Brown Rice Meal Prep: How to Make This Long Grain Fit into a Short Time Frame

Whether it’s curry, fried rice, beef stroganoff, or just plain old chicken and rice, I pretty much ALWAYS prefer brown rice to white rice. Brown rice is significantly healthier, more natural, and (in my opinion) *usually* tastes better than white rice.

HOWEVER, the long cook-time on brown rice has far too often presented the dilemma of… I’m hungry right now, but brown rice takes soooo long to cook!

After years of wishing brown rice could cook in 10 minutes, I finally realized that brown rice actually freezes so well! I’ve found that I can cook a huge pot of brown rice once every few weeks, freeze the leftovers, and then reheat it easily for any meal!

Obviously brown rice does taste best fresh out of the Instant Pot on the day I make it, BUT it still does taste really good from a freezer bag. I rarely notice a difference between the fresh or reheated rice… mainly because rice is usually hidden under a mountain of curry at my house.

There’s several ways to go about the process of brown rice meal prep, but here’s what I’ve found works best for me!

STORING BROWN RICE

I like to season my rice, rather than cooking it plain. When I’m making rice to freeze, I usually make my recipe for Flavorful Instant Pot Brown Rice because the flavor in this recipe is soooo yummy! If you don't know how to cook brown rice or are looking for a fun new recipe, go check out this delicious brown rice recipe!

When you’ve finished cooking your rice, measure out 1 ½ cups into a plastic bag. Repeat this process, filling up plastic bags until all your rice is gone.

Note: You don’t have to freeze the rice in 1 ½ cup servings. That amount is my preference because it tends to be the perfect serving size for one meal with Wade and I. Feel free to freeze the rice in any serving size you’d like, depending on the size of your family and the amount of rice that you usually consume at a time.

Once the rice is measured out into bags, let the rice cool before you seal the zipper and put the bags in the freezer. Once the bags have cooled sufficiently, you can squeeze out the air, seal the zipper, and then shape the rice into a flatter shape. This will aid in ease of storage in the freezer. I like to label each bag by writing on it in black sharpie so I know what it is and how much rice is in it. Place the bags in the freezer and you’re all ready for your next meal involving rice!

REHEATING FROZEN RICE

When you’re ready to reheat the rice, take it out of the freezer and run the bag under warm water for a minute or two. This will allow the plastic to pull away from the rice so you can remove the rice from the bag.

Once you’ve removed the rice, place it on a microwave safe plate and pour 1-2 tablespoons of water over the top of the rice. Place another plate on top (to keep the steam in) and place the plated rice in the microwave.

Microwave cook time for the rice will vary greatly depending on the serving size of the rice you froze and the heat of your microwave. I usually microwave my rice on high for 5-7 minutes, checking and stirring it every few minutes.

This brown rice meal prep process is seriously a game changer. It has changed the way I plan weeknight dinners! On days when I only have 30 minutes (or less) to get something on the table, I can just pull one of these bags out of the freezer and whip up a pan of curry or stir fry and have a full meal!

I also really recommend this method with our Chicken and Veggie Fried Rice recipe because it converts that recipe into a 30 minute meal, without turning to the less-healthy alternative of Minute White Rice.

Get ready to enjoy the benefits of better health and less time spent cooking :)