We’ve all been there. We ordered a lot of takeout and now have four boxes of plain, white rice sitting in our fridge. Or we misjudged our water-to-rice ratio and were left with a huge pot of rice that we can’t finish. For those that are unwilling to struggle through bowl after bowl of white rice, I’ve compiled a list of five easy things to do with your leftover rice.
1. Fry It
Frying rice sounds more complicated and intimidating than it actually is. All you need to make some good fried rice is some olive oil, chopped yellow onion, a scrambled egg, and some soy sauce.
Heat the olive oil in a pan then add the chopped onion. Once the onion is clear, add the scrambled egg and gradually add your leftover rice and soy sauce. If I’m using rice from a takeout restaurant then I’ll add an entire packet of soy sauce. Once the rice is brown, add salt and pepper to taste.
2. Curry It
Making this curry rice recipe is very similar to making the fried rice recipe. It just requires some different ingredients: olive oil, 1/2 chopped red bell pepper, 1/2 chopped green bell pepper, 1/2 chopped yellow onion, curry powder and garlic powder.
Heat the olive oil in a pan then add the peppers and onion. Once the onion is clear and the peppers are a little brown on the edges, add in your leftover rice gradually. As you add the rice, season with the curry and garlic powder. Once the rice is heated up, add salt and pepper to taste.
Sometimes, if I want to add a little kick to the rice, I’ll mix in some red pepper flakes.
3. Make Cilantro Lime Rice
Here is another super easy recipe. All it requires is your leftover rice, cilantro, salt, and a lime.
After heating up your rice just add fresh cilantro, a little salt, and some fresh lime juice. It’ll taste just like Chipotle rice, but it’ll cost less money.
If you’re in the mood for a little extra work, you can put the rice in a tortilla with ground meat, beans, and tomato for a homemade burrito.
4. Make Rice Pudding
This one requires a little more work but is perfect if you’re in the mood for something sweet.
It requires 5 cups of leftover rice, 2 cups of 1% milk, 1 cup of sweetened condensed milk, nutmeg, cinnamon, an egg, a tablespoon of butter, salt and vanilla. Add the leftover rice and butter in a pot. Once it’s thick add the condensed milk, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Then take the pot off the stove and stir in the egg and vanilla.
Although there’s a lot of ingredients and steps, it’s perfect for turning your unwanted rice into a pretty awesome desert.
5. Spice It Up
If you really don’t feel like cooking, then you could just add a little kick to your leftover rice. If you’re looking for something spicy then you can add cajun seasoning and pepper flakes to the rice. If you’re looking for something a little sweet, then you can add pineapples, pineapple juice, onion, and a little soy sauce for some sweet and sour rice. And if you’re looking for something weird and a little adventurous, then you can add ranch and hot sauce
At the end of the day, sometimes we just have too much rice. But hopefully, these 5 recipes can help you make that white rice a little bit more interesting.