A blank canvas, ready to take on different flavor profiles, textures and forms, rice is the foundation of many cuisines worldwide. It exists in more than 7,000 varieties — and it feels like there are about as many ways to cook it. If you have a limited pantry and some time, the possibilities to repurpose a batch of cooked rice are endless, and figuring them all out can even be exciting.
To start, you’ll need that pot of rice: Tejal Rao’s guide on cooking rice can lead you to a wonderfully cooked pot, whether you have fragrant, long-grain basmati rice; glutinous, short-grain sticky rice; or nutty brown rice. You can simmer it on the stove, bake it in the oven or steam it using a rice cooker. Double your batch, and you’ll have more to transform.
If your pantry permits, you could start with a more flavorful preparation, like West African jollof rice, spicy Mexican rice, subtle rice pilaf, redolent coconut rice or an herb-flecked green rice. But, if you go that route, you might want to reduce the spices to keep the batch of rice a little more versatile, especially if you plan to repurpose it.
Once you have your cooked rice, you can change its flavor. Heat some olive oil or butter in a skillet, and add some chopped fresh herbs, dried spices like curry powder, turmeric or garlic salt, or condiments, like miso, gochujang, pesto or tomato paste. Toast the herbs, spices or condiments until fragrant, stir in a portion of cooked rice, adding a splash of water if needed to help distribute the seasonings, heat until warmed, and you’ve breathed new life into your leftovers with minimal effort.
If you want to shift your grains from the side of the plate to its center, making fried rice is an obvious way to do so, with just a splash of soy sauce and sesame oil. Sam Sifton has figured out the formula for weeknight fried rice. His loose, relaxed recipe will help you cook it with confidence. You could also heat some canola or vegetable oil over high in a large nonstick skillet, add the cooked rice, season generously, then cook, stirring occasionally, until your rice dries out and becomes crisp. Toss in any ingredients you love or loosely follow a recipe like this kimchi fried rice, mushroom fried rice, bacon and cabbage fried rice or garlic fried rice; the options are endless. Don’t worry if you’re missing an ingredient; fried rice is generous and forgiving.
By adding a little bit of dairy, you could make a shortcut risotto. Heat up your rice, blend in some stock and butter until creamy, then vigorously stir in grated cheese. Top it with a perfectly poached egg, wilted greens or braised white beans, and you’ve got a whole new meal.
You could also turn the rest of your batch of rice into soup. Build one around it from scratch (our soup guide can help!), or use the rice to bolster brothy chicken soups, hearty bean soups or vegetable soups. With the addition of eggs and stock, you could make this Japanese-inspired rice-and-egg soup, or this egg lemon soup recipe, a simplified Greek avgolemono. Simmer your rice with stock until it breaks down and forms a porridge in a quick take on classic chicken congee. You could top it with cured egg yolks as Angela Dimayuga does in this Filipino arroz caldo, or spice it up with aromatics inspired by this chicken and rice soup with turmeric and ginger. (If mimicking a rice porridge recipe, you’ll want to significantly reduce the amount of liquid, since the cook time will be shorter, if you’re not starting with raw rice.)
And for your pot of rice’s final trick? Golden rice cakes. Add one beaten egg, a handful of grated cheese and chopped fresh herbs to each cup of leftover rice. Heat a couple tablespoons of oil or butter in a large skillet over medium-high, plop the rice into four even mounds, each about a half-inch thick, and cook until golden and crisp, about three minutes per side. Predictably, they’ll go well with everything.