How Long Can You Eat Rice After Cooking (And Why)?

Exact Answer: 2 Days To 3 Days

The shelf life of rice after it has been cooked depends on several different factors. Some of these factors are the type of rice, cooking method, and storage conditions of the rice once they have been cooked.

How Long Can You Eat Rice After Cooking?

Though these factors do affect the time for how long you can eat rice after cooking. But apart from these factors, there is one major factor that determines the time for how long rice would be good to eat once they have been cooked.

That major time determining factor is the recipe that has been used to cook rice. The most commonly used recipes to cook rice are of two different types. The two different recipes are plain boiled rice and fried rice.

Depending upon the dish or the occasion or the part of the world where rice is being cooked, the recipes differ, and as a result, the life expectancy of rice after it’s been cooked also differs.

Therefore, it becomes important to know the recipe which has been used to cook rice to calculate the time for how long you can eat rice after cooking. 

In most cases, plain boiled rice lasts for a longer duration as compared to the shelf life of fried rice after they have been cooked.

On average, plain boiled rice lasts for about a minimum of 3 days to a maximum of 4 days if kept at optimal temperature and stored in proper storage conditions.

On the other hand, fried rice lasts for about a minimum of 1 day to a maximum of 2 days if kept at optimal temperature and stored in proper storage conditions.

Why Does It Take That Long For You To Eat Rice After Cooking?

The major reason why the shelf life of rice after it has been cooked varies depending upon the recipe which has been implemented to cook rice is because of ingredients added in the making of the rice.

In simple words, several different ingredients can increase the shelf life of rice after they have been cooked. While on the other hand, certain other ingredients can decrease the shelf life of rice after they have been cooked, resulting in a shorter time for you to eat rice after cooking.

In the case of plain boiled rice, there are not many ingredients used to cook rice. The major two ingredients of plain boiled rice, as suggested by the name itself are rice and water. In many cases, people use only rice and water to cook plain boiled rice.

While in some cases, salt is another ingredient added along with rice and water to the pan to give a hint of taste to the plain boiled rice.

Both the ingredients used in the cooking of plain boiled rice, that is water and salt, increase the shelf life of rice after they have been cooked. As a result, plain boiled rice lasts for a longer duration of time after they have been cooked.

While in the case of fried rice, multiple ingredients are used. Some of the major ingredients used in the making of fried rice are vegetables and spices.

Both of these types of ingredients that are used in fried rice are responsible for making the rice go bad in a shorter duration after they have been cooked. 

As a result, fried rice does not last long enough for you to eat as compared to the time for which plain boiled rice lasts after being cooked.

Conclusion

Lastly, proper storage conditions to store rice after it has been cooked also play a vital role in increasing the time for you to eat them.

That is to say, proper storage conditions can increase the shelf life of rice to a great extent. The proper way to store rice to make it last longer after it has been cooked is to store it in the refrigerator.

Moreover, storing the cooked rice in either an airtight container or airtight packaging can increase its shelf life from a minimum of 1 day to a maximum of 2 days on average.

References

1. https://aocs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1007/BF02545312
2. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0891584998003153