Short-grain white rice substitutes
Short-grain white rice substitutes — 7 options, ranked, with the exact amount
Use Sushi rice or Japanese short-grain rice
Same amount as the short-grain white rice
With about 1 ¼ cups water per cup of rice
Any Japanese-style rice or Calrose medium-grain rice swaps 1:1 and is the closest match. For rice pudding, arborio is genuinely excellent and often creamier than short-grain. For onigiri, poke bowls or anything that needs the rice to hold together, sushi rice from the packet is the same grain and works well. The reason recipes specify short-grain is stickiness: the cling is the function, holding a rice ball together, thickening a pudding, and giving that soft moist bite, so a long-grain rice will not do the job no matter how you cook it.
- Verdict —
- Works
- Best for —
- plain steamed rice
Updated 19 Aug 2026 · no sponsored swaps
Every option, one card
Ranked| # | Substitute | Instead of short-grain white rice | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sushi rice or Japanese short-grain riceplain steamed rice | Same amountWith about 1 ¼ cups water per cup of riceWorks | Works |
| 2 | Calrose or other medium-grain riceonigiri | Same amountWith about 1 1/3 cups water per cup of riceWorks | Works |
| 3 | Arborio or carnaroli ricerice pudding | Same amountWith about 1 ½ cups liquid per cup of riceTweak it | Tweak it |
| 4 | Pudding ricebaked rice pudding | Same amountWorks | Works |
| 5 | Short-grain or medium-grain brown ricebrown rice bowls | Same amountWith about 2 cups water per cup and 40 to 45 minutesYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 6 | Glutinous or sweet rice (specific uses only)sticky rice desserts | Same amountBut soak and steam rather than boilYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 7 | Jasmine rice (least-bad long-grain option)poke bowls | Same amountWith about 1 ½ cups water per cup of riceYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
Sushi rice or Japanese short-grain rice
similar taste and texture
This is the same product under a marketing name, so it is a direct substitute rather than an approximation. Bags labelled sushi rice, or varieties like koshihikari and akitakomachi, are short-grain white rice full stop. The confusion is that sushi rice as a finished dish means this rice seasoned with vinegar, sugar and salt, but the raw grain in the bag has nothing added to it.
- Best for
- plain steamed rice, onigiri, sushi, poke bowls, rice pudding, donburi
Nothing to adjust at all. If you want plain rice rather than sushi rice, simply skip the vinegar seasoning step.
Calrose or other medium-grain rice
similar taste and texture
The most widely available substitute and a very close one. Calrose is a California medium grain bred from Japanese stock, so it cooks moist and cohesive and behaves almost identically in a rice cooker. It is marginally less sticky than true short-grain, so a rice ball made with it will hold but needs a slightly firmer squeeze, and a pudding will be a touch less thick.
- Best for
- onigiri, poke bowls, rice pudding, plain steamed rice, stuffed vegetables
Also sold plainly as medium-grain rice, or in Spanish-language shops as arroz de grano medio. Rinse it well and let it rest covered for ten minutes after cooking.
Arborio or carnaroli rice
similar taste, different texture
For rice pudding this is arguably better than short-grain rice, not just an acceptable stand-in, because arborio is exceptionally high in the soluble starch that thickens the milk, so the pudding turns thick and glossy without any cream. For savoury sticky rice uses it is weaker: risotto rices are bred to keep a firm, chalky core, so the grains never go fully soft and a rice ball made with arborio has a slightly gritty centre.
- Best for
- rice pudding, creamy savoury rice, arroz con leche, risotto-style dishes
Never rinse arborio when you want creaminess: the surface starch is exactly the ingredient doing the work. Stir a pudding often and expect it to thicken considerably as it cools.
Pudding rice
similar taste and texture
In Britain and Ireland, pudding rice is simply short-grain white rice sold for the specific purpose, so this is another same-product substitute. It is usually a slightly chalkier, more absorbent short grain than Japanese rice, which is ideal for slow-baked milk puddings and only fractionally less good for a bowl of plain steamed rice.
- Best for
- baked rice pudding, creamed rice, plain steamed rice
Works both ways. If a recipe calls for pudding rice, any short-grain or Japanese rice will do, and vice versa.
Short-grain or medium-grain brown rice
different taste and texture
The whole-grain version, and the closest brown rice comes to clinging together, because short-grain brown does clump more than long-grain brown does. Still, the bran layer physically separates the grains and blocks a lot of the starch from doing its sticky work, so it will hold a rough shape but not a neat onigiri. Flavour is nutty and definite, texture is chewy, and the colour is tan rather than white.
- Best for
- brown rice bowls, loose onigiri wrapped in nori, healthier rice pudding, meal prep
Needs roughly twice the cook time and more water. For rice balls, mix in a spoonful of cooked white short-grain rice or a little mashed cooked rice as a binder, and press firmly while the rice is still hot.
Glutinous or sweet rice (specific uses only)
different taste and texture
Much stickier than short-grain rice, and worth being precise about. Glutinous rice, also called sweet rice or mochigome, is nearly all amylopectin, so it cooks into a dense, chewy, genuinely glue-like mass. That is good for mango sticky rice, zongzi or mochi and wrong for a bowl of plain rice next to a piece of fish, where it will be heavy and gummy.
- Best for
- sticky rice desserts, sticky rice with mango, dumpling fillings, as a binder mixed into other rice
Traditionally soaked for several hours and then steamed rather than simmered, since boiling turns it to paste. Despite the name it contains no gluten. A tablespoon or two mixed into medium-grain rice is a useful trick when you need extra stickiness for rice balls.
Jasmine rice (least-bad long-grain option)
different taste and texture
Said plainly: there is no good long-grain substitute for short-grain rice, and jasmine is simply the least bad, because it is the softest and moistest of the long grains. Cooked with extra water and barely rinsed it becomes tender and slightly clingy, which is enough for a poke bowl or a rice bowl eaten with a spoon. It will not hold an onigiri together, and in a pudding it stays comparatively thin because it has much less starch to give up.
- Best for
- poke bowls, rice bowls, a soft bowl of rice when nothing else is available
Rinse only once or twice instead of until clear, since here you want to keep some of the surface starch. Use slightly more water than usual and rest it covered for a full ten minutes. For rice balls, mash a couple of tablespoons of the cooked rice into a paste and mix it back in to help it bind.
Questions
5 questionsIs short-grain rice the same as sushi rice?
The raw grain, yes. A bag labelled sushi rice is short-grain white rice, and Japanese varieties like koshihikari are exactly what most recipes mean by short-grain rice. The confusion comes from the term being used two ways: sushi rice as a finished preparation means that rice cooked and then seasoned with rice vinegar, sugar and salt while still warm. So if a recipe calls for short-grain rice, a packet of sushi rice is a direct substitute, and you just do not add the vinegar seasoning.
What is the best substitute for short-grain rice in rice pudding?
Arborio, and it is often better than the original. Arborio is bred for risotto, which means it holds a very high proportion of the soluble starch that dissolves into the cooking liquid, so the pudding thickens to a glossy, spoon-coating creaminess with no cream needed. Do not rinse it, and stir it regularly. British pudding rice is another exact match, and Calrose medium grain works well too. The one to avoid is long-grain rice, which simply does not have the starch to thicken the milk and gives you rice sitting in liquid.
Can I use long-grain rice instead of short-grain rice?
For a plain bowl of rice or a poke bowl, yes, with adjustments. For onigiri, sushi or anything that must hold a shape, honestly no. Long-grain rice is low in the sticky starch that makes short-grain rice cohere, so the grains stay separate and a rice ball will crumble in your hand. If you must try, use jasmine, which is the softest long grain, rinse it only once or twice, use a little extra water, and mash a couple of tablespoons of the cooked rice into a paste to mix back in as a binder. Expect a loose result and use a nori wrapper to hold it.
Is short-grain rice the same as glutinous or sweet rice?
No, though both are sticky. Ordinary short-grain white rice is sticky enough to cling and hold a light shape while still eating as distinct grains. Glutinous rice, also sold as sweet rice, mochigome or sticky rice, is almost entirely amylopectin and cooks into a dense, chewy, genuinely adhesive mass used for mango sticky rice, mochi and dumpling wrappers. Swapping glutinous rice into a recipe that wanted short-grain gives you something heavy and gummy. Neither contains gluten, despite the name.
Can I just use whatever rice I have for a poke bowl?
You can, and it will taste fine, but the rice is a bigger part of a poke or donburi bowl than people expect. Short-grain rice gives a moist, slightly sticky base that holds the dressing and the fish against it, so every spoonful comes up as one thing rather than as loose grains sliding away from the topping. Jasmine rice is the best fallback because it is the softest long grain. Basmati is the poorest, since it is bred to be dry and separate and the bowl ends up feeling disconnected.
Tips for substituting short-grain white rice
5 tips- Short-grain rice is a stickiness ingredient, and that is the property to protect when substituting. The cling comes from amylopectin starch, which is why the same rice can hold an onigiri together, thicken a milk pudding without cream, and give sushi rice its body. If a substitute is not sticky, no amount of technique will make it hold a shape.
- Rinse for savoury rice, do not rinse for pudding. For plain steamed rice, onigiri or a poke bowl, rinse in three or four changes of cold water until it runs almost clear, which removes the excess loose starch that would otherwise make the rice gluey rather than pleasantly sticky. For rice pudding, skip rinsing entirely, because that surface starch is what thickens the milk.
- Use less water than you would for long-grain rice. About one and a quarter cups per cup of short-grain rice is right, and after eighteen minutes of very low heat, leave it covered off the heat for a full ten minutes before touching it. That rest is not optional: it is what evens out the moisture between the top and bottom of the pot.
- Never stir short-grain rice while it cooks. Agitation drags starch off the grains into the water and turns sticky rice into paste. The one exception is rice pudding, where constant stirring is exactly what you want because you are deliberately trying to release that starch into the milk.
- For onigiri and rice balls, work with the rice while it is still hot, wet your hands with cold salted water first so nothing sticks, and press firmly two or three times rather than kneading it. Cold rice has retrograded starch and simply will not bind, which is the usual reason a rice ball falls apart.