Freezing Rice

Freezing rice is a great way to store extra rice you may have prepared. It's easy to thaw and add to a dish that is already in progress. This is a guide about freezing rice.

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Freeze Rice In Serving Sizes

After cooking rice, let it cool, and then put in freezer bags or freezer containers in serving size you usually use. Take out as needed. Put in a colander and run hot water over and through it. This will defrost the rice in less than 5 minutes and plump the grains back up.

Source: My grandmother Rose Mary Cheramie shared this tip with me.

By Southernbelleklb from Jefferson, LA

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Freezing Rice

Living in Louisiana we eat a lot of rice. Since it's just the two of us now I've learned to freeze the cooked rice. After it's cooked and cooled I put in in a large ziplock freezer bag and flatten it out. When you need just one or two servings of rice just break off the amount needed. Having it flattened makes it easy to break. Put it on your plate cover with gravy and nuke. Rice flattened and frozen will last forever.

By Verue

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Prepare and Freeze Rice in Advance

Make big batches of rice and freeze in meal sized portions to use later when preparing quick meals. When freezing individual sized portions, freeze leftover vegetables, meats and sauces for hassle free and cheap work lunches.

By duckie-do from Cortez, CO

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Questions

Here are questions related to Freezing Rice.

Freezing Rice

What effect does freezing have on rice?

By Miss Brodie

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Most Recent Answer

By frugalsunnie01/27/2012

Uncooked rice freezes nicely, cooks the same on thawing as it would if never frozen.

If it is cooked and frozen as a separate dish, it may be a little watery when you thaw it but the reheating process will absorb the moisture.

If it is cooked and frozen as part of a dish (casserole, etc), it might add a little watery-ness but the reheating process will absorb the moisture and not be a problem.

That's been my experience over the years, anyway:) Hope this helps.

Freezing Cooked Rice

Can you freeze cooked rice?

By Diane N

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Most Recent Answer

By frugalsunnie12/27/2011

I've been doing it for years. I've frozen rice in meals, and on its own. If freezing rice on its own, I use heavy duty zip bags.

The important thing to remember about reheating frozen rice is to let it defrost first, then reheat it slowly at a lower heat-always with a cover.

I use a covered microwave safe casserole dish to reheat rice that's been frozen but I've also done it in a conventional oven too. The secret is using 25% power (or 'low') in the microwave, and no more than 180C/350F in the oven.

Hope this helps.

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Prepare and Freeze Rice in Advance

I credit my genius mother in law with this idea for making meals over rice a breeze: She cooks up several bags of white and brown rices at the beginning of the month. After cooling the rice, she spoons it into small and gallon sized zip-loc baggies until they are about 3/4 full.

She then seals the bags by zipping them almost totally shut, inserting a drinking straw into the small opening, and sucking the air out of them just before zipping them all the way. She then flattens the rice bags (they go to about an inch thick) and stacks them neatly in her freezer with waxed paper in between them to be removed, thawed and reheated as needed.

What a great way to have a steady supply of cooked rice on hand for fast-fix meals. The frozen rice can also be quickly reheated by steaming it in a covered skillet with a spoonful of water added, or microwaved in the same manner.The layers are thin enough that they can be easily broken apart to fit in any pan. I hope this will be of use to someone!

By Cathy S from Delaware

RE: Prepare and Freeze Rice in Advance

I can't believe I haven't thought of that before! When cooking for two, it's hard to make a small amount of rice for our dinner dish and still have it turn out okay. It's either too soggy or too crunchy! So, if I make a BIG batch and then freeze "dinner for two" portions, I'll save myself time and frustration! Thank you for that tip. (06/06/2008)

By Katy

RE: Prepare and Freeze Rice in Advance

My naturopath tells me that rice, when cooked breaks down very quickly and can be a health hazard after two days, and not to eat it after that. So freezing doesn't seem a good idea. (06/10/2008)

By katz

RE: Prepare and Freeze Rice in Advance

Katz and others: The concern about freezing cooked rice must be unfounded unless you are freezing old previously cooked rice. Otherwise all the companies that make meals including rice could not do so. Those microwave packets of rice would not cook in 2 minutes if they were raw rice. (06/13/2008)

By Eileen