Red Rice substitute

Best substitute

Brown rice

Use the same amount as the red rice you are replacing

Best for pilafs

Close match

Brown rice is the practical substitute for all of them at 1:1, since it has the same intact bran giving the same nutty flavor and firm chew, just in tan instead of red. Black forbidden rice is the closest match for chew and drama if you do not mind a purple pot. The important catch is timing: Bhutanese red rice is semi-milled and cooks in about 20 minutes, so if you swap in brown rice you must let it go a full 40 to 45.

Other red rice substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Black rice (forbidden rice)
Close match
Use the same amount
Whole grain rice with a deep purple-black bran, sold as forbidden rice or Chinese black rice.
What changes
Best for
grain salads, pilafs, showy side dishes, porridge and puddings
The best match for texture on this list, with the same substantial bran chew and grains that stay separate. It is slightly sweeter than red rice, almost berry-like, and its pigment bleeds heavily, so it will stain everything in the pot a violet-purple. If the visual was the reason the recipe called for red rice, this delivers the same drama in a different color. Cooks in about 30 to 35 minutes.
3Wild rice or a wild rice blend
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount
The seed of an aquatic grass rather than true rice, long, dark and very firm, often sold blended with brown and red rices.
What changes
Best for
pilafs, stuffings, grain salads, soups
Much stronger flavored than red rice, distinctly grassy and tea-like, and firmer to the point of being almost crunchy at the tips where the grains split. Wonderful in a pilaf or a stuffing, too assertive if red rice was meant to be a quiet base. Needs 45 to 55 minutes. A wild rice blend is the more balanced choice, since the brown rice in the bag softens the effect.
4Brown basmati or brown jasmine rice
Different taste
Use the same amount
Aromatic long-grain rices with the bran intact.
What changes
Best for
pilafs, curries and stews, grain bowls, side dishes
A good stand-in for Thai red cargo rice or matta rice in a South or Southeast Asian meal, since it keeps the whole grain chew and the separate long grains. The difference is aroma: these bring a clear floral or popcorn perfume that plain red rice does not have, which can be lovely or can fight a delicately seasoned dish. Cook 35 to 40 minutes.
5Wehani or Colusari red rice
Close match
Use the same amount
American-grown red-bran rice varieties, often stocked alongside specialty rices.
What changes
Best for
pilafs, grain salads, side dishes
If the shop has any of these, take them, since they are red rice by another name and need no adjustment beyond checking the package time, usually 40 to 45 minutes. Wehani is a little more aromatic than Bhutanese red, with a faint basmati-like scent, and its grains split open more as they cook so the finished dish looks shaggier.
6Red quinoa
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by volume
Small reddish-brown quinoa seeds, naturally gluten-free and quick-cooking.
What changes
Best for
grain salads, grain bowls, quick weeknight sides
Reach for this when what you needed was the color and a bit of nutty bite in a cold salad and you have 15 minutes rather than 45. It is not rice: the seeds are tiny, they pop rather than chew, and the flavor is grassier with a slight bitterness. It will not stand in for red rice as a bed under a stew, where you want distinct grains with body.

What is Red Rice?

Red Rice is Red rice is any rice whose bran layer is naturally russet rather than brown, and the name covers several distinct grains, including short-grain Bhutanese red rice, chewy French Camargue red rice, long-grain Thai red cargo rice and the parboiled matta rice of Kerala.

Cooking tips

Check which red rice your recipe means before you adjust anything, because the cooking times are not close. Bhutanese red rice is partly milled and is soft in about 20 minutes. Thai red cargo rice takes 35 to 40. Camargue red and Kerala matta take 40 to 45. A substitution that ignores this is the usual reason a batch comes out either crunchy or blown out.
Cook whole grain red rice and its substitutes with excess water and drain, like pasta, rather than by strict absorption. The bran makes absorption timing unpredictable, and draining also washes off pigment and surface starch so the grains stay separate.
Salt near the end, not the beginning. Salt in the water slows how quickly a bran layer hydrates, so a heavily salted pot can leave you simmering 15 minutes longer than the package says.
Red rice bleeds. The bran pigment will tint stock, dressing and anything else in the pot a pink-brown, which is fine in a pilaf and unwelcome if you were planning a pale sauce. Brown rice does not do this, which is one small argument in its favor.
Bhutanese red rice is the one red rice that goes slightly soft and sticky, closer to a Japanese rice than a chewy grain. If you are substituting for it, short-grain brown rice is a much better match than long-grain, which will stay stubbornly separate.

Frequently asked questions

Is red rice the same as brown rice?

They are the same idea in a different color. Both are whole grain rices with the bran layer left on, which is what gives them their nutty flavor, chew and longer cooking time. The pigment in red rice bran is different, and some varieties are also partly milled, so they cook faster. For cooking purposes brown rice is the closest common substitute; the main thing you sacrifice is the color.

Can I use white rice instead of red rice?

You can eat the result, but it is a genuinely poor substitute, and this is one of the cases where honesty is more useful than a ratio. Everything red rice contributes, the nutty and mineral flavor, the firm chew that survives a dressing, the russet color, comes from the bran layer that white rice has had polished off. White rice will be soft, plain and pale. If it is all you have, cook it well seasoned and treat the dish as a different dish rather than expecting a match.

Can I just leave it out?

Not usually, because rice is the base rather than a seasoning. The exception is a mixed grain salad where red rice is one of several components, in which case you can simply use more of the others. Otherwise you need some grain in the slot, and among the options here brown rice is the swap that changes the dish the least.

Do Bhutanese, Camargue, Thai and matta red rice substitute for each other?

Yes, and it is usually the easiest fix, but adjust the timing and note the grain shape. Bhutanese red is short-grain and gets soft and slightly clingy in about 20 minutes. Camargue red is chewy and stays separate over 40 to 45 minutes. Thai red cargo is long-grain and needs 35 to 40. Kerala matta is parboiled and coarse with a distinctly earthy flavor of its own. Any of them will make a good dish; just taste rather than trusting the original recipe's clock.

What job is red rice doing in a dish?

Three things at once, and it helps to know which one you actually need. It provides the starch and bulk of the meal. Its bran gives a nutty, earthy flavor and a firm chew that holds up under dressings and reheating, which is why it turns up in grain salads. And it provides color, a russet backdrop that makes a plate look like something. If you only need the first two, brown rice is essentially a free swap. If you need the third, black rice or red quinoa gets you closer.

Related substitutes

More grains & starches substitutes

Red Rice substitute

Other red rice substitutes

2Black rice (forbidden rice)

3Wild rice or a wild rice blend

4Brown basmati or brown jasmine rice

5Wehani or Colusari red rice

6Red quinoa