The Best Way to Freeze and Reheat Rice
Like most carbohydrates, rice freezes very well. When stored correctly and reheated carefully, it will feel like you’ve just steamed a fresh batch in a short time. But if you’ve been putting all your leftover rice into a storage container, you may have noticed that reheating is a bit of a challenge. You’ve made your life difficult, but I’m glad to tell you it’s easy to fix. Here’s the best way to freeze and reheat rice.
Rice comes in different sizes and with varying degrees of stickiness, but all types of rice have one thing in common: starch. When you cook rice, the grains absorb water and the starches gelatinize; but when the rice cools, the starches harden. Leftover rice is often stacked in a storage container and those grains end up very, very close to each other. Place it in a box of ice and the packaged starch will set. When you’re about to add a spoonful of frozen rice to a bowl of soup, you’re faced with a dilemma: break that giant frozen brick and scatter the rice everywhere, or defrost the block and shave off the outer layers of the rice. Well, both of these options suck and take too much time.
How to freeze rice
The secret to perfectly frozen rice that melts like a dream is to freeze it in a flat, even layer before it hardens. Place a sheet of parchment paper on a baking sheet. Place the rice on a baking sheet lined with parchment and knead it a little. It’s okay if some of the rice clumps together into pieces the size of a golf ball or smaller. You can even form single-serving-sized clusters, but there is no need to package the rice in a specific shape. Keep it loose for faster thawing later on. Place the entire baking sheet in the freezer for at least 30 minutes or until frozen.
Place the frozen rice in a freezer bag and seal it. Even if you try to compact it at this stage, the grains will simply break away from the group and fall freely to the bottom of the back. Place the bag of rice in the freezer until needed.
How to reheat frozen rice
Reheating is easy if you froze the rice in loose clusters. Remove as much rice as you want from the freezer bag and place it in a microwave-safe bowl. Return the remaining frozen rice to the freezer. Add a small amount of water to the bowl—about a teaspoon of water for every cup of rice. Cover the bowl with an upside-down plate, microwave-safe lid, or other material that is comfortable for you to keep in the microwave. The lid should completely cover the bowl but allow some steam to escape. Microwave the rice for one to two minutes, depending on the strength of your wave. When you remove the lid, steam should come out. If it doesn’t, return it to the microwave for 30 seconds until it’s puffed, steamy, and hot.
If you’re using frozen rice as an ingredient in something larger, like a cheesy chicken and rice casserole , soup, or chili, you can even skip the reheating step. Add the rice to the other hot ingredients, breaking up any lumps if necessary, and stir until heated through.