If you ask me how I like to cook my rice, which happens at least three to four nights a week, I would swear by cooking it in a slow cooker. It’s safe to say that cooking rice using a slow cooker requires minimal fuss.
Plus, half your dinner will be ready effortlessly. All you need to do is toss up a dish to enjoy with your freshly cooked fluffy rice.
Here, you’ll find a step-by-step process to slow cook all types of rice. You can now stop slaving over the kitchen stove and learn how to cook rice in a slow cooker perfectly.
White Rice in a Slow Cooker
Cooking white rice in a slow cooker doesn’t need to be monitored closely like steamed rice. You don’t have to worry about burning it. The instructions below will serve six people.
Here, we provide you with a list of items you’ll require, but you can make changes according to your needs or the size of your aroma professional slow cooker.
- 1 cup rice
- 4 cups boiling water
- Slow cooker
- Glass dish of 1.5 quart
- Steamer bowl
- Pinch of salt
Firstly, you need to put a steamer bowl inside the slow cooker. Remove the center post from the steamer bowl and place it directly in a 3.5 to 6-quart slow cooker.
The next step is to heat the slow cooker by covering it for about 15 minutes on high heat. You need to boil water 4 cups of water separately and add only two cups to your slow cooker. 
Time to place the glass dish on your steamer bowl. Add the remaining 2 cups of boiling water with one cup of uncooked white rice. Mix it up using a spatula. Don’t forget to add a pinch of salt. Keep the slow cooker covered with a lid. Let it cook for about one and half hours, or until the water is fully absorbed. It should be ready to be served right away!
Brown Rice in a Slow Cooker
Brown rice is a nutritious and healthy choice for rice lovers. Brown rice is especially preferred to cook Mediterranean bowls, which are currently trending.
Cooking it in a slow cooker allows you to cook in a large batch and enjoy it throughout the entire week. You’ll need the following items to cook your brown rice.
- Slow cooker
- 2 cups brown rice
- Non-stick cooking spray
- 4 cups water
Spray the slow cooker with your cooking spray generously. The texture of brown rice is stickier than white rice, which is why the non-stick prevents it from sticking to the pot. Add everything together, rice, water, and other additional ingredients such as broth, herbs, etc. If you use a broth to bring the rice grain to boil, then you no longer need to add water. Just ensure that the measurement is the same as the water.
Time to let it cook. You must check the slow cooker is set on high heat for it to be cooked perfectly. The cooking time for brown rice is 3 hours. You can serve it hot and set aside any leftover rice to store in the fridge or freezer.
Wild Rice in a Slow Cooker
Wild rice takes longer to cook, so it makes sense to cook it in a slow cooker easily. You’ll have an additional step before you can start to cook it, unlike the other two kinds of rice. Wild rice needs to be soaked overnight for it to soften and absorb water. If you skip this step, your rice will remain undercooked.
The items you’ll require to cook wild rice in a slow cooker are listed below:
- Slow cooker
- Medium to a large bowl
- 1 cup wild rice
- Colander
- 3 cups water or low-sodium broth, for cooking
- Additional water to soak the wild rice before cooking it
- Fresh herbs or spices (optional)
Make sure you use cold water to rinse the soaked wild rice. After soaking it overnight, rinse and drain it properly. You can use a colander to drain it.
The next step is to transfer the drained rice into the slow cooker. Add water or broth add the same time. If you want to add any additional ingredients like spices, or herbs, now is the time for you to do so.
For brown rice, you must set the slow cooker on low heat and wait 3 hours for it to be cooked perfectly. Sometimes, it can take more time than cooking rice in a crockpot, especially if your brown rice was soaked for only a few hours.
How To Store Leftover Rice
You can store rice in airtight food containers or bags and put it in the fridge or freezer. Cooked rice is safe to store for up to five days in the fridge and up to six months in the freezer. All you need to do is reheat it in the microwave.
Conclusion
Rice is a staple food for many families, and there are unlimited ways to eat it. Rice can be used as a base, side dish, main dish, or even as a dessert such as sticky mango rice or a gold old rice pudding. Hope you enjoyed reading this step-by-step process of cooking rice in a slow cooker. Preparing rice using a slow cooker is hassle-free regardless of how you consume it. Plus, this method of cooking rice never fails.
Bon Appetit!
