Why is rice such a great ingredient to have on hand?
Today we’re talking about rice. Rice rice baby (doo-doo-doo-doodoodoodoo). {Hopefully y’all got that that was my rendition of Vanilla Ice’s Ice Ice Baby. If not, let’s just move on and pretend that didn’t happen.}
Rice is a super versatile, inexpensive ingredient that can easily be jazzed up to make some awesome meals. It’s also an ingredient I’ve learned to do a lot with to keep my grocery budget under $300 a month. I have a love/hate relationship with rice. Love to eat it, hate to cook it. I personally find few things as annoying as having to cook rice separately when making a recipe.
The solution: rice batch cooking.
What the heck is batch cooking? Well, it’s preparing a large amount of food in advance, and then freezing it in smaller portions for later use. It’s a major time saver when cooking chicken (check out my post about the benefits of cooking a whole chicken), and I also do this with rice about once every month or so. Now before you freak out…I’m not talking about Guinness Book of World Records quantities of rice. I mean like a bag of rice.
So what’s the appeal of rice batch cooking?
- It saves time. By having precooked portions already stashed in your freezer, you eliminate the extra step of having to cook rice each time you want to eat it. Can I get an amen!
- It helps with meal planning. Knowing you have precooked rice in the freezer allows you to plan more meals around that.
- It saves you money. Instead of buying new ingredients for new meals, create meals using the rice you’ve frozen. Fried rice, rice bowls, and burritos are all great ways to use your frozen, precooked rice as well as other ingredients you already have in your kitchen. Plus, did I mention rice is dirt cheap??
By rice batch cooking, you can easily get 4 or more meals from one bag of rice. Winning!
Need a little extra help with meal planning? Grab your FREE meal planning worksheets and step-by-step guide below!
Step 1: Cook Your Rice
There are lots of ways you can cook large amounts of your rice of choice. Personally, I’ve only used my pressure cooker, but here are a few links that show you how to cook rice in your Crock-pot or oven as well. I don’t know if I’d recommend cooking an entire bag of rice on the stove-top since it’s going to be such a large amount. If you’ve tried it, let me know how it worked! And of course, you can always use a rice cooker.
P.S: If using a pressure cooker or Instant Pot, refer to the manual for directions on how to cook large portions of rice. Mine is not an Instant Pot brand….so the directions for my pressure cooker may not be the same as your Instant Pot.
Step 2: Freeze Your Rice
Make sure your rice is cooled completely before freezing it. Lots of times I’ll store it in the fridge, and then freeze it the next day. Although I think that’s more due to laziness on my end. Ha!
I like to freeze my rice in quart-sized freezer Ziploc bags in 2-3 cup portions. Freeze in portions that work best for your family. If you have a large family, you may want freeze your rice in 4-5 cup portions….enough for one meal or recipe for a larger crowd.
Get most of the air out of the bags, and then flatten the bags of rice so they stack easily in the freezer.
Step 3: Thaw and Eat Your Rice
When you’re ready to eat some rice, rejoice! Remember that you already have some cooked in the freezer and do a happy dance! To reheat the rice, just dump it in a bowl and microwave it until it’s heated all the way through. Or you can put the bag in a bowl of water if you’re not in a huge rush.
Ok, now the fun part! What are you going to do with all that rice? Here are some of my favorite, easy, affordable ways to use frozen rice.
Meal 1: Casserole
This is typically how I end up cooking an entire bag of rice. Find a yummy casserole that calls for rice, and then cook the entire bag right then using your preferred method. Take out what you need for your casserole, and freeze the rest. If you need some inspiration, check out my Rice Pinterest board that has lots of rice-filled casseroles.
Meal 2: Fried Rice
The great thing about fried rice, is most recipes actually call for leftover rice. Fried rice is also a great way to use any leftover meat you may have, such as chicken or pork. Heck, I’d even throw some left over steak in there. Now the fried rice I typically make is usually total white girl non-authentic Asian fried rice. Because, well…my culinary skills are limited. This is my favorite easy-peasy, go-to recipe.
Meal 3: Rice Bowls
Yes! My favorite way to use rice! Y’all, rice bowls are so versatile. You can seriously use just about anything you have in your kitchen. Start with some rice, add a little protein, throw in some veggies, and a yummy sauce/dressing. This is one of our go-to meals when I need to whip something up really quick. If throwing some stuff in a bowl without any kind of guidance freaks you out, here are some ideas to get you started.
Meal 4: Burritos
Burritos are another great meal, because again….super customizable. Plus, how can you not love a food that you can literally eat for any meal of the day. Adding rice to your burritos is a great way to add some bulk to your meal, and the possibilities are endless for other burrito fillers. Here are some yummy rice burrito ideas to get those creative juices flowing.
Leave a Reply