How to Cook Rice in a Slow Cooker

Slow cookers tend to be the hectic mom's go-to kitchen appliance. Learning basic guidelines for using one to do the cooking for you not only gets a home cooked meal on the table, but allows you some more precious free time, too. Observe these easy steps to make the slow cooker prepare the rice while you go searching for something else to do.

Rice Slow Cooker Ingredients

1 cup rice (jasmine rice works well in the slow cooker)
2 cups water or broth
1 tablespoon butter or preferred cooking oil
2 teaspoons salt

Measure the rice, salt, water and butter or oil. Generally you need two cups of water for each cup of rice. The advantage of a slow cooker is a bit more water may be included if needed, without causing a lot of alteration in the consistency from the rice. If you have a large slow cooker, you can cook up to 4 cups of uncooked rice in a slow cooker. This makes about 10 cups of cooked rice.

Take a stick of butter or a little oil and rub the interior of the slow cooker. Or spray with non-stick cooking spray. This is important to keep rice from sticking and you will appreciate this step when it's time to wash the slow cooker.

Put the rice, oil and water into the slow cooker. You may also include addition such as veggies (fresh, frozen, or canned; it doesn't matter) and spices or herbs if you want, but make sure you increase some additional water to cook them too.

Set the slow cooker to the low setting. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. If you're beginning to cook the rice more than three or four hours in advance, switch to the warm setting after about four hours, if at all possible. Although the rice isn't prone to burn, some of the newer slow cookers do tend to dry out food if they are set to high or medium for too long.

This rice in the crock pot is pretty much foolproof! It works just like a rice cooker. It turns out fluffy like steamed rice. It will not have that sticky consistency that happens often when attempting to cook rice on the stove.

Serve and enjoy your own rice. You can get your essential proteins using an effortless inclusion of a couple of cans of beans for a well-balanced, cheap, vegetarian meal.

Try out various flavor combinations to add to the rice. They can complement whatever type of meal you are serving. For example, if it's Mexican food night, try pinto or black beans and added salsa, chili powder and garlic. Top them off with some grated cheese.