Rice Conversion Calculator
Convert between dry and cooked rice in cups. Pick the rice type to get the stovetop water ratio, the cooked yield, and how many ¾-cup side servings you end up with — or flip the direction to work backward from the cooked amount you need.
Example: with Amount (cups) 1 · Direction I have dry rice → cooked yield · Rice type White long-grain → Result: 3 cups cooked (from 1 cup dry).
- Water for the stovetop1.75 cups water (about 1 ¾ cups) — 1.75 : 1 stovetop ratio
- Servingsabout 4 side servings (¾ cup cooked each)
Computed by the calculator below using its default values. Change any input to see your own numbers.
Long-grain white rice: 1 cup dry + 1¾ cups water ≈ 3 cups cooked — typical package directions. Ratios are kitchen conventions, and rice cookers need less water.
Why rice roughly triples
Dry rice absorbs about twice its volume in water as the starch gelatinizes, which lands most white rice at close to 3 cups cooked per cup dry. Short-grain sushi rice is rinsed and cooked with less water, so it yields nearer 2½ cups; wild rice (technically a grass seed) splits open and fluffs to about 3½.
Notice that water added and volume gained are not the same number. Brown rice takes 2¼ cups of water but still yields about 3 cups — the bran coat slows absorption, so the longer 45-minute simmer boils more water away. That evaporation is also why doubling a recipe does not require exactly double the water.
Portion math that actually matches plates
The dietary half-cup-cooked "grain serving" is smaller than what people actually spoon out. As a dinner side, ¾ to 1 cup cooked per person is realistic — this page uses ¾. So one cup of dry white rice feeds about four as a side, or two to three as the base of burrito bowls and fried rice.
How it’s calculated
Cooked = dry × yield; water = dry × ratio. Conventions used per 1 cup dry (stovetop): white long-grain 1.75 water / 3.0 yield; jasmine and basmati 1.5 / 3.0; white short-grain (sushi) 1.2 / 2.5; brown long-grain 2.25 / 3.0; wild 3.0 / 3.5 — typical US package directions in the USA Rice Federation style. Servings assume ¾ cup cooked per side serving.
Ratios are stovetop conventions — rice cookers need noticeably less water, altitude and lid fit change evaporation, and rinsed rice carries extra water into the pot.
Water and yield by rice type (per 1 cup dry, stovetop)
| Rice type | Water | Cooked yield |
|---|---|---|
| White long-grain | 1¾ cups (1.75:1) | about 3 cups |
| Jasmine | 1½ cups | about 3 cups |
| Basmati | 1½ cups | about 3 cups |
| White short-grain (sushi) | 1.2 cups (scant 1¼) | about 2½ cups |
| Brown long-grain | 2¼ cups | about 3 cups |
| Wild rice | 3 cups | about 3½ cups |
Typical package and USA Rice Federation-style stovetop directions; stated as conventions — brands vary, and rice cookers use less water.
Common mistakes
- Cooking brown rice at the white-rice 1:1.75 ratio — it comes out crunchy; brown wants about 2¼ cups of water and twice the time.
- Doubling the rice and exactly doubling the water — evaporation does not double, so big batches want slightly less than 2× water.
- Reading a recipe's "2 cups rice" as cooked when it means dry (or vice versa) — that is a 3× error in the wrong direction.
- Lifting the lid and skipping the 10-minute rest, then blaming the ratio for gummy or wet rice.
Frequently asked questions
How much cooked rice does 1 cup of dry rice make?
About 3 cups for most white rice (long-grain, jasmine, basmati), roughly 2½ cups for short-grain sushi rice, and about 3½ cups for wild rice.
What is the rice-to-water ratio?
By convention: 1 : 1.75 for white long-grain on the stovetop, 1 : 1.5 for jasmine and basmati, 1 : 2.25 for brown, 1 : 3 for wild. Cooked yield = dry × about 3 for white rice.
How much rice per person?
About ¼ cup dry per side serving (it cooks up to ¾ cup), or ⅓–½ cup dry when rice is the main event. A single cup of dry rice comfortably sides four people.
Do these ratios work in a rice cooker?
Use less water — many cookers do well near 1:1 for white rice because the sealed lid cuts evaporation. Follow the markings inside the bowl; the yield stays about the same.
Does rinsing change the water needed?
A little. Rinsed rice carries a few tablespoons of water into the pot, so cut the measured water slightly or accept marginally softer rice. Rinsing mainly removes surface starch so grains stay separate.