How Much Rice Per Person and Cooking It Right for Two

We used to make rice by eye, which meant a pan of mush one night and half a bowl each the next, plus a sad tub of leftovers nobody wanted. Working out how much rice per person you actually need, and how to cook that small amount properly, fixed both problems in about a week.

Cooking for two is awkward for rice. Packet instructions are written for four or more, small amounts behave differently in the pan, and leftover rice comes with real food safety rules. This is the method we now use most weeknights, with the weights, ratios and timings that work for us.

How much rice per person, by weight

Weigh it dry. Cups and mugs vary too much, and a heaped mug can hold half as much again as a level one.

How you are serving it	Dry rice per person	For two	Roughly cooked
Side with a curry or stew	65 to 75 g	130 to 150 g	about 400 to 450 g
Main part of the meal, like a stir fry	90 to 100 g	180 to 200 g	about 550 to 600 g
Rice salad or stuffing	50 g	100 g	about 300 g
Rice pudding	35 to 40 g	75 g	creamy, not counted

White rice roughly triples in weight as it cooks. So 75 g of dry basmati ends up around 220 to 230 g on the plate, which is a normal side portion for an adult. If one of you is training for a run or simply always hungry, give that person the larger amount rather than cooking extra for both.

Our default on a Tuesday is 150 g of basmati for a curry for two. It comes out with almost nothing left.

Water ratios that work for small amounts

These are by volume, after rinsing. We use a small measuring jug for both rice and water so the ratio holds.

Basmati: 1 part rice to 1.5 parts water, simmer covered 10 minutes, rest 10 minutes.
Jasmine: 1 to 1.25, simmer 12 minutes, rest 10.
Long grain white: 1 to 1.75, simmer 15 minutes, rest 5 to 10.
Brown rice: 1 to 2.25, simmer 25 to 30 minutes, rest 10.
Sushi or short grain: 1 to 1.1, simmer 12 minutes, rest 10.

For 150 g of basmati, that works out to around 180 ml of rice and 270 ml of water. A pinch of salt and a teaspoon of butter or oil is optional, but it does help the grains separate.

The counter-take: the packet ratio is wrong for two

The common advice is to follow the packet, which for long grain rice is often 1 part rice to 2 parts water. For a family-sized pot, that is fine. For two portions, it usually gives you soggy rice.

The reason is evaporation. A small amount of rice in a pan loses less water in absolute terms than a large batch, especially with a tight lid and a low simmer. The packet ratio allows for steam a big pot loses. A small pot keeps it. We cut the water by around 15 to 20 percent for two portions and stopped getting a wet layer at the bottom.

Pan size matters for the same reason. Use the smallest pan with a lid that fits. In a wide pan, 150 g of rice sits in a thin layer, the water boils off unevenly and the edges catch. Our 16 cm pan is the one we reach for, and it was one of the cheap buys we listed in the small kitchen tools worth the counter space for two.

Our step by step method for two

Weigh 150 g of rice into a sieve and rinse under the cold tap for about 30 seconds, swirling with your fingers, until the water runs mostly clear.
Tip it into a small pan with the measured water and a pinch of salt.
Bring to the boil uncovered, then stir once to unstick anything from the base.
Turn the heat to its lowest setting, put the lid on and set a timer. Do not lift the lid.
When the timer goes, take the pan off the heat and leave it covered to steam for 10 minutes.
Fluff with a fork and serve.

If you own a rice cooker, the same weights apply, but follow the cooker's own water lines rather than our ratios. Many small cookers struggle below two cups, so for 150 g we find the pan more reliable anyway. A microwave rice dish also works, though we had more uneven results with basmati.

Total time is around 25 minutes, most of it hands-off. We start the rice first and cook everything else while it simmers.

Leftover rice and the 24 hour rule

Rice is one of the foods we are careful with. Uncooked rice can carry spores of a bacterium called Bacillus cereus that survive cooking. If cooked rice sits warm for too long, those spores can grow and produce toxins that reheating will not destroy.

Our rules, based on the UK food safety advice:

Cool leftover rice quickly and get it into the fridge within an hour. Spreading it on a plate helps.
Eat it within 24 hours.
Reheat it only once, until it is steaming hot all the way through.
If it has sat out on the hob all evening, bin it.

Rice also freezes well. We portion cooled rice into flat freezer bags of about 200 g, which is one portion each, and use them within a month. They reheat in the microwave in around three minutes with a splash of water. More on the habits that make that work is in our notes on simple freezer habits that save our weeknight dinners.

If you are trying to cut food waste in general, measuring rice is one of the easiest wins. We go through the rest in cooking for two without wasting half the groceries.

Frequently asked questions

How much rice do I need for 2 people?

For a side dish, 130 to 150 g of dry rice is enough for two adults. If rice is the main part of the meal, use 180 to 200 g. That gives you roughly 400 to 600 g of cooked rice.

Is 100 g of rice too much for one person?

Not if rice is the bulk of the meal, such as a stir fry or rice bowl. As a side to a curry or stew, 100 g dry is generous, and most people are happy with 65 to 75 g.

Do I need to rinse rice before cooking?

For basmati and jasmine, rinsing removes surface starch and gives you separate, fluffy grains. Skip it for risotto or rice pudding, where you want that starch to make the dish creamy.