Brown Rice Recipes You Create Yourself!

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How To Make Your Very Own
Brown Rice Recipes

Ready to create your own brown rice recipes?

Brown Rice Recipe Rice is a staple food in many countries around the world. And although white rice is readily available, it's not exactly the healthiest choice.

Instead, opt for brown rice, which has more fiber and nutrients than white.

If you're like most people, you grew up eating white rice that takes just a minute to cook. It's what many people picture when they think of rice. These same people (I was one of them!) likely have no idea just how full of empty calories white rice is, not to mention it's a simple carbohydrate (just like sugar!) -- the worst kind of carb you can eat!

The first time I tried brown rice, I thought it tasted too healthy, preferring instead the sweetness of white rice. But after a while, I began to develop a taste for brown rice and haven't looked back.

"I tried your hubby's way of cooking brown rice in my rice cooker. Best brown rice I ever tasted.

"Now on to many other new grain & bean adventures. Thanks from a very happy Vegetarian."
-- Audrey Rose, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

How To Select Brown Rice

Brown rice recipes are simple and fun to create. So let's discover how to select the best rice for the job so you begin on the right foot.

Always choose organic brown rice. The health benefits or rice are staggering (you can learn more about this below). And organics tend to contain more nutrients and less pesticides (and other poisons like arsenic!), and will help your brown rice recipes just taste better!

Brown rice can be found in most grocery stores -- it's a VERY available grain. Most natural foods stores (and even some mainstream grocers nowadays) carry bulk brown rice, meaning in their bulk department. (This is where I buy all of my grains, including rice.) Buy a little more than you need, storing the rest in the fridge or freezer. This way it will stay as fresh as possible and you'll have some on hand for any brown rice recipes emergency! Plus, there's no packaging to toss into a landfill so you're helping to save the planet. Yay for you! ;O)

There are some different varieties available for your brown rice recipes, including short grain, medium grain, and long grain. So which rice do you use? Well, it depends on your vision for the recipe you'd like to create...

Short grain brown rice tends to be more starchy (since it's smaller, which is the general rule). So cooking it will produce a stickier rice. Perfect when making soups or other dishes in which the starch would act as a thickener.

Medium and long grains cook up less sticky due to their lower starch content. Perfect for rice dishes such as stir fries where you don't want your rice sticking together.

Brown Basmati Rice comes in both brown and white, just as other rices. And just as with other rices, the white is nearly devoid of any nutrients. So you're on the right track if you're looking for brown basmati rice.

Brown basmati is a longer grain than even long-grain brown rice, and is the preferred rice used in Indian dishes. It has a very low starch content, and therefore cooks up beautifully, with grains which remain nicely separated. You may have to search in Indian and Middle Eastern markets if you're unable to find it in your favorite natural foods store.

Nutrition-wise, the brown rices are very similar.

How To Clean and Prep Your Brown Rice

There are 3 main layers to rice: the husk, the bran and the very center which is known as the starch. Many times the husk and bran have been removed so all you're left with is the starch -- think "white rice". This is why white rice is NOT known for it's nutritional content -- it's all starch!

Brown rice has the husk removed, but not the bran layer. This bran layer is what gives the rice it's FIBER and adds to its fantastic nutritious profile. However...that intact fibrous layer requires a longer cooking time in order to become tender.

So before making your brown rice recipes, you're going to want to SOAK your rice first. It's an extra step, yes, but it's worth it when you scarf down your tender and delicious cooked masterpiece. Soaking brown rices before cooking makes the rice more digestible and also releases important enzymes that allow the rice to be more nutritionally available.

By the way, the following soaking and cooking techniques can be used for most hearty grains.

How To Cook Brown Rice Step 1: Measure out 2 cups brown rice.

Cooking Brown Rice Step 2: Pour rice into a jar or other container, preferably with a lid.

Soak Brown Rice Step 3: Add double the amount of water.

Soaked Brown Rice Step 4: Let rice soak for 8 hours, or overnight (brown basmati for 30 minutes to 2 hours). Rice will soak up much of the water. You do not have to refrigerate your rice as it soaks.

Do You Have To Soak Brown Rice? Step 5: Drain the rice in a collander.

Brown Rice Recipes Step 6: Rinse under running water. Drain.

Your rice is now ready to be cooked as desired. Please refer to cooking suggestions below.

If for some reason you can't cook it after it's done soaking (maybe you were called to a last-minute dinner out), then drain and rinse your soaked rice and put it in the fridge, covered, until the next day.

(By the way, rice can be rinsed before use -- or not! It's a matter of debate amongst rice connoisseurs. Personal preference rules here. It certainly couldn't hurt since one never knows the exact conditions -- dirty, clean, pests!? -- rice has hailed from.)

How To Cook Brown Rice

Baked Brown Rice
Boiled Brown Rice
Pressure Cooked Brown Rice
Steamed Brown Rice

Here's a helpful instructional video created by my husband Jeff, for those of you who learn best by example. Jeff teaches you everything you want to know about buying, storing, soaking and cooking your rice.

Here he uses our preferred method of cooking, which is steaming. Enjoy!

Try These Vegan Brown Rice Recipes...

Vegan Seitan and Rice

Vegan Smoky Black Bean and Rice Roll Ups

Vegan Sausage and Rice Hash

Easy Vegan Greens & Beans

Vegan Irish Stew

Vegetable Brown Rice

Vegan Rice and Aduki Beans

Vegan Peanut Butter Coconut Rice

Vegan Tempeh Burrito w/Creamy Almond Sauce

Vegan Pesto Rice

Vegan Broccoli and Rice

Vegan Cheesy Rice and Beans

Vegan Brown Rice Tempeh Casserole

Vegan Coconut Cashew Rice

Vegan Edamame Fried Rice

Vegan Perfect Sushi Rice

Vegan Southwestern Rice

Vegan Vegetable Brown Rice

Brown Rice Vegan Flavor Matches

Create your very own brown rice recipes with some of your favorite ingredients from this list of foods that match perfectly with brown rice.

Agave nectar, or brown rice syrup
Apples
Bean sprouts
Beans, especially black
Bragg's Liquid Aminos, or tamari soy sauce
Breadcrumbs
Brown rice syrup
Cabbage
Capers
Celery
Chestnuts
Cinnamon
Coconut milk
Cranberries
Curry
Extra-virgin olive oil
Garlic
Green onions
Lentils
Maple syrup, pure and organic
Marinara sauce
Milk, non-dairy (I like plain oat milk)
Mushrooms
Nutmeg
Nutritional yeast
Nuts, especially cashews, peanuts, and pecans
Onion
Oregano
Pepper, black
Peppers, especially hot
Pineapple
Raisins
Sea salt
Sea vegetables
Seeds, especially sesame
Soy
Tomatoes
Vegetables, any and all
Veggie broth
Wild rice

Brown Rice Helpful Hints

If you've ever stored your brown rice in the cupboard for any length of time, you understand the importance of refrigerating them (can you say BUGS?!?! EWWWW!!!!). Store your brown rice in the freezer or fridge to keep it fresh until you need it, and to preserve its oil-rich germ. (Not as important if you plan on using them right away.)

Antoine From Quebec Says...
"Sweet glutinous rice is amazing...I bought it by mistake once thinking I was buying regular short grain brown rice, and was so happy. It really is sweet and it really sticks like candy...it's great to make rice desserts and for rice breakfast.

"It is better to steam it, and it becomes one big gelatinous mass. Then if you mix it with fruit and other sweet things the possibilities are endless!"

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