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Freezer Pantry: baked brown rice

I love brown rice but I’m too impatient to make it for dinner so I borrowed an idea from Trader Joe’s and cook it in advance and keep it in the freezer so it’s just a microwave away from being ready to eat. It’s also great to have around for a fast breakfast of an over easy egg on rice, which I default to a lot when I’m feeling lazy.

I’m terrible at cooking rice in a pot (burned rice, melted pots, other tragic results) so instead I bake it using instructions from Alton Brown and Good Eats and no pots have been ruined since.

To make: Put 1.5 cups brown rice and a teaspoon of salt in an 8×8 baking dish. Pour 2.5 cups boiling water over the top, stir and cover tightly with tin foil. Bake in a 375 degree oven for one hour. Allow to cool, divide into portions and freeze.

I do two or three batches at the same time and I’ve used larger baking dishes and even pie plates with good results, no need to have multiple 8×8 baking dishes hanging around. If you’re a rice texture snob this cooking method probably won’t make you happy, but hey, convenience.

· comments [10] · 03-24-2014 · categories:food · freezerpantry ·

10 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Rebecca // Mar 24, 2014 at 9:15 pm

    Is the non-rice texture from baking the rice a la Alton Brown or from freezing the rice and reheating? Thanks!

  • 2 Linda L. // Mar 25, 2014 at 1:37 am

    I cook rice in the microwave and then refrigerate it or freeze it. It takes less time and electricity than the oven does and still saves you from the ruined pots.

  • 3 Jamie // Mar 25, 2014 at 6:46 am

    I’m also horrible at cooking rice on the stove. My simple $20 rice cooker is magic! It’s perfect every time without me having to babysit it.

  • 4 megan // Mar 25, 2014 at 10:57 am

    Rebecca – It’s from the reheating, it can come out dry around the edges, or if I sprinkle a little water over it the rice splits. I don’t mind at all but I do know people who admire rice texture when it’d just right.

  • 5 megan // Mar 25, 2014 at 10:59 am

    Linda – How long does it take in the microwave? I have an itty bitty microwave so I didn’t really consider using it since I’d have to do many batches and I’m lazy. But next time I’m rice-less I’ll look it up.

  • 6 megan // Mar 25, 2014 at 11:00 am

    Jamie – My little kitchen means I cannot store a rice cooker but they are great. A roommate in college had one and we used it constantly. She’s the one who introduced me to rice and eggs at breakfast, though she was Filipino and mixed lots of garlic in with hers which was a bit too much of a jolt for me to eat regularly.

  • 7 Tracy | Pale Yellow // Mar 25, 2014 at 6:23 pm

    I’m the worst rice cooker and I hate all the time it takes to make! This recipe is going to come in handy; it sounds like my weekend project!

  • 8 What I Learned This Week #25 | Pale Yellow // Mar 28, 2014 at 2:02 am

    […] I should be ashamed of the number of times I’ve burnt rice, but I’m not.  This should help. […]

  • 9 anne-marie // Mar 31, 2014 at 1:53 pm

    Fabulous idea and I am going to do this tonight =)

  • 10 Briana Kew // Apr 20, 2014 at 10:46 am

    I make rice in the microwave as well

    1 cup rice
    2 1/4 cups water
    a pat of butter (optional)
    1 tsp of sale (optional)

    Put in a bowl large enough to hold twice the volume
    Cover with plastic wrap
    Microwave 5 minutes on high then 15 minutes on 50%

    That’s it!

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