My 1-Ingredient Upgrade for Better Rice (It’s Already in Your Pantry)

I grew up trying to manifest love for the brown rice that appeared in front of me twice a week, but I was never able to doctor those grains into anything more than a tertiary character on the plate.

When I finally experienced Minute Rice at college, it was like tasting soda for the first time—I was hooked. It was the beginning of my rice renaissance.

Once my frontal cortex fully formed and I had my own adult kitchen, I began to take making rice more seriously. It was the heyday of Survivor, where your entire worth as a contestant was based on your ability to competently cook rice instead of gruel. You never know where life will take you, so making fluffy rice is a good skill to keep in your back pocket.

For rice with a deep, nutty flavor, here’s my tip: Sauté your rice before boiling it.

Why I Always Sauté My Rice

The basic instructions for making white rice are simple: Boil any amount of rice with double the amount of liquid (usually water), then simmer over low heat. You'll have fluffy, tender white rice. But it’s still plain white rice—unless you take a few extra minutes to sauté the rice with fat.

It'll shave some time off the cooking, and the finished product will have a nuttier taste and a gorgeous golden hue.

The taste changes based on which fat you choose. I often used salted butter; once cooked, the rice better maintains its shape, so you taste each grain. However, when I tested four batches of rice—sautéed in butter, coconut oil, and olive oil, and one without any fat—I was surprised by the results.

While all the sautéed rice batches tasted better than the plain one, the butter was the least interesting. It also took four minutes for the butter to cook out the moisture and start browning.

Olive oil sautéed faster, and it produced a crisp, vegetal flavor. Coconut oil yielded the best results: It quickly coated each kernel and began toasting within two minutes. Best of all, it added complexity—a slight earthiness and nuttiness—while achieving the same deep color and crispness as olive oil.

The sautéed rice batches all cooked significantly faster than the plain rice, shaving almost five minutes off the cook time.

How To Sauté Rice in Coconut Oil

Begin with one cup of uncooked, medium-grain white rice. Place a three or four-quart saucepan on medium-high heat and add two tablespoons of coconut oil. Swirl the oil in the pan until it's melted, then add your rice. Give the pan a good shake to coat the grains.

Using a spoon, continuously stir the grains in the pan. Around the two-minute mark, you should see the color beginning to change, first turning golden and then light brown. Stop when half of the grains are toasted brown—that’s the time to add two cups of cold water to the pot.

Cover the pot and wait for the water to boil. Once it does, turn the stove to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Finally, turn off the stove, and leave the pot covered for an additional 10 minutes.

White rice is fascinating in that every small change will make a big difference. Don’t stop at sautéing—add stock instead of water, season the grains with salt, or stir in some herbs, slivered almonds, mushrooms, or broccoli. Whatever extra step you take, the grains will be even greater.