How Much Is a Serving of Rice? | In Ounces (With Photos)

Many cooks just instinctively know how much rice is needed for the number of people who will eat the meal he or she is preparing. But, if you haven’t learned to “eyeball” the amount needed, here is the information you need to determine how much is in a serving of rice.

Most people would consider 1 serving of rice to be about 1 cup of cooked rice. This would be equal to 8.3 ounces of cooked rice. A serving of rice as a side dish will be about 4.2 ounces or 1/2 cup of cooked rice.

The amount of dry rice that makes a serving can vary by type. For your convenience, I have also included more detailed information below.

Rice Per Regular Serving Statistics

Each type of rice has different measurements. You can expect that each rice type will need different amounts of dried rice to produce 1 serving of cooked rice (8.3 ounces).

The table below can be used to help you calculate the amount of dry rice needed to produce a certain amount of cooked rice. It also indicates the number of calories in a serving of each kind of rice.

Ounces of Dry Rice in a Serving of Cooked Rice:

Type	Dry Rice Needed to Make 8.3 Cooked Ounces	Calories Per 8.3 Oz Serving
White long grain	2.77 ounces	205
White medium	3.13 ounces	242
White instant	4 ounces	191
Brown	2.4 ounces	215
Instant Brown	4 ounces	233
Wild Rice	2.4 ounces	166

Rice Per Side Serving Statistics

When planning a rice side dish to go along with your main dish, you will need about 1/2 the amount of rice used in a full serving. This works out to roughly 1/2 cup or 4.2 ounces of cooked rice. Here is another helpful table.

Ounces of Dry Rice in a Side Serving of Cooked Rice:

Type	Dry Rice Needed to Make 4.2 Cooked Ounces	Calories Per 4.2 Oz Serving
White long grain	1.4 ounces	102.5
White medium	1.6 ounces	121
White instant	2 ounces	95.5
Brown	1.2 ounces	107.5
Instant Brown	2 ounces	116.5
Wild Rice	1.2 ounces	83

In this video, I explain an easy-to-remember way of figuring out rice servings:

How Many Calories in 1 Ounce of Rice?

The number of calories in rice will depend on the kind of rice being examined. This information can be found in the following table.

Calories per Ounce of Cooked Rice:

Type	Calories Per Ounce
White long grain	24
White medium	29
White instant	23
Brown	26
Instant Brown	28
Wild Rice	20
Fried Rice	40

More Helpful Info: The volume cooked rice takes up makes a big difference in how many calories actually are in each dry ounce. Check out my article on the topic:

• How Many Cups of Cooked Rice Are in a Pound of Uncooked Rice?

Is Rice Healthy?

Rice is part of a healthy diet. As a matter of fact, more than half the people on the planet get 50% of their daily calorie needs by consuming rice. Even so, since rice is high in carbohydrates, most nutritionists recommend you only consume about 1 cup per meal. Rice should be accompanied by meats and vegetables for a well-rounded diet.

Choose Brown Rice

Brown rice is healthier than white rice because its bran layer remains intact, while white rice has had its bran layer polished off during processing. This layer provides many health benefits. Brown rice can help people with type 2 diabetes control their blood sugar better and has a lower glycemic index number (55) than white rice (64).

With a higher glycemic index number, white rice is more likely to spike a type two diabetic’s blood sugar. It is important to note that high consumption of white rice has been linked to an increased risk of getting type 2 diabetes.

Additionally, brown rice contains nutrients and minerals that can help your body transport oxygen to body cells and contains more fiber than most processed foods. Fiber works to lower your cholesterol and reduce your chance of developing heart disease.

In addition to lowering your risk of heart disease, brown rice can help lower your risk of developing cancer. It contains 3 types of phenolics, antioxidants found in plants, in its bran layer. These antioxidants work to keep free radicals from damaging normal cells. In turn, this helps to lower your risk of developing cancer.

Consuming rice can help you maintain a healthy body weight.

• Rice is satisfying- The fiber found in rice can make you feel fuller. When you feel full, you are less likely to consume additional calories.
• Brown rice is a whole grain- Whole grains lower your risk of becoming obese.

I think we can all agree that rice is a popular and nutritious part of daily meals around the world, and according to most sources, including the U. S. Department of Agriculture, ½ cup of rice is the recommended portion size per person for side dishes and 1 cup per person as part of the main course.

But, we should certainly also consider the people we are cooking for when planning the amount to prepare. If our children are very small and are not big eaters, they would more than likely eat smaller portions than teenagers involved in sports and prone to be heavy eaters. I mean, it makes sense. A very large person will almost surely eat more than a very small person.

Conclusion

Most Southern cooks will tell you that the basis for a large number of their meals includes rice of some kind, steak with rice and gravy; dumplings over rice; fried chicken with rice and gravy; rice dressing; chicken & wild rice casserole, you get the picture.

Just keep in mind that the information in this article is only a general guide for your use until you become familiar with the eating habits of the people you most often cook for. I hope this helps, and thanks for stopping by!

Jelly Grandma

For more, don’t miss Do You Cover Rice When Cooking? (I Tested Both Methods).