the pot. I can’t tell you how happy I am. Thanks again.
Marti Howton says
Thank you for sharing. I used the information about rinsing rice for my students. I teach high school Culinary Arts, and I always tell my students that they don’t need to rinse their rice. Many students just follow what they’ve seen their parents do… but now I can let them know that the result probably won’t even be noticable.
Mary Fischer says
I prepared Jasmine rice and it was perfect. Thank you so very much!!!!!!!
Katy says
Absolutely perfect and so easy! Having a proud adult moment that for once my rice wasn’t a sloppy mess. Thank you!
iLoveRice says
Thank youuuđź’ś
willie tyndall says
have tried many recipes for rice, this is my go to, thanks for the great instructions!
Jennifer Black says
Thank you so much for this recipe, Nagi! My previous attempts to cook Jasmine rice had turned out too soggy, and now I know why. It was just perfect when I used your tutorial: a bit sticky and incredibly fluffy. 🙂 Yum!
I used a small stainless steel pot because that’s all I have- do you have a suggestion on how I can keep some of the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pot? Or is that just “the breaks” of cooking a sticky type of rice? Thanks again!! Take care.