Glutinous Rice substitute

Best substitute

Rice labelled mochigome, malagkit, sweet rice or gao nep

Same volume, same method

Best for mango sticky rice

Close match

The identical grain sold under Japanese, Filipino or generic labels.

Other glutinous rice substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Sushi rice or other short-grain Japonica (Calrose, koshihikari)
Different texture
Use Same volume, cooked with 1 and a quarter cups water for every cup of rice
The stickiest rice in an ordinary supermarket.
What changes
Best for
mango sticky rice, rice puddings, any dessert where the rice is served in a spoonable mound
Cook it, do not steam it. Rinse it two or three times, use slightly less water than the packet says, and let it rest covered for 10 minutes after it is done. The result is genuinely sticky and holds together, but it is softer and creamier and never gets the springy, chewy pull of real khao niao. Do not use it if the plan is to eat the rice with your fingers in balls, because it will not hold.
3Arborio or other risotto rice
Taste and texture differ
Use Same volume, cooked with 1 and a half cups water for every cup, lid on, no stirring
A short fat Italian rice with a lot of surface starch.
What changes
Best for
mango sticky rice at a push, coconut rice pudding, when the only rice in the house is risotto rice
All that surface starch means it goes cohesive and gluey, which is what you want here even though it is the opposite of what you want in a risotto. Do not stir it. The grains stay more distinct than sticky rice and can be slightly chalky in the centre if you undercook them, so give it the full time and a 10 minute rest. Under sweet coconut cream it tastes better than you would expect.
4Sushi rice with glutinous rice flour or tapioca starch added
Close match
Use 1 tablespoon of flour or starch whisked into the cooking water for every cup of rice
A short-grain rice given some borrowed stretch.
What changes
Best for
getting closest to real sticky rice with supermarket ingredients, mango sticky rice, sticky rice desserts with a glossy finish
This is the best trick on the page. Dissolving a spoonful of glutinous rice flour or tapioca starch into the water coats the grains and adds gloss and elasticity, which pushes the texture meaningfully closer to khao niao. Do not overdo it: two tablespoons per cup turns the whole thing into a gummy paste. Whisk it in cold water before the rice goes in so it does not clump.
5Black glutinous rice (khao niao dam) blended with white short-grain
Different taste
Half and half by volume, soaked and steamed together
The purple-black sticky rice used in Thai and Filipino desserts.
What changes
Best for
Thai and Lao sticky rice desserts, black sticky rice pudding, a nuttier, chewier result
A real option rather than a fallback, and traditional in its own right. Black glutinous rice is chemically the right rice, so the cling and chew are correct, but the bran layer makes it chewier, nuttier and slower to cook, and it stains everything it touches deep purple, including the coconut cream. Blending it half and half with white short-grain rice is the useful trick: it softens the chew, speeds the cooking and gives you a marbled violet rather than an inky black result. Soak it overnight, not four hours, and do not use it anywhere a white result matters.
6Jasmine or other long-grain rice
Taste and texture differ
Same volume, but read the notes first
The rice most people already have, and the one that will disappoint.
What changes
Best for
coconut rice pudding served with mango, when there is genuinely no other rice, savoury use, where it is excellent
Worth saying clearly, because this is the most common attempt: long-grain jasmine rice is high in amylose and cooks into separate fluffy grains, and no amount of extra water, less rinsing or longer cooking will make it sticky. It just gets wet. If it is all you have, lean into it: cook it soft in coconut milk with sugar and salt, and serve it as a coconut rice pudding with mango. That is a lovely dessert, and it is not khao niao mamuang.

What is Glutinous Rice?

Glutinous Rice is Glutinous rice is the rice sold as sticky rice or sweet rice, known in Thai as khao niao, in Japanese as mochigome, in Filipino as malagkit and in Vietnamese as gao nep, and it is a variety made almost entirely of amylopectin starch, which is why it steams into a translucent, chewy, cohesive mass you can pinch into a ball with your fingers instead of separate fluffy grains.

Cooking tips

The easiest way to spot it on a shelf is to look at the raw grains: glutinous rice is chalky, opaque, milky white all the way through, while ordinary rice is faintly translucent. Names vary wildly between shops - sticky, sweet, glutinous, mochigome, malagkit, gao nep - but that opaque look does not, and it is worth a minute of checking before you resign yourself to a substitute.
Its job is structure, not flavour. Glutinous rice tastes fairly plain; what it does is cling hard enough to be pinched into a lump and used as an edible utensil for larb, nam tok and grilled meats, or to hold together in a sliceable mound under coconut milk. So judge every swap on cling and chew, not on taste.
Real sticky rice must be soaked and steamed, not boiled. Soak it at least 4 hours or overnight in cold water, drain it, then steam it 20 to 25 minutes in a cloth-lined steamer or the traditional bamboo cone, turning the mass over halfway. Boiling it like normal rice gives you paste.
If you are using a swap in a rice cooker or a pot, cut the water by about 2 tablespoons per cup and then leave it alone with the lid on for 10 minutes after it finishes. That resting period is what makes the grains cling together.
For mango sticky rice, warm three quarters of a cup of coconut milk with a quarter cup of sugar and a big pinch of salt, then fold it through the hot rice and let it sit for 20 minutes to absorb. The salt is the ingredient home cooks leave out and the reason their version tastes flat.
Sticky rice firms up fast as it cools. Keep it covered and warm in the pot or steamer, and revive leftovers with a minute of steam or a covered microwave with a splash of water rather than dry reheating.
Thai long-grain glutinous rice and Japanese short-grain mochigome are both glutinous but not identical: the Thai grain steams into distinct chewy grains you can eat with your fingers, while the Japanese grain goes softer and pastier, which is why it is the one used for pounding into mochi.
A rice cooker on its standard white rice setting will not steam it properly. If your cooker has a sweet rice or glutinous rice setting, use that. If not, line the steamer basket of a pot with a clean thin dish towel or a double layer of cheesecloth and steam over an inch of simmering water.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use jasmine rice for mango sticky rice?

Not with a good result. Jasmine is long-grain and high in amylose, so it cooks into separate fluffy grains and will never turn sticky no matter how you treat it. Sushi rice is a far better supermarket choice. If jasmine is all you have, cook it soft in coconut milk with sugar and salt and serve it as a coconut rice pudding with mango, which is genuinely good, just a different dessert.

Is glutinous rice the same as sticky rice, sweet rice or mochigome?

Yes, all of them are the same variety, and the inconsistent labelling is the single biggest source of confusion here. Sticky rice, sweet rice, glutinous rice, Thai khao niao, Japanese mochigome, Filipino malagkit and Vietnamese gao nep all mean rice that is almost pure amylopectin. Grain length varies a little between them, with Thai bags usually long-grain and Japanese ones short and round, which changes the chew slightly but not what the rice does. If a recipe asks for one and your shop stocks another, buy it and stop looking.

Is glutinous rice gluten-free?

Yes. The word glutinous refers to the glue-like stickiness of the cooked starch and has nothing to do with gluten, which only occurs in wheat, barley and rye. All rice, including sticky rice, is naturally gluten-free. Check the packet for shared-facility warnings if you are cooking for coeliac disease.

Can I use sushi rice instead of sticky rice?

Yes, and it is the best widely available option. Rinse it well, cook it with slightly less water than the packet says, and rest it covered for 10 minutes. It will be sticky and cohesive but softer and creamier than real khao niao, with less of the springy chew. Add a tablespoon of glutinous rice flour or tapioca starch to the cooking water per cup of rice to close the gap.

Do I have to soak sticky rice before cooking it?

For steaming, yes, and it is the step that decides the texture. Four hours minimum, overnight is better, in plenty of cold water. Unsoaked sticky rice steams unevenly and comes out with hard centres and a chalky bite. If you are cooking it in a pot with measured water instead of steaming it, a shorter 30 minute soak is enough.

Can I just use regular rice and skip the sticky rice?

For a savoury meal, absolutely, and jasmine rice with Thai food is perfectly correct in most of the country. For mango sticky rice the sticky texture is the dish, so if you cannot get it, make coconut rice pudding with mango instead and call it what it is. It is a good dessert and nobody will be disappointed unless you promise them khao niao mamuang.

Related substitutes

More grains & starches substitutes

Glutinous Rice substitute

Other glutinous rice substitutes

2Sushi rice or other short-grain Japonica (Calrose, koshihikari)

3Arborio or other risotto rice

4Sushi rice with glutinous rice flour or tapioca starch added

5Black glutinous rice (khao niao dam) blended with white short-grain

6Jasmine or other long-grain rice