Best-Rated Dry Rice

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Riviana steams ahead in rice review

Rice may just be the ultimate pantry staple. From turning boring salads into healthy poke bowls to satisfying our sweet cravings with Thai mango sticky rice for dessert, is there anything these glorious grains can’t do? Our latest survey found the majority of Aussies eat rice every week (37%) or every few days (28%). Two in five (44%) typically stick to the same brand, while one in five (21%) prefer to pick up the largest packet available.

To find out what’s making Aussies return for seconds, we surveyed more than 1,200 consumers for their feedback on the dry or uncooked rice they’ve bought and eaten in the last three months. Respondents rated brands on taste, texture, range variety, packaging, value for money, and overall satisfaction. Brands that received at least 30 responses are included in our report.

Riviana cooked up best after receiving the only five-star review for overall satisfaction, and scoring full marks in the majority of other categories!

Best Rice Brands

Here are the best brands of dry and uncooked rice in Australia, as rated by consumers in Canstar Blue’s latest review:

1. Riviana
2. Macro Organic
3. Woolworths
4. ALDI Imperial Grain
5. Coles
6. SunRice

Riviana topped our ratings with five stars for taste, texture, variety, packaging, and overall satisfaction. Woolworths scooped up top marks for value for money and packaging design, plus variety alongside SunRice.

Top Dry Rice Brand ─ Riviana

Riviana harvests Basmati rice from where it’s traditionally grown, Punjab (an area that’s split between India and Pakistan), and stores and matures the grains before milling them to get a deeper and richer aroma. It offers different types of Basmati rice, including long-grain, extra-long grain, and brown Basmati rice. These come in either 1kg or 5kg bags.

• Riviana achieved five stars for taste, texture, packaging, variety, and overall satisfaction. It got three stars for value for money.

How to cook rice

There are different ways to cook rice, with each method varying depending on the type of rice and equipment you’re using. You can generally steam dry rice using a rice cooker, saucepan, and some multi-cookers. Here are the basic steps:

1. Fill the bowl (or the inner pot of your rice cooker or multi-cooker) with your cup(s) of rice.
2. Add water into the bowl, until the rice is submerged.
3. Stir the rice around the bowl to remove starch and any impurities.
4. Slowly tilt the bowl or inner pot to drain the water, before re-filling the bowl and rinsing the rice for a second time (or until the cloudy, opaque water in the bowl turns clear).
5. Once you’ve cleaned the rice and drained the water, you can now add the water needed to cook the rice. White rice typically requires 1½ cups of water for every cup of rice. Alternatively, you can use the ‘finger hack’ where you place your middle finger on the surface of the rice and pour water into the pot until it reaches the first joint (the line on your finger).

Most rice cookers and some multi-cookers usually come with pre-set functions that allow you to ‘press and forget’, although some appliances offer different buttons for brown rice and white rice (brown rice typically takes longer to cook).

To cook rice in a saucepan, simply bring the water to a boil, then reduce the heat and let it simmer for about 15 minutes until your rice is moist.

Is rice good for your health?

Rice can form part of a healthy diet since it belongs to one of the five food groups Aussies are recommended to consume daily (grains). According to Eat For Health, a single serve of rice is equal to ½ cup (75-120g).

Basmati rice and long-grain rice have a medium GI (glycemic index), similar to wholemeal bread, honey and orange juice. Meanwhile, brown and jasmine rice rank higher on the GI scale, sitting alongside potatoes, white bread, and other short-grain rice.

About the author of this page

This report was written by Canstar Blue’s home & lifestyle journalist, Tahnee-Jae Lopez-Vito. She’s an expert on household appliances, grooming products and all things grocery and shopping. In addition to translating our expert research into consumer-friendly ratings reports, Tahnee spends her time helping consumers make better-informed purchase decisions on all manner of consumer goods and services, while highlighting the best deals and anything you need to be aware of.

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Picture credit: Peangdao / Shutterstock.com, New Africa / Shutterstock.com.