It seems like a simple question: how many calories are there in a cup of rice? It is a simple question, but the answer is a bit tricky. Cup size, rice type, the condition of the rice (cooked/uncooked/method of cooking) and much more, change the answer!
Calories in a Cup of Uncooked Rice
Starting with uncooked rice: one cup of uncooked, white, medium grain rice contains 729 calories, equivalent to 3061 kilojoules. That’s because there are 354 calories in 100 grams of rice, and a cup of rice weighs 206 grams.
1 Cup of Cooked Rice Calories
Since you’re probably not going to eat uncooked rice, let’s take a look at the cooked version. Remember that 1 cup of cooked white rice weighs 196 grams. Thus, a cup of cooked, medium-grained, white rice contains 313 calories, or 1315 kilojoules.
Rice Varieties have Different Nutrition
Even though there are over 40,000 different varieties of rice, each with its own nutritional profile, we just need to know a few key points about the rice we’re measuring. Long grain rice has fewer calories than short grain rice (339 calories/100g compared to 356 calories/100g). Medium grain rice is, predictably in the middle. Less processed rice like brown and red rice has fewer calories than white rice. For this post, we are assuming that the question is related to a cup of white medium grain rice.
Cooked versus Uncooked Rice Calories
Cooking drastically changes the per-weight calorie count of rice. In addition to changing the physical and chemical structure of rice, cooking by boiling or steaming adds lots of water to each grain of rice. This makes the rice bigger, so that one cup of uncooked rice yields up to three cups of cooked rice. The amount of water absorbed mainly depends on cooking time, cooking temperature, relative atmospheric humidity and pressure (the weather!), the type of water, and of course the type of rice. In every case, cooked rice has far fewer calories than uncooked rice on a weight for weight basis.
Cooking Method affects Digestible Calories
As we explained in our post on reducing starch in rice, the method of cooking affects the amount of digestible (nutritionally useful) calories in rice. Adding oil to cooking rice may reduce the amount of calories able to be absorbed by your body, even whilst increasing the actual calorie count! The amount of calories your body will actually draw from rice (or any other food) is impossible to know without complicated scientific methods and equipment.
How Much Does a Cup of Cooked Rice Weigh in Grams?
Somewhere, perhaps in Plato’s mystical world of forms, there exists a perfectly-sized 250ml capacity cup. However, that cup is not in our (nor, probably, your) kitchen. Even with a proper measuring cup (the type with lines), it is practically impossible to measure exactly one cup of rice. There will always be a slightly different weight of rice. That said, the average cup of uncooked medium grain white rice weighs 206 grams. A cup of white, medium grain boiled rice weighs 196 grams.
The Importance of Rice Type
The type of rice you use significantly impacts its weight after cooking. Some common types of rice include white rice, brown rice, basmati rice, jasmine rice, and more. Each variety has its own unique characteristics, including the water absorption capacity, which affects the final weight of the cooked rice.
Understanding Rice-to-Water Ratio
When cooking rice, the general guideline is to use a specific rice-to-water ratio. This ratio determines the amount of water needed to cook a specific quantity of rice. The ratio can vary depending on the type of rice and personal preference. Typically, the ratio ranges from 1:1.5 to 1:2 (rice to water).
Estimating the Weight
While it’s difficult to provide an exact weight for a cup of cooked rice, we can provide a rough estimation based on commonly used ratios and types of rice. Keep in mind that these are approximate values:
White Rice: On average, a cup of cooked white rice weighs around 180-200 grams.
Brown Rice: A cup of cooked brown rice weighs approximately 195-215 grams.
Basmati Rice: The weight of a cup of cooked basmati rice is roughly 190-210 grams.
Jasmine Rice: A cup of cooked jasmine rice weighs around 195-215 grams.
Best to Use a Food Scale
The thing about using a cup to measure rice, is that it is highly inaccurate. It is possible to squeeze double the amount of cooked rice into a cup. Even shaking the cup to rearrange the grains will change how much rice you can measure. It is just as easy to count a three-quarter full cup of uncooked rice as a full one. And, that’s before even considering what size of cup you’re using!
