Uncooked to Cooked Rice Conversion: Ratios and Chart by Rice Type

For long-grain white, jasmine and basmati, 1 cup dry gives about 3 cups cooked. Brown rice also yields about 3 cups, though the amount can range from 2.5 to 4 cups depending on the variety and how much water you use. Wild rice swells the most, at about 3.5 cups.

We treat 3 to 1 as the working number for almost every batch. If you cook in a machine, our rice cooker reviews show how much cooked rice each bowl size really delivers.

By Cups

Multiply the dry amount by 3 for white rice. This table covers the amounts people reach for most.

Dry rice (US cups)	Cooked rice (US cups)
1/4 cup	3/4 cup
1/2 cup	1 1/2 cups
1 cup	3 cups
2 cups	6 cups
3 cups	9 cups

By Grams and Ounces

USDA lists 1 US cup of raw long-grain white rice at 185 g. A cup of that rice cooked weighs 158 g, so 3 cups of cooked rice come to about 475 g. That works out to roughly 2.5 times the dry weight. The weight of a cooked cup varies with how firmly the rice is packed, so estimate a cooked yield of 2.5 to 3 times the dry weight.

Dry white rice	Cooked white rice (about)
100 g (3.5 oz)	250 to 300 g
185 g (1 cup)	475 g (3 cups)
250 g (8.8 oz)	625 to 750 g

By Rice Type (White, Brown, Basmati, Jasmine, Wild, Arborio)

Each cup of dry rice below is cooked with the liquid shown. Water amounts are for the stovetop absorption method.

Rice type	Cooked from 1 cup dry	Water per 1 cup dry
White long-grain	about 3 cups	1.75 to 2 cups
Jasmine	2.5 to 3 cups	about 1 1/2 cups
Basmati	about 3 cups	about 1 1/2 to 2 cups
Brown	about 3 cups (2.5 to 4)	2 to 2 1/2 cups
Sushi or short-grain	2.8 to 3.1 cups	about 1 1/2 cups
Arborio	about 3 cups	1 1/2 cups (absorption), about 4 cups (risotto)
Wild	about 3.5 cups	3 to 4 cups

Brown rice swells a bit less than white because its bran layer slows water uptake. Wild rice splits open and curls at the ends when it is done, and a half cup dry fills a side-dish bowl.

The Formula

For volume, the formula is simple:

Cooked cups = dry cups x 3

For weight, use cooked grams = dry grams x 2.5 as the low estimate and x 3 as the high one. Swap the 3 for 3.5 when you are cooking wild rice.

Worked Example: 1 Cup Dry

One cup of dry jasmine rice yields between 2.5 and 3 cups cooked, so plan on about 2.75 cups. Cook to the lower number if the pot is small.

Worked Example: 100 g Dry

You weigh out 100 g of white rice. At 2.5 times the dry weight, you get about 250 g cooked. At 3 times, you get 300 g. Cooked white rice carries about 130 calories per 100 g, so the whole batch lands near 325 to 390 calories.

Divide the cooked amount by 3. If a recipe calls for 6 cups of cooked rice, start with 2 cups dry. For weight, divide the cooked grams by 2.5 to 3. A 300 g portion of cooked rice came from about 100 to 120 g dry.

For wild rice, divide by 3.5. For brown rice, divide by 3 and allow for a half-cup difference in either direction, since calculator estimates can differ by a full cup. That gap is the most common reason a meal-prep batch comes out too big or too small.

Side Dish vs Main Dish Portions

For a side dish, we plan 1/4 to 1/3 cup of dry rice per person, which gives about 3/4 to 1 cup cooked. For a rice bowl or curry where rice is the base of the meal, plan on 1/2 cup dry, or about 1 1/2 cups cooked.

Meal Prep and Large Groups

For a crowd, scale the dry amount first and then check your pot. Ten people at a main-dish serving need 5 cups dry, which makes about 15 cups cooked, so split it across two pots.

Cooked rice also needs a plan for the leftovers. Cool it quickly and store it sealed. Our guide on how long cooked rice lasts in the fridge and freezer covers the safe windows.

Heat and water loosen the tight starch in each dry grain, so it soaks up liquid and swells.

Rice Type and Starch

Long-grain rice stays separate and fluffy, while short-grain rice clumps and holds water differently, so its cooked volume sits just under or at 3 cups per cup dry.

Water Ratio and Cooking Method

Stovetop absorption uses about 1.75 to 2 cups of water per cup of white rice. Sealed rice cookers and rinsed rice use less, closer to 1.2 to 1.5 cups. Keep the lid on during cooking and the rest period, because lifting it mid-cook gives uneven, gummy or undercooked grains. For exact numbers by model, see our chart of rice cooker water-to-rice ratios by rice type.

The cup matters too. The scoop that comes with a rice cooker holds 180 ml, while a US cup holds 240 ml. If you scoop with the larger cup and fill to the matching water line, the pot ends up with far too much rice for the water, so the top comes out hard and the bottom scorches. If you are new to the machine, start with how to use a rice cooker.

Rinsing, Soaking and Grain Age

Rinsing jasmine until the water runs near clear keeps the grains separate. Skipping the rinse on sushi rice leaves it sticky, which is what you want there. Brown rice stays chewy and takes 40 to 50 minutes, and a 30-minute soak shortens the cook.

• Mixing up cup sizes. A 180 ml rice-cooker cup is not a 240 ml US cup. Pick one and stay with it.
• Comparing dry and cooked weights. A cup of cooked rice weighs less than a cup of dry rice, so never swap grams for cups without the table.
• Trusting one brown rice number. Calculators give anywhere from 2.5 to 4 cups. Use 3 and adjust after your first batch.
• Using the white rice ratio for risotto. Arborio cooked by the risotto method takes about 4 cups of liquid per cup of rice, added gradually.