Perfect Oven White Rice

I have struggled for years with my rice cooking skills. Something so seemingly simple, yet nearly impossible for me! For a while I loved using the Instant Pot to make rice, it typically came out a good consistency but it’s so difficult to clean and sometimes I just don’t feel like pulling out the big bulky machine. This recipe for perfect oven white rice is truly the easiest, cleanest way to make rice every time!

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White rice is so versatile and is the perfect addition to many meals. I enjoy serving it with stir fry, stew, salmon, and many other dishes.

I would consider myself a good cook. Dare I say, I am an excellent cook. However, ask me to make some rice on the stove and you will end up with an undercooked, burnt on the bottom, stuck to the pan, mushy for the most part mess! I need a solution, I had made rice in the oven with french onion soup and chicken, and a couple other things that involved chicken thighs and rice all being cooked in the same dish, so I just knew I could come up with a similar concept to make plain ole white rice.

About the Ingredients

This perfect oven white rice is a pretty simple one, it’s long grain white rice, water, butter and salt.

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I typically use salted butter in all my recipes, however, if you choose to use unsalted butter, just increase the salt a bit if you would like. If you are trying to cut back on salt, leave it out altogether, it will still work!

Making Perfect Oven White Rice

The trick here is temperature, cooking time, and cooking technique.

I always lightly spray my 9×13 pan with cooking spray, this makes clean-up super easy.

I then toast my rice in the butter until it starts turning more white. I would say 3 to 4 minutes tops. I do this because toasting it with the butter for some reason it allows the rice to get more fluffy. I am sure science is involved, but I could not tell you what science is at play, after all, I am a cook, not a scientist.

Then you put it in your pan and cover it super tight with foil, don’t get lazy here, it really needs to be sealed up in there.

Next, you bake the covered rice for 30 minute at 400 degrees, then you pull you foil off of it and set the foil aside. Bake it for 5 to 10 more minutes.

When I take it out of the oven I immediately cover it with foil again and put two of my oven mits on top. This allows the steam to redistribute into the rice.

Then when you go to fluff it with your fork or spoon it is so perfectly fluffy, moist and perfectly cooked you will want to just eat it as it, which is fine, you can do that, but it does pair well with stir fry or stews, so I would suggest using it for that!

You really will not believe how easy and perfect this comes out every single time. You really cannot screw it up!

Check out some of my other Side Dishes!