Simple Oven Rice That Stays Fluffy and Delicious Each Time

This simple oven-baked rice dish delivers perfect fluffiness every single time — no stovetop monitoring, no constant stirring, and no sticky, soggy outcome. Simply place it in the oven at 350° and step away. The sole rice recipe you'll ever require!

At the start of our married life, I found that preparing rice following the stovetop package instructions didn't suit me well. The results were consistently either overly sticky or excessively dry (and adhered to the pan!).

I eventually stumbled upon this simple oven-baked rice recipe within my trusty red-checked Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. I have been preparing it this way ever since.

Indeed, I utilized this oven-baked rice method during my years cooking for a camp and retreat facility. I discovered it works excellently for four individuals and produces perfect results for 250 people as well! At the conclusion of this post, I will include my calculations for cooking rice for a crowd in case any of you ever face a situation requiring large-scale cooking.

Only three ingredients are required for this simple oven-baked rice recipe

• Three-quarters cup long grain white rice – (Not quick-cooking instant rice!)
• One tablespoon butter
• One-quarter teaspoon salt
• One and a half cups boiling water

Step-by-step instructions for oven-baked rice

1. Set your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Rinse the rice using a fine mesh strainer. Though I rarely performed this step previously, a friend reminded me that if I had ever witnessed rice being harvested from fields, I would rinse my rice indefinitely!;)
3. Transfer the rinsed rice into an oven-safe casserole dish.
4. Incorporate the butter, salt, and pour over the boiling water. Mix until the butter has melted.

1. Seal with a lid or aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes. Aerate with a fork and present.

What is the dry rice portion per person?

If you ever need to prepare rice for a crowd or large gathering, you might find yourself pondering these queries. I relied on this baked rice recipe for countless meals during my time at camp – and it never let me down.

I retrieved my quantity cooking notes from back then and discovered I had jotted down the calculations.

To determine the cups of dry rice required, take the number of guests and multiply by .23. This will yield the cups of dry rice needed. Here is another perspective on that calculation:

Number of guests multiplied by .23 equals cups of dry rice

What quantity of boiling water should be used per cup of dry rice?

As evident in the initial recipe (for 4 servings), the water-to-dry rice ratio is double.

Scaling up your cooking requires a slightly different approach; here is how to handle measurements.

When preparing 'sticky' rice, utilize 2 cups of boiling water for every cup of rice.

For a 'fluffy' rice texture, measure 1.75 cups of water per cup of rice.

My personal preference was to aim for 1.85 cups of water for each cup of rice, finding a middle ground.

Larger pans of rice needed a longer baking period; instead of 30-35 minutes, plan for approximately 45 minutes. Each pan can hold up to 10 cups of dry rice; for amounts exceeding 10 cups dry rice, employ more than one hotel pan.

Several additional details might prove useful to you.

Six cups of dry rice will satisfy roughly 35 individuals; to serve 130 people, prepare 2 pans, each containing 10 cups of dry rice.

Remember that when feeding a large group, the standard guidelines might not apply perfectly; some people may have leftovers, or conversely, they might consume everything. Every gathering is unique!

(If you wish to see my large group rice preparation in action, check the photos in this post about Butter Chicken. Although it is an older article, it could assist with camp cooking.)

Suggestions for accompanying side dishes

• I also prepared this fantastic meatloaf while camping. The aforementioned post includes a recipe for smashed potatoes, which makes a wonderful side.
• Roasting a large sweet potato offers a superb side dish choice.
• This wonderfully creamy potato salad recipe remains my absolute favorite!