What can I do with leftover rice?

[Vicki_T]

I have a large serving of cooked brown rice in the fridge, from last night. I know you have to be careful with rice, so it was cooled and put in the fridge quickly. Am I right in thinking I can't reheat it? What simple, cold dishes could I make with it?

[Kindle Mama]

I've always used leftover rice by making fried rice- which is cooked...hmm didn't know there were concerns about reheating rice...

[Aerynne]

I reheat rice all the time.

You can eat it with milk (or your choice of milk sub) and sugar for breakfast (I also like to add cinnamon and vanilla, or use whatever you like in your oatmeal)

I make fried rice a lot- just saute an onion, add rice and some soy sauce and frozen mixed veggies.

You can make a yummy dessert with cooked rice, coconut milk, sweetened condensed milk, and diced peaches and/or mangos. Basically just mix all that stuff together and heat it up (or eat it cold if you want)

You can make stuffing out of it, too.

[crunchymum]

I always make rice pudding with leftover rice...

[Vicki_T]

It's ok to reheat rice then? I wonder why I thought it wasn't :scratch Egg fried rice sounds tasty and simple :)

[Kindle Mama]

It's ok to reheat rice then? I wonder why I thought it wasn't :scratch Egg fried rice sounds tasty and simple :)

Unless you know something we don't :D... :yes on the fried rice, ooh and rice pudding is good too...

[Sundance]

I am curious as to why you have to be careful with rice?? I'm never totally careless, but I sometimes wait a bit after supper before putting it in the fridge, and certainly reheat it and use it in several types of dishes :shrug3, and have probably put THAT back in the fridge, and reheated again....

[PlateauMama]

Yeah, I always use leftover rice for fried rice, or put it in a soup/stew.

Somebody did tell me once that rice goes bad quickly, but I haven't found that to be true at all. :shifty :shrug3

[swimming with sharks]

We're gf here and I OFTEN make a big pot of rice to use for dinner and then in the morning heat it up put butter and brown sugar on it and give it to the kids for breakfast! :tu

[The Tickle Momster]

I was also going to suggest fried rice or rice pudding. :yum

[crunchymum]

I was curious, so I looked it up!

It's true that you could get food poisoning from eating reheated rice. But it's not actually the reheating that's the problem – it's the way the rice has been stored before reheating.

Uncooked rice can contain spores of Bacillus cereus, bacteria that can cause food poisoning. When the rice is cooked, the spores can survive. Then, if the rice is left standing at room temperature, the spores will multiply and may produce toxins (poisons) that cause vomiting or diarrhoea. Reheating the rice won't get rid of these toxins.

So, the longer cooked rice is left at room temperature, the more likely it is that bacteria, or the toxins they produce, could stop the rice being safe to eat.

It's best to serve rice when it has just been cooked. If that isn't possible, cool the rice as quickly as possible (ideally within one hour) and keep it in the fridge for no more than one day until reheating.

Remember that when you reheat any food, you should always check that it's piping hot all the way through, and avoid reheating more than once.

[Vicki_T]

I was curious, so I looked it up!

Thank you, that's interesting - plus it's nice to know I'm not going totally mad :lol My rice was in the fridge within an hour, so I'm looking forward to egg fried rice for tonight's dinner :yum