Easy Oven-Baked Rice for a Crowd
Oven-baked rice is the easiest way to make a lot of rice for serving a crowd of 25, 50, or even 100 people or more. This is a simple, basic recipe on which you can build your meal. Make and serve straight away for a hot fluffy rice side dish, add seasonings and ingredients to ramp up the flavor, or make in advance to then make stir-fry or hibachi rice later. The sky is the limit for making delicious fluffy rice no matter how many you are serving.
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Why oven baking rice is best
If you have a large rice cooker, then congratulations. My rice cooker at home makes 2 cups of rice. So, if I’m making rice for 50 people, my rice cooker isn’t going to cut it. My cooker also takes a long time and when I’m trying to knock out a lot of food, it is just not suited for the task.
Then there is the stove top. and cooking rice on the stove works well for many people. I am not one of those people. No, I either burn it dry, or I end up with wet rice, every single time.
Oven-baked rice is best for cooking a LOT of rice (in the absence of an industrial rice cooker). We just dump the rice and salt into a hotel pan with some boiling water, cover with foil, then bake. That’s it.
The math is easy, and the method is easy. We are then free to work on other dishes and simply have to wait for the timer to go off. Then fluff. When cooking for a crowd, oven baking rice is the best.
About the ingredients
Rice, water, and kosher salt. That’s all there is here.
Now, about the salt: use kosher salt. Kosher salt tastes different than table salt, and table salt, especially iodized table salt, does not taste good. So, in a recipe like this where the salt is so important, use kosher salt. Also, bland rice is not good rice – so, use kosher salt and enough of it to the point where you can taste it.
How much rice to serve a crowd
Five pounds of uncooked rice feeds 50 people; 10 pounds feeds 100. For every 10 people you are serving, use 1 lb uncooked rice, 4 cups water, and 2 teaspoons kosher salt. A serving size is 1/2 cup cooked rice.
Serving suggestions and additions
This is where you can have fun! There are so many ways to change up plain rice to make it fit perfectly with your main course. Here are some things I have done. No matter how you make your rice, always finish with a sprinkling of fresh herb like parsley (this is a golden rule!).
- Chile rice: cook the rice with chopped fire-roasted green chiles. Once cooked, season to taste with garlic powder and black pepper, and top with fresh cilantro or flat-leaf parsley.
- Cilantro lime rice: cook the rice as per the recipe card, then once cooked, add fresh lime zest, lime juice, garlic powder (to taste) and chopped fresh cilantro.
- Hibachi rice: once cooked, allow the rice to cool completely (this can be overnight in the refrigerator). Then cook the rice with vegetables, egg, seasonings, and teriyaki sauce on the griddle or in a wok to make fried rice. Don’t forget to finish with a drizzle of yum yum sauce!
- Confetti rice: add diced carrots, corn, and peas (thaw from frozen) for a kid-friendly confetti rice.
- Middle eastern rice: add turmeric (2 tsp per 1 lb rice) with the salt to cook the rice. Then add golden raisins and toasted pine nuts or slivered almonds.
- Pilaf: replace half of the water with chicken stock to cook. Then once cooked, add slivered almonds and fresh herbs.
Tips
It is very important to start with boiling water. Not warm, not hot from the tap… boiling water. This is what makes this technique work.
Because of the above, this recipe means we are slinging large amounts of boiling water. So, we have to be very careful pouring the water into the pans, and we have to be very careful moving the pans into the oven to cook.
Wide foil makes covering hotel pans much easier. It doesn’t have to be heavy duty foil, but wide foil means you can cover the pan in a single piece.
FAQs
How can I keep rice warm after cooking?
Once cooked, keep rice covered in a 150F oven to keep warm.
Can rice be cooked in advance and then reheated?
Unfortunately, no. Unless you are going to stir-fry or griddle-cook, Hibachi-style rice (in which case, yes, we do want to make the rice in advance so it can cool off and not get sticky). But otherwise, rice is best served fresh.
I’m making less than 5 lbs rice. What pan should I use?
5 lbs of rice will FILL a hotel pan once cooked, so if cooking even 2-1/2 lbs rice, I would still use a hotel pan. Under that, switch to a 13×9-sized pan or a lasagna pan.
Oven-baked rice is perfect to serve with my Mojo Pulled Chicken. Add veggies, toppings (green onion, salsa, cheese, sour cream), salad, and dessert, and you’ve got dinner done for a crowd.
Easy Oven-Baked Rice for a Crowd
Equipment
Ingredients
- 5 lbs long-grain white rice
- 3 Tbsp kosher salt
- 20 cups boiling water
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350℉.
- Layer the rice in a hotel pan. Sprinkle the salt over the rice.
- Carefully pour the boiling water over the rice and salt. Use a spoon to stir the rice and ensure it is in a single layer.
- Cover pan tightly with foil.
- Bake at 350℉ for 45 minutes.
- Lift a corner of the foil to check for doneness of the rice. Be careful of the steam that will come out once the foil is lifted.
- Once rice is done, remove from the oven. Alternatively, keep rice warm, covered, in a 150℉ degree oven.
Making rice in the oven is the easiest ever!
How pounds of rice per pan max? Ie Im cooking for 300 how many pans do I need to cook rice.
Hi Keith, 5lbs rice will max fill a hotel pan once cooked. So for 300, it’s 6 pans with 5lbs rice each.
Thank you for this. I was having trouble finding this information online until I found your site. I split this recipe in half and used two shallow hotel pans that are about 2.5″ deep. I guess a standard hotel pan is 4″ deep. Anyway, it was the perfect amount for me to add a seafood curry to on top of the rice and still serve out of the same hotel pan.