Most of us grew up on short-grain or long-grain white rice, but as we’ve gotten older, we’ve come to appreciate brown rice for its nutty flavor and, let’s be real, the fiber. But what’s the best brown rice? After two extensive taste tests, we have the answer. And we updated this ranking with a few newbies—including an amazing boil-in-bag brown rice and a brown rice and quinoa blend.
There are many different types of brown rice, each with its own unique flavors and textures, but the overall aesthetic is a chewy texture and a nutty, earthy flavor. But the most important criteria for brown rice is taste and texture. The texture should be chewy yet firm, and the taste should be natural, grassy, and nutty. Brown rice, while not as decadent as starchy white rice, should still have a similar flavor profile.
Of all the brands of brown rice we tried, these were the 12 best brown rice brands.
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- Grain Trust Steamed Brown Rice
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Taste-wise, this wasn’t terribly different from the mid-tier brown rices I tried, but it deserves commendation for its fantastic texture, which was my favorite of the bunch. It was only three minutes in the microwave for a perfectly cooked batch that had the perfect amount of bounce without being crunchy or mushy. Plus, each microwave brown rice pouch contains two servings, so it’s some of the best brown rice brand for a solo dinner (because we all know a single serving isn’t enough). — Hebba Gouda
Credit: Liv Averett / Thrive Market
- Dynasty Brown Jasmine Rice
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Dynasty Brown Jasmine Rice has a pleasantly plain flavor; it’s a blank slate, which may inspire you to add a plethora of ingredients. Naturally, this being a Thai product, I am thinking about fried rice. Cooking this rice and frying it in a wok or hot-as-hell saute pan with some eggs and scallions would be a baller move. Really, this brown rice makes me want to add some fat—like eggs and oil, or some deliciously fatty chicken thighs. Or, go nuts and cook this with some bone broth. The world is yours when it comes to this jasmine brown rice, friend. — Danny Palumbo
Credit: Merc / Instacart
- Nishiki Brown Rice
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This brown rice is starchy like white rice, which gives it a pleasant chewiness. Nishiki rice comes out fluffy but not sticky when cooked, so it’s not the best brown rice brand for sushi. Still, it’s super nutty and has a delightfully chewy texture, almost like faro. I had to soak it for 30 minutes before cooking, but it was well worth it. This is some of the best brown rice for any kind of grain bowl, fried rice, side dishes, or protein-and-vegetable combo plates. While I was holed up in Mythical’s kitchen preparing for this tasting, several staff members walked by and said they buy this rice. So, if you want to shop like a Mythical crew member, it’s definitely the best brown rice for you. — Danny Palumbo
Credit: Merc / Instacart
- Bombay Market Brown Basmati Rice
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The flavor, aroma, and texture of this brown basmati rice is deliciously consistent with most white basmati rice, only better. There’s this really delightful, clean, almost grassy aftertaste that feels like you’re eating something healthy and delicious. Earthy is the dominant flavor here, and it just feels like I’m eating something natural. I took this one home with me. Sometimes, the best tasting brown rice just means clean and simple flavors. — Danny Palumbo
Credit: Merc / Amazon
- Ben’s Original Ready Rice Brown Basmati
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Ben, my man, you’ve done it again! This microwave brown rice pouch has a shocking amount of flavor considering the only additional ingredient is a little bit of canola oil. Plus, it is done in just 90 seconds in the microwave. The rice is aromatic and nutty, but bitter towards the end in a way that’s not at all off-putting. The texture holds up well, so I could definitely see tossing this with some add-ins (frozen peas!) and making a quick-but-delicious dish. Or use it as a base for an equally quick main, like some frozen Indian curry or a pre-seasoned fish fillet. — Hebba Gouda
Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon
- Lundberg Short Grain Brown Rice
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The quality of Lundberg is really great in general, and I like their short grain brown rice the most. The texture is toothsome, but also quite soft, and the taste is fresh and clean. It has the notably grassy, nutty flavor we expect from brown rice. This rice would be great as a side, or you could make it a whole meal as a rice bowl. Plus, it’s high in fiber and magnesium if you’re lacking those things. Short grain rice also tends to be a tad starchier and sweeter, so if you like your brown rice to feel more like a white rice, this is the best brown rice brand for you. — Danny Palumbo
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Carolina Jasmine Brown
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This was actually my first time having brown Jasmine rice, and I was really happy to find that it combined the best of both worlds. It retained the fluffy texture and slightly sweet, floral flavor of jasmine rice, but had the earthiness and depth that I know and love from brown rice. This stuff was more than palatable even after being cooked in a microwave in unsalted water, an insult to rice for which I am so sorry and will never repeat. Forgive me, Carolina Jasmine Brown. Moving forward, I’ll let you shine. — Hebba Gouda
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Seeds of Change Organic Quinoa and Brown Rice with Garlic
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If you’re going somewhere and all you have is a microwave, this is the best brown rice (plus more) for you. It’s the tastiest brown rice I had straight out of the bag, but that’s not fair because it does advertise itself as seasoned while the others sort of knew they were a blank canvas. This is already fully loaded with seasonings, including my top three: garlic, garlic, and more garlic. Even for a flavoring fiend like myself, I’d be entirely comfortable eating this without my personal salt shaker or hot sauce bottle nearby. Of course, I’d never put myself in that position, but I include the ridiculous hypothetical to make the point that this brown rice (and quinoa) offers the most flavor for the least work. — Hebba Gouda
Credit: Liv Averett / Fresh Direct
- Sukoyaka Genmai Brown Rice
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This is my personal favorite brown rice on the list. I’d never had Japanese Genmai rice before, and it completely blew me away. Genmai rice has the sweet, fluffy taste and texture of white rice but with the buttery, earthy notes of brown rice. It’s an amalgamation of all the best parts of both kinds of rice. Sukoyaka is noticeably starchier than the other brown rice we tried. After I soaked it, as I did with all the bagged rice I tasted, per the cooking instructions, it produced the cloudiest water by far. It’s as close as we got to finding the best brown sushi rice. This is the best brown rice to make yaki onigiri (grilled rice balls). Searing it on a hot pan would deepen the nutty flavor. Sukoyaka is super starchy, sweet, earthy, nutty, and delicious. It’s my new favorite rice. I’m so excited to explore all the possibilities with it at home. — Danny Palumbo
Credit: Merc / Amazon
- Success Boil-in-Bag Whole Grain Brown Rice
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Success is right! This aptly named brown rice is boil-in-a-bag, but you can still cook it in salt, seasoning, and broth if you’d like. Though I enjoy the bitterness of most other brown rices, this one actually ended with a very slight lingering sweetness that I really loved. It has a pleasant bit of chew and bouncy texture, which is enjoyable on its own but I think would be pretty darn tasty in a stir fry. — Hebba Gouda
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Seeds of Change Organic Brown Basmati Rice
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Between its convenience and its taste, this brown rice is a no-brainer for our top pick as the best brown rice brand1. This deliciously buttery, earthy, and nutty rice only asks that you microwave it for 90 seconds. Ninety seconds! The sheer simplicity of this excellent product is the reason it’s number one. A lot of microwavable rice has a mushy texture and a bland taste, but not Seeds of Change. Each grain feels like it’s coated in deliciously fatty oil, which makes it quite addicting. This is a real win for microwave brown rice. And it’s also the best organic brown rice, if you care about such things. — Danny Palumbo
Credit: Merc / Instacart
Best for Solo Dining
Best for Fried Rice
Best Chewy Texture
Best Earthy Flavor
Best Microwavable (Runner-Up)
Best Short Grain
Best Jasmine Brown Rice
Best Seasoned
Best Almost Sushi Rice
Best Boil-in-a-Bag
Best of the Best
Other brown rice we tried: Ben’s Original Instant, Taj Brown Basmati, Minute Brown Rice, Rice Select Organic Brown Texmati, Lundberg Long Grain, Great Value Long Grain, Mahatma Jasmine Brown, Whole Foods Brown, Amazon Fresh Microwave Brown Rice, Goya Brown Rice, Carolina Whole Grain Brown Rice, Minute Brown and Wild Rice, Minute Brown Rice and Quinoa
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!