Many new meal makers may ask themselves something akin to: “should I cook rice before adding to soup or can I just add uncooked rice to soup and deal with it?” Not surprisingly, the answer depends not only on the type of soup you make but also on the type of rice you want to add. Different types of rice have different boiling time requirements. The same applies to soups.
For example, brown rice requires a longer boiling time, and I sometimes would pre-cook or pre-soak it before adding it to soup to make sure brown rice is soft and fluffy when the soup is ready. On the other hand, regular white rice can easily be poured into soup or stew and cooked along with the rest of the ingredients.
Let me explain below in detail when you need and when you do not need to cook rice before adding it to the soup.
Can you add uncooked rice to soup? Benefits of Adding Uncooked Rice to Soup.
Generally, you can safely add uncooked rice to a soup. While cooking, it exchanges flavors with the rest of the ingredients, making the soup taste like a whole masterpiece.
But there is a caveat. I add only white rice which usually takes 15 minutes to cook. You can buy it in pretty much any grocery store. And few other types of uncooked rice which can cook fast can be added to a soup.
That is why people usually do not add brown rice to the soup. Why? Because brown rice takes longer to cook. You do not want your rice to taste stiff, don’t you? Read below about what to do with brown rice and soup if you want to use it.
Another exception to the exception is that if you cook soup with chicken, pork, or beef, it may take anywhere from 40 to 120 minutes to cook that meat thoroughly.
In such a case, if you expect your meat soup or stew to cook for a long time, then you can safely add pretty much any type of uncooked brown or wild rice to your soup in the beginning.
Rice will cook along with meat and other ingredients, exchanging flavors. In the end, the soup or stew will taste great by combining flavors. Read the details below.
Do you cook rice before adding it to soup?
I learned the basics of how to make soup from my grandma and my mother, who added rice to soup right from the start. Out of curiosity, I reviewed different recipes and I noticed that different chefs or home cooks recommend either pre-cook rice or adding it to the soup.
By looking through forums and many recipes we discovered that, generally, you do not have to cook regular rice before adding it to the soup.
Let us figure out once and for all the answer to a question – do you pre-cook rice before adding to soup?
There is an overall preference for adding rice to the soup and cooking it along with other ingredients. Which rice do cooks recommend for a soup? Here is a simple list of the most common types of rice recommended to cook in a soup:
- Any long-grain white rice including Jasmine white rice
- Brown rice
- Wild rice
- Black rice
- Sushi rice
- Basmati rice
- Risotto rice
- Paella rice
What type of rice do they recommend avoiding putting in the soup?
- Short grain rice (Although, I used it, and it was ok)
Cooks who recommend cooking rice before adding it to soup cite the following reasons for that:
- Rice can absorb too much liquid from the soup. The solution is to add liquid while the soup is boiling, or to add less rice to a soup.
- Rice becomes too soft if cooked in the soup. If cooked separately, then rice can be added to soup either while it is cooking, or after the soup is made. This way it will not become too soft. I like soft rice in the soup.
Now, I saw some cooks recommend taking out soft ingredients from soup and setting it aside until soup with rice is ready. They mentioned celery, carrot, etc.
I think it is just easier to add those ingredients later in the soup boiling process, rather than bother with taking them out and then putting them back in. At least, this is the way I know my family and many others do. Just add softer veggies to the soup later in the cooking process.
One more tip: adding onion to your soup earlier will add flavor and make meat and rice softer. I also may add a ¼ of a teaspoon of olive oil to soup in which I also add rice. It makes rice and meat softer and may prevent boiling them for too long. My preference.
Should I cook rice before adding it to soup? When You Should.
So, do you pre-cook rice before adding it to soup? Well, the following types of rice some recommend to cook before adding to the soup:
- Brown rice
- Wild rice
They cite the long cooking time required as the reason for pre-cooking both types of rice.
How to pre-cook rice before adding it to the soup:
Cook brown or wild rice for 40-50 minutes, then add to soup just before it is ready (while it is still boiling) or add to soup after it is made.
Let it stay in the hot/warm soup for a little bit of time before eating. Why? Because brown and wild rice takes longer time to cook in the first place and it needs to absorb liquid.
My tip to avoid too much hustle: if you cook vegetable soup then use rice which cooks in a shorter period, like 15 minutes. But if you cook soup with meat, especially with beef, then you can use brown or wild rice, add it to soup, let it cook in the soup for at least 45 minutes without pre-cooking.
Note that your regular cheap store white rice sometimes is simply bleached original rice with added artificial vitamins. In these strange artificial times, I suggest you purchase high-quality food which you can buy in bulk. Good rice has important nourishing abilities. Like any other food.
Do you have to cook wild rice before adding it to soup?
Well, I just answered this in the previous section. To summarize because wild rice needs at least 45 minutes to cook it is better to either pre-cook it or add it to soup from the start if other soup ingredients also require at least 45 minutes of cooking (e.g., meat).
How to cook brown or wild rice in soup?
- Put brown or wild rice in a pot along with other soup ingredients and add enough water (at least 4 quarters of water for 1 quarter of rice.) Because rice will absorb plenty of liquid in the soup.
- Bring everything to a boil, stirring occasionally.
- Bring the heat down and simmer soup with brown or wild rice in it for at least 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- I would add half a teaspoon of olive oil to make everything softer and to prevent the rice from sticking.
- In about 45-50 minutes check if the soup is ready.
If you cook meat soup using beef or other hard meat that requires longer cooking – you may have to simmer it for longer until meat is ready.
If you cook chicken soup, then maybe 45 minutes is plenty of time for store chicken to be cooked. But for those who raise chickens naturally – those chickens may take longer to boil.
For fish – fish takes 10-20 minutes to be cooked. Figure out which rice you want to add and then adjust instructions accordingly. I prefer adding white rice to a fish soup instead of brown or wild.
Let’s recap:
Can I add uncooked rice to soup? Summary answer.
Yes, you can add uncooked rice to soup and cook soup ingredients together. White jasmine, white long-grain, and many other types of rice take only 15-20 minutes to cook and you can add them to vegetable soup from the beginning. Or, add such rice 15-20 minutes before your soup is about to be finished cooking on the stove.
Brown and wild rice take longer to cook. Therefore, you should either pre-cook before adding to soup or cook such rice for at least 45 minutes in the meat soups. Because brown and wild rice usually takes longer to be fully cooked.
Cooking rice in soup instead of water
You can cook rice in other liquids to achieve a different flavor. It does not have to be clear water. For example, you can replace water with broth, and it will work out just fine. Using both, you make a soup by throwing in additional ingredients. Or use broth only to cook rice and then use rice as a main dish, or side dish for the main entry.
You can use any kind of broth – from vegetable to chicken, meat, or fish broth. You can use stock too. Read on this blog the difference between the stock and broth. Some forums recommend adding spices like coriander, or laurel leaf, for better taste.
You can cook soup with rice using a rice cooker or slow cooker too. You can use a low sodium version, or regular chicken stock, instead of a low sodium one. One recipe includes a mix of long-grain and Jasmine rice. You can cook soup with rice in a slow cooker on a low setting for 6 hours. Rice will likely come out unbelievably soft.
Make sure you put plenty of water (at least 4 or 5 parts of water to 1 part of rice or even more) if you use a slow cooker to prepare soup or cook rice in any liquid. Otherwise, rice may absorb all the liquid and the slow cooker may get damaged. Naturally, you may not be able to eat such dry rice.
This is a short summary of the topic. Let me know if you want me to expand this article to include more tricks, recipes, etc.