This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through links on our site, we may earn a commission.
Crock pot rice is a time saver. You set it and forget it for an easy side dish.
Crock pot rice recipe
Crock pot rice is a family favorite and one of my favorite ways to save money. It is a great way to enjoy an easy but delicious gluten free side dish.
I can cook an entire pound or two of rice in 1 ½ to 2 ½ hours without ever having to look at the pan. sure, cooking rice on the stove is easy, but you have to keep watching it, stirring it, and making sure you don’t burn the bottom of the rice.
With slow cooker rice, I can set it and forget it. If I can clean or play with the kids while my rice is cooking then I’m much better off.
How to Freeze Rice
Then what I do, is divide that crock pot rice into equal containers to freeze. It is the best idea and a must try if you want to save time and money.
It is really so easy to freeze rice. I then can pop my frozen rice in to the microwave for my own cheaper (or free) minute rice. Make sure you read my post on how to freeze rice.
Can you cook rice in a crock pot?
Yes, and it is my favorite way to cook rice. This is the easiest way to make rice and I guarantee it will turn out fluffy every time.
Ingredients for the best crock pot rice:
- 4 cups rice
- 8 cups water
- 1 tsp salt
How to cook rice in a crock pot:
First, rinse the rice.
Add the rice in the slow cooker. Pour salt and water over the rice in your crockpot.
You can do 2-4 cups of rice. 4 cups of rice is an entire 1 lb package so that is what I always do.
You will want to make sure you have double the water than you do rice. So if you are cooking 2 cups of rice, use 4 cups of water.
If you cook 4 cups of rice, you will need 8 cups of water (at least). I always add in a bit more.
What rice can you cook in the slow cooker:
Slow cooker rice is easy to make with any grain of rice. Brown Rice, basmati rice, or white rice all very easy to make in the slow cooker.
How to season rice:
You can season it however you want, but I wanted to give you a few ideas to make your slow cooker rice even tastier.
- Chicken broth will instantly give you more flavor in your rice.
- Stir in garlic salt – Garlic will jazz up any plain rice.
- Add Butter – Throw in 2-3 tablespoons of butter when cooking the rice for a buttery flavor.
- Stir in Parmesan Cheese – When the rice is finished, add in salt and parmesan cheese. Grated parmesan cheese will melt more smoothly and will make an amazing flavor.
- Mix in Salsa and ground cumin for a Spanish rice.
- Sprinkle in some soy sauce when the rice is finished.
- Stir in shredded cheddar cheese and milk when the rice is cooked for cheesy rice.
- See How to Season White Rice for more ideas.
How to Cook Brown Rice in a crock pot:
The type of rice does not change much to the recipe. You will still do the same amount of rice per liquid ratio, but the cooking time will increase.
Brown rice takes about 3 hours to cook on high.
How much does this crockpot rice cost?
I always stock up when I see rice on sale. It makes it so inexpensive and a really frugal side dish for dinner.
1 lb of rice is about $2, versus $3 for a box of instant rice that has about a ½ of the amount of rice inside. You can easily save 50% just by making your rice ahead of time and freezing it.
This slow cooker rice is the so easy and you can use basmati rice, long grain rice, brown rice or anything you prefer for this rice recipe.
We love using the crock pot and it’s easier than the stove top.
Print this crock pot rice recipe below:
Crock pot Rice recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cups Rice
- 8 cups Water
- 1 tsp Salt
Instructions
- Place the rice on the bottom of the crockpot and season with the salt.
- Pour water over the rice. (You want double the water as rice, so if you have 2 cups of rice, you will need 4 cups of water).
- Cook on high for 1 ½ to 2½ hours for white rice.
- Fluff with a fork and serve or freeze.
Nutrition Facts
Make sure you check out all my Crock Pot recipes here.
Try these easy rice recipes:
I just saw this today, January 12, 2015, posted on my facebook newsfeed. Oddly enough, I was just preparing a post for my blog for tomorrow about my goof-up with making rice in the crock pot.
I used brown rice. It was about 1 1/2 cups of rice and if I remember correctly, I put nearly 4 cups of water in my little 1 1./2 qt crock pot on low. The problem is that when we got home (5 1/2 hours later) the rice was all sticky. I read a recipe recently where the blogger made a chicken and rice recipe in her crock pot but when she used brown rice it got too sticky; she fixed it by using instant brown rice. I have to tell you mine was like mush.
Do you have any ideas for me?
Michele, I think you probably just cookied it too long. I would cook it when you are at home (like on the weekend) so you can get an idea of how long it takes your crock pot to cook it. Then from that day on you will know what a good amount of time is.
I cook 4 cups of rice (or more) for any meal I need rice in and I always do it on the stove top. In fact, mostly my 11 year old cooks the rice. She sometimes even makes rice for breakfast before I am even out of bed. I see nothing about cooking it in the crock pot that actually saves time or effort. For white rice you bring 2 cups of water per 1 cup of rice in a pan and bring it to boil. Then you pour in your rice, turn onto low, set a timer for 20 minutes, and walk away until the timer goes off. Brown rice is the same except the time is 40 minutes like you mentioned above. In my head cooking rice for 20 minutes or even 40 minutes saves more time than 3 hours. You can still divide and freeze the rice and you saved 2 hours or more of time.
I am sorry, I suppose I shouldn’t have made my comment. You may delete if you wish. I wrote it with the thought of helping you actually conserve time but that is not the way it appears. It was not meant as an attack of your idea or way of doing things. I do apologize if it came across that way. The internet is so full of people being negative and attacking people and I don’t want to be one of them.
Oh Bri, don’t feel bad. We are all entitled to our opinions. I make rice in the crockpot and on the stove. However, there are often times when I I don’t have 30 minutes to make rice, because the kids need to eat as soon as the get home from school or inbetween activities. However, I can toss it in the crockpot before I leave for the carpool lane, and I love having it ready for me when I get home. 🙂
This is probably a really dumb question but how do you reheat your rice without it drying out?
There is no dumb question here Basia :). Ours doesn’t really dry out, but if it does, add in two to 3 tablespoons of water before you reheat it. Or we have even added a few tablespoons of butter.
This did not work for me at all…..it went from watery and not cooked to gummy and disgusting.
Oh man. That happened once for me. I think it was cooked too long. When I shortened the cook time it worked much better.
Hi, this is probably a dumb question but minute rice, instant rice, that’s not the kind of rice your talking about, correct? Should i usethe rice that is in a bag? I have only ever used instant rice in the microwave
No stupid questions here -no we are talking about the bagged rice – not the minute rice. It is much cheaper in the bags.
I’m going to try this method since I can’t cook it correctly on the stove & believe it or not it doesn’t turn out well in my rice cooker. I’m supposed to eat brown rice & my husband would be happy if he never had to eat any rice again.
Not sure what everyone is talking about. I followed this recipe to to the letter and my rice came out fab! Thanks!
For anyone who has their rice turn out really sticky or gooey, try putting it into a strainer and rinsing it under cold water. This helps to rinse away the additional starch so the rice separates and is usable.
Thanks for this great recipe and the suggestion to freeze the rice! I was apprehensive to use brown rice before finding this because of the cooking time, but cooking a large batch to freeze for later works perfectly.
i use black rice for lunches.
Crock pot prepaid & freeze.
in sandwich bags.
Green steamed vegetables.
Smoothie:
4 oz silk protein nutmilk,
Frozen pitted cherries (hand full),
1 banana, 3 strawberries, 1 tablespoons
Frozen concentration pineapple/orange
Juice. 1 granny Smith apple.
3 tablespoons nonfat Greek yogurt.
That’s ” Wall timer” spelling correction,
Override 🙁
How much rice/water can I make in a 6 quart crockpot?
2 TBS olive oil, brushed inside walls of crock pot.
2 C brown rice (not instant).
5 1/2 C water
Pinch of salt
Cooked on High 2 1/2 hrs.
Came out amazing. I will never make brown rice any other way again thank you for changing meals for this family of 10 !
*1st time I made it, after I turned it off, I added 1 stick of butter 1 C of brown sugar and 1 C milk dash of cinnamon and served it for breakfast all of the Littles loved it.
*2nd time I made it, I cooked it with 6 tsp of Better Than Bullion, a pinch of cumin and a sprinkle of cilantro & cooked shred chicken and served for dinner.
in a 7 quart crockpot what is the maximum amount of rice I can cook. I want to cook enough for 30 people
You didn’t mention hoe much olive oil to use ?
Sorry, I have updated the post. I no longer need to use butter or olive oil in my non-stick crock pot. If you have a ceramic insert crock pot, I recommend rubbing approximately 1 Tbsp of butter around the insert before cooking the rice. Thank you!
I do this all the time now! Saves lots of time!
Easy and delicious!!
So easy and such a time saver!
This is super easy and simple. The rice has a great texture!
Just cooked in two 6 qt crockpots your rice recipe for 2 hrs, but cane out gummy, clumping…..even rinsed rice before putting in pots to remove starchiness, but maybe didn’t rinse enough?
So glad i seen how to do rice in the slow cooker, such a game changer. I make enough to have for meals for the month.
If the rice is gummy, that usually means it’s not quite down yet and I would cook for a little longer.
Hi. I need to make enough basmati rice for 20 people. How many uncooked cups of rice would I need and what is the maximum amount of cups you could do in one crock pot? Thanks.
I would do 5 cups of rice with 10 cups of water – This amount should fit fine in a 6 or 8 quart crock pot.
I’m going to try it!
My rice cooker just doesn’t cook it right anymore and it’s always sticky, even with rinsing and using oil and salt. I’m batching for Sweet & Sour Chicken for dinner tonight and then Veggie Fried Rice over the weekend so I’m cooking it in 2/3 Soy Ginger Ramen broth and the rest water. I really hopes that it turns out and not too gummy from any sugars in the broth or extra ginger paste.
Special thanks to all the people who either left a comment and to those, including Carrie, who answered. It’s really nice to know how some people made adjustments based on experience or taste.