Rice Brands Compared

Fact Checked

ALDI’s Imperial Grain 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 (34%) or every few days (29%). Two in five (44%) typically stick to the same brand, while a quarter (25%) 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 on the rice they’ve bought and eaten in the last three months. They rated brands on taste, texture, range variety, value for money and overall satisfaction. Brands that received at least 30 responses are included in our report.

Imperial Grain (ALDI) was the hot favourite in our first-ever dry and uncooked rice ratings, being the only brand to achieve a five-star review for overall satisfaction, as well as for taste, texture and value for money.

Best Rice Brands

Here are the best brands of dry and uncooked rice in Australia, as rated by consumers in Canstar Blue’s 2021 review:

1. Imperial Grain (ALDI)
2. Woolworths
3. SunRice
4. Coles

ALDI’s Imperial Grain dominated our inaugural rice ratings, leading with five stars for taste, texture, value for money and overall satisfaction. Meanwhile, Woolworths, SunRice and Coles all landed on a solid four stars overall. Woolworths and SunRice filled in the gaps when it came to variety, each scoring full marks for the category.

About the Winner ─ Imperial Grain (ALDI)

There’s more to the German discount supermarket than affordable alternatives to usually pricey appliances and Special Buys. ALDI also stocks a variety of budget-friendly private labels such as Imperial Grain. While most of the range includes microwave rice, you can still grab dry, uncooked versions of white rice, basmati rice and jasmine rice. Imperial Grain rice usually comes in 1kg or 2kg bags. According to the brand, these contain no preservatives or gluten and are apparently 99% fat-free.

• Imperial Grain (ALDI) topped our rice ratings with five stars for taste, texture, value for money and overall satisfaction. It got four stars for variety.

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 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.

Compare Microwave Rice

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