How Much Salt To Add To Rice

Cooking rice can be a difficult task, especially if you have no cooking experience. Luckily there are solutions in the form of rice cookers for that problem.

However, when it comes to adding salt, how much should you add? Is there a machine for that too? 

Sadly, no. Salting rice can be challenging for many people who struggle to figure out a simple formula that can work every time. Thankfully, there is still an easy way to do it! 

How much salt should you add to rice? The trick to salting rice is in the ratio of water and rice. In most cases, 1 teaspoon of salt is enough to adequately flavor 1 cup of rice in 2 cups of water. This ratio is the best place to start with any type of rice but there are a few things that you need to keep in mind.

Read below to learn more about how to add salt to rice and how to master the art of rice cooking—even if you think it is impossible!

How Much Salt Should I Use For Rice?

Rice plays an integral role in countless delicious recipes and cooking it requires both skill and intuition which thankfully can be learned through practice and training. 

If you want to salt rice you must first learn how to properly cook it so that you don’t end up with overly salty and undercooked rice or under-salted but overly cooked rice.

The best way to go about this is to follow a very simple ratio: for every 1 cup of rice, use 2 cups of water and 1 teaspoon of salt! This ratio will give you a great starting point for any type of rice.

Some long-grain rice may cook slower and require a bit more salt while other delicate grains can cook faster but won’t require as much salt.

Don’t worry, though; these little details will make more sense and be useful when you master the skill of cooking rice. 

In the case of causal home chefs, small discrepancies will not matter at all and if you use any commercial rice grain for daily use then you can easily use the formula mentioned above to cook rice without an issue.

How To Cook Rice

Now that we know a simple and easy ratio for delicious, easy rice, let’s go over how to cook it!

Ingredients

• 1 cup of raw rice
• 2 cups of water
• 1 tsp of salt

Instructions

• Soak the rice in room temperature water for about 15-30 minutes. This step will result in beautifully bloomed rice and will also release excess starch which will make the rice absorb salt more efficiently.  
• We recommend that you rinse the rice at least 2-3 times after soaking and before cooking. 
• In a small pot, fill 2 cups of water and bring to a rolling boil. Add salt to the water and mix until it is completely dissolved. 
• Add the rice and allow them to cook undisturbed on medium-high heat with the lid on until the water has almost evaporated or for 8-10 minutes. 
• Turn the heat down and check the rice by moving some of them from the side of the pot to see if there is any water left at the bottom. The bottom should have just a bit of liquid. 
• Cover the pot with the lid and cook the rice for 2-3 minutes at very low heat. This step is important as it will finish cooking the rice using steam. 
• Once steamed, turn off the heat, open the lid to release the steam, and let the rice sit for 5-minutes. 
• Serve hot and enjoy beautifully fragrant and adequately salted rice! 

Related Questions

Now that we’ve gone over the perfect ratio of salt to rice, here are a few more related questions on the topic!

Can you salt rice after it has been cooked?

No. This method is not recommended as it will not adequately and properly salt the rice and you might end up overcooking it by trying to mix the salt in the rice after it has been cooked. 

Can I drain excess water after the rice has been properly cooked?

Yes. If the rice is thoroughly cooked and each grain is separated, you can drain the excess water and allow the rice to cook via steaming as mentioned in the recipe above. 

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