Parboiled Rice substitute

Best substitute

Basmati Rice

Use the same amount but use about 1 ½ cups liquid per cup of rice instead of 2 ¼ as the parboiled rice you are replacing

Best for jollof rice

Different taste

The closest behavioural match. Basmati is a very long, low-starch grain that dries out and separates as it cooks, which is exactly the property people want from converted rice. It cooks faster, in about fifteen minutes rather than twenty-five, and it brings a distinct nutty, floral aroma. In jollof that aroma is welcome and often traditional. In Cajun jambalaya it reads slightly perfumed and unfamiliar, though not unpleasant.

Other parboiled rice substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Long-Grain White Rice
Different texture
Use the same amount using about 1 ½ to 1 ¾ cups liquid per cup of rice instead of 2 ¼
The most available substitute and a perfectly good one with two adjustments.
What changes
It absorbs less liquid and cooks faster, so use less stock and check at eighteen minutes. The real difference is texture: long-grain white rice releases surface starch, so a finished jambalaya is softer and a bit clumpier, with grains that cling in small clusters rather than standing entirely apart.
Best for
jambalaya, jollof rice, dirty rice, rice-cooker recipes, casseroles
Rinse it in a few changes of cold water until they run nearly clear, which washes off the loose starch and gets you most of the way to separate grains. Then leave it alone. Every stir scrapes starch off the grains and glues the pot together.
3Brown Long-Grain Rice
Different taste
Use the same amount with about 2 ¼ cups liquid per cup and 40 to 50 minutes
An excellent structural match that few people think of.
What changes
The intact bran layer keeps every grain firmly separate and it holds its shape through long simmering, stirring and reheating better than converted rice does. The trade-off is flavour and time: it tastes distinctly nutty and whole-grain, chews noticeably firmer, and needs roughly twice the cooking time.
Best for
rice salads, grain bowls, meal-prep rice held for days, jollof if you accept a nuttier result
The extra forty minutes is the problem in a one-pot dish like jambalaya, where the meat and vegetables will overcook. Either cook the brown rice separately and combine, or add a good deal more stock and accept a long simmer.
4Parboiled Brown Rice
Different taste
Use the same amount same liquid, about 30 minutes
If your shop has it, this is the nearest relative on the shelf: the same steaming-in-the-husk process applied to rice that keeps its bran.
What changes
It behaves almost identically to converted white rice in terms of separate grains and generous liquid absorption, while tasting nuttier and chewing firmer.
Best for
jambalaya, jollof rice, rice-cooker recipes, anything held warm on a buffet
It is often sold under the same brand as converted white rice, in a brown-package version. Cook time sits between white converted rice and ordinary brown rice.
5Jasmine Rice (use with caution)
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount using only about 1 ¼ cups liquid per cup of rice
Being straightforward: this is the weakest choice for the dishes that specify converted rice.
What changes
Jasmine is a soft, moist, aromatic long grain bred to be slightly sticky and tender, so in a wet, long-simmered jambalaya or jollof it tends to break down into something closer to a savoury rice porridge. Fine as plain rice under a curry, risky as the structural rice in a one-pot dish.
Best for
plain steamed rice, stir-fries, serving alongside rather than cooking within a stew
If it is all you have, cut the liquid hard, rinse thoroughly, cook covered and undisturbed, and take it off the heat two minutes early to rest. Consider cooking it separately and folding it into the finished jambalaya rather than simmering it in the pot.
6Day-Old Cooked Rice
Close match
Use About 3 cups cooked rice for every cup of dry converted rice
Not a substitute for a one-pot recipe where the rice must absorb the cooking liquid, but the right answer for fried rice, rice salads and reheated dishes, where all you actually want is firm separate grains.
What changes
Refrigerating cooked rice overnight firms the starch and dries the surface, which mimics the separateness converted rice is prized for.
Best for
fried rice, rice salads, stuffed vegetables, adding to a finished dish
Cool cooked rice quickly and refrigerate it within an hour, keep it no more than a day or two, and reheat it until piping hot all the way through. Rice left standing at room temperature is a genuine food-safety risk, so do not leave a warm pot out overnight.

What is Parboiled Rice?

Parboiled Rice is Parboiled rice, sold in the United States as converted rice and in Britain as easy-cook rice, is rice that was soaked and steamed while still inside its husk before being milled, which sets the starch inside each grain so it cooks firm and separate.

Cooking tips

The reason converted rice behaves the way it does: steaming the grain inside its husk pushes some nutrients from the bran into the starchy centre and gelatinises the starch, then drying re-hardens it. That hardened starch is why the grains stay separate, tolerate stirring and hold on a steam table without turning to paste, and also why the rice needs more water, about two and a quarter cups per cup, and about twenty-five minutes.
Any substitute that is not parboiled will absorb less liquid, so reduce the recipe's water or stock by roughly a quarter cup for every cup of rice you swap. Converting a jambalaya recipe without doing this is the single most common way to end up with soup.
Rinsing is the cheapest way to make ordinary rice act like converted rice. Swirl it in cold water and pour off the cloudy water three or four times until it runs nearly clear. That loose surface starch is what makes grains stick to each other, and washing it away buys you most of the separateness you are missing.
Stop stirring. Converted rice forgives a spoon; long-grain and basmati do not. Once the lid is on, leave it completely alone until the time is up, then rest it off the heat for ten minutes before fluffing with a fork rather than a spoon, which crushes fewer grains.
If you swap in a faster-cooking rice for a one-pot dish, add it later than the recipe says. In jambalaya, brown the meat and vegetables and build the liquid first, then add basmati or long-grain about eighteen to twenty minutes before you want to eat, rather than at the twenty-five-minute mark converted rice would need.

Frequently asked questions

Is parboiled rice the same as instant rice?

No. Parboiled rice is steamed inside its husk before milling and then sold raw, so it still needs about twenty-five minutes of cooking and plenty of liquid. Instant or minute rice is cooked all the way through and then dehydrated, so it rehydrates in around five minutes. They are the opposite ends of the convenience scale, and swapping one for the other without changing time and liquid will either leave you with crunchy rice or with mush.

Why do jambalaya and jollof recipes call for converted rice?

Because both dishes cook the rice in a large volume of seasoned liquid alongside meat and vegetables, often with some stirring, and ordinary rice tends to break down under those conditions and go gluey. Converted rice has pre-set starch, so it drinks up a lot of stock while every grain stays firm and separate, which is exactly the look and feel both dishes are judged on. It also holds well after cooking, which matters for a dish made in a big pot and served over an hour or two.

Can I use basmati instead of parboiled rice for jollof?

Yes, and in many Nigerian and Ghanaian kitchens long-grain or basmati is the normal choice, so you are in good company. The important change is liquid: basmati needs about a cup and a half per cup of rice, not the two and a quarter cups converted rice takes, so measure the tomato-pepper base accordingly or the pot will be wet. Rinse the basmati well, add it to the reduced stew base, cover tightly and steam it undisturbed. Expect a slightly softer grain and a more aromatic pot than converted rice gives.

Can I just leave the rice out of a rice dish?

Not in a dish like jambalaya or jollof, where the rice is the body of the plate and, more practically, the thing absorbing all the liquid you built. Removing it leaves you with a very loose stew. What you can do is replace its absorbing role with another starch: orzo or another small pasta works in a pinch and cooks in nine minutes, cauliflower rice works for low-carb versions provided you cut the added liquid dramatically and stir it in at the end, and cubed potato absorbs liquid and thickens in a similar way.

Is parboiled rice healthier than regular white rice?

It retains somewhat more of the B vitamins, notably thiamine and niacin, than standard white rice, because the steaming step drives some nutrients from the bran into the endosperm before the bran is milled away. It also tends to have a slightly lower glycaemic response than soft white rice because of its firmer starch structure. It is still a refined grain, though, and brown rice retains more fibre than either. The practical reason to buy it remains its cooking behaviour rather than its nutrition.

Related substitutes

More grains & starches substitutes

Parboiled Rice substitute

Other parboiled rice substitutes

2Long-Grain White Rice

3Brown Long-Grain Rice

4Parboiled Brown Rice

5Jasmine Rice (use with caution)

6Day-Old Cooked Rice