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Are You Using The 'Golden Ratio' To Cook Rice? Here's How It Works By Alexandra Fay Oct. 27, 2025 9:20 am EST

Cooking rice feels deceptively simple until you realize the instructions on the bag don't scale. Double the rice and water, and somehow it turns out gluey or undercooked. The missing piece is the "golden ratio" — the formula that accounts for both absorption and evaporation — and it's essential for cooking perfect rice. As your rice cooks, part of the water is absorbed by the grains, while some of the water evaporates into steam. But that second part doesn't change, no matter how much rice you make.

So what exactly is the golden ratio? Use one cup of water for every cup of rice, then add an extra quarter to half of a cup to account for evaporation. Think

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