How to Microwave Pasta and Rice Leftovers Without Drying
In recent weeks, you may have seen the popular TikTok salmon and rice plate recipe. In this recipe, TikTok user Emily Mariko places the leftover salmon on a plate and tops it with daytime rice. Then she puts an ice cube in the rice, covers it with parchment paper, and puts it in the microwave for a minute. For a minute while in the microwave, the ice cube remains largely intact, creating steam that moistens the remaining rice.
As delicious as the salmon rice bowl is, the Mariko ice cube technique is a trick that can be used in other ways and can be modified. It’s true that the microwave is a lifesaver when you want to quickly heat up leftover food, but it’s also true that it can turn certain types of food, like rice, into a dry, tasteless mess. As Mariko demonstrated, this shouldn’t be. There are ways to heat up leftovers in the microwave without drying them out; you just need to find a way to add steam.
Using an ice cube to cook leftover pasta in the microwave
As you saw in the rice example, placing an ice cube on top of the leftover rice produces enough steam to soften and restore moisture. You can also use this technique with pasta dishes. If you have leftover pasta, simply place it on a plate, place an ice cube on top and cover with it. If you don’t have parchment paper on hand, a paper towel will work as well.
With pasta, if you need to reheat leftovers in the microwave for more than a minute, stir about once a minute and watch the cube. This helps to break down the paste in a thin layer, which will help it heat up evenly and also shorten the time it takes to microwave. When I tried it with the leftover spaghetti and vegetable meatballs, it took me a minute and the result was almost as good as fresh.
(I cut the meatballs into small pieces before microwaveing them to heat them more evenly, although another way is to reheat them separately in a deep fryer until they’re hot and crispy: 3-5 minutes at 350 ° F should help.)
Using a damp paper towel
Instead of an ice cube, you can drizzle a little water over the remaining rice or noodles and cover with a damp paper towel. The moisture will create enough steam to dampen the residue, and the paper towel will prevent it from escaping. Megan Walbert, editor in chief of Lifehacker, recently informed me that she tried this method with Pad Thai leftovers and the results were satisfactory.
In the interests of science, I compared using the ice cube method to the wet paper towel method, reheating two separate batches of leftover spaghetti. For this test, I used an equivalent amount for each batch by spreading a thin layer of pasta on a plate and then microwaveing it for a minute.
Both methods worked equally well, although using an ice cube was definitely a little more fun (seeing an intact ice cube come out of the microwave is amazing). Funnily enough, it also helps to leave leftovers for a minute under the lid after the microwave to really allow steam to penetrate inside.
In this experiment, I did not microwave a test batch of spaghetti without some method of steaming. This is because in the past I have reheated enough pasta in such a way that I know how sad the results are.
How to Reheat Pasta with Creamy Sauce
Reheating pasta with a creamy sauce such as Alfredo or mac and cheese is more difficult due to the high fat content . As the high-fat sauce cools, it separates into oil and water, so you’ll need to stir a lot and be careful not to overdo it with moisture. You can also add some milk to leftover food.