It goes without saying that rice is a popular food and so many recipes call for it. But don’t you ever get bored with it?!

*PUTS ON MY INFOMERCIAL SMILE* What if I could tell you the ONE thing you can do to rice to make it completely revolutionary? You will have people knocking down your door for your special rice!

The trick is to make it crispy.

I’ve been doing this with rice in a few different formats the last few months and finally thought I would share my method. The amazing part about this is how versatile it is. You can make crispy rice with (I think) any rice and can serve it with anything you would serve with non-crispy rice.

But it’s so much better when it’s crispy.

The recipe is barely a recipe, but the crispy rice devil is in the details.

Crispy Rice

3.57 from 41 votes
Author: Nick Evans
Servings: 2 Servings
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
A thorough walkthrough on two of my favorites methods on how to make crispy rice. I like serving it with tons of dishes or just with a simple egg.

Equipment

Ingredients 

  • 2 cups cooked rice
  • 2 tablespoons oil or butter
  • Salt

Garnishes:

  • Eggs
  • Scallions
  • Paprika

Instructions

  • If you are using freshly cooked rice, spread it out on a baking sheet and let it cool and dry for 5-10 minutes.
  • Add a tablespoon of oil to a nonstick skillet and melt warm over medium heat. Once shimmering, add a cup of cooked rice. Let rice sit without stirring for 2-3 minutes.
  • Gently stir rice occasionally until it is crispy. Season rice with salt and serve with egg or any other topping.
  • To make a crispy rice patty:
  • Pack about one cup of rice into a patty that sticks together. Slide the patty into the skillet after the oil is warm. Let cook, undisturbed, for 3-4 minutes. Carefully flip with a spatula and let sit for another 3-4 minutes. Serve with toppings!

Nutrition

Serving: 1cup | Calories: 306kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 30mg | Sodium: 92mg | Potassium: 59mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 0.1g | Vitamin A: 350IU | Calcium: 19mg | Iron: 0.3mg
Course: Side Dishes
Cuisine: Asian

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @crunchtimekitchen

How to Make Crispy Rice: The Basics

The basics of making crispy rice is pretty straightforward. You need:

1) RICE. Any kind of rice will work but if you use freshly cooked rice, you need to make sure you dry it out first (more on that later).

2) OIL. Let your imagination go on this but you need something. Butter? Coconut oil? Olive oil? Lard? Anything will work.

3) A Good NONSTICK PAN. You can also use a cast iron skillet that’s well seasoned, but you need something that the rice won’t stick to while it gets crispy.

I’ll walk through two different ways that I’ve made it recently to show you some of the options!

Leftover Flaky Crispy Rice

This is a fantastic way to bring old, leftover rice back to life. You don’t have to reheat it or anything. I had some leftover black rice that I used for this version.

How to Make Crispy Rice
Leftovers

When your rice is selected, add some fat to the skillet and let it heat over medium heat. You don’t want it to get too hot.

I used butter for this round, but seriously any kind of fat will do the trick.

How to Make Crispy Rice Oil
Butter baby.

Then add your rice and let it sit without touching it for 3-4 minutes. That will give the rice a chance to crisp up.

Then gently stir the rice to keep the grains separate.

This method works really well for hearty rices like black rice, wild rice, and brown rice.

How to Make Crispy Rice
Stirring rice gently as it cooks.

Because the grains stay separate, this dish ends up having great texture. Some of the grains are crunchy and some are soft and it’s perfect for soaking up sauces and stuff. You could serve this method of crispy rice with any stir fry under the sun.

I kept mine simple with a poached egg and some chopped scallions!

How to Make Crispy Rice
Egg on top!

Crispy White Rice Patty

The second version covers a very different scenario. I cooked a fresh batch of short grain white rice for this. You can use freshly cooked rice, but you want to dry it out so it crisps nicely.

After it’s cooked, just spread it out on a baking sheet and let it dry and cool for a few minutes.

How to Make Crispy Rice
Dry the rice if it’s just cooked.

For this version I switched up my oil to coconut oil. Again, there’s really no rhyme or reason to what oil you use. I think both butter and coconut oil give it a nice, light flavor.

How to Make Crispy Rice
Different oil!

For this version, I packed about a cup of rice into a patty with my hands and then slid it into the hot pan.

Again, let this sit for 3-4 minutes until it’s getting crispy on the bottom.

This method will really work best with short grain and/or white rice. Sturdy grains won’t stick together well for a patty like this.

How to Make Crispy Rice
Patty form.

Carefully flip the rice cake after a few minutes and crisp it up on the second side.

How to Make Crispy Rice
Nice crust.

Again, I just served my version with an egg and some scallions on this day.

The crispy patty is really fun to cut into and has a great crust.

How to Make Crispy Rice Egg on top
Same serving!

So that’s it! My new favorite trick to bring something extra to rice!

Have you ever tried crispy rice? Thoughts?!

More great Rice Recipes!

Pumpkin Curry Rice Bowls

Pumpkin Curry Rice Bowls - Made from scratch with a real pumpkin! Don't get scared. It isn't that hard and is totally worth the work. Slightly spicy and sweet, this is the curry recipe you need in the fall!

Broccoli Rice Bowls

Loaded Broccoli Rice Bowls: Roasted spicy broccoli and chickpeas piled high with brown rice and a tangy lemon yogurt sauce. Hearty and healthy!
How to Make Crispy Rice: One of my favorite ways to serve rice is to carefully saute it until it gets a bit crispy on the edges. It can be served with tons of dishes and is a great trick for bringing old rice back to life!