Our Favorite White Rice Blend: 1 Part Jasmine, 2 Parts Long Grain

Most people have a default pot of white rice that shows up next to stir fry, curry, or whatever is in the oven that night. For us, it stopped being “just” white rice a while ago.

Somewhere between late night Chinese takeout, watching cooking videos, and reading about restaurant “house rice,” we started wondering if the rice we loved in restaurants was actually a blend. That tiny question turned into weeks of testing in our own kitchen, and eventually into the simple mix that now lives in a jar on our counter.

This is the story of that experiment, why we landed on one part jasmine rice to two parts long grain rice, how we actually cook it, and the rice cooker that has quietly become our favorite.

Key Takeaways

• Our everyday “house rice” is 1 part jasmine rice to 2 parts plain long grain white rice.
• The jasmine brings aroma and flavor, the long grain keeps the texture fluffy and balanced.
• On the stovetop we usually use about 1¼ cups water per cup of rice blend, and in our rice cookers we like a 1 to 1.5 rice to water ratio.
• Our current favorite machine is the Instant Pot 20 Cup Rice Cooker, which we use often.

When Plain White Rice Wasn’t Quite Right

If you eat a lot of rice, you start to notice patterns. After enough takeout nights and good restaurant meals, we kept asking the same question: why does their rice feel so easy to eat by the chopstickful, while ours at home is either a little too sticky or a little too flat in flavor?

We tried swapping brands, rinsing more or less, changing pots, changing burners, changing our level of patience. Things got better, but something was still missing. The rice we loved most in Chinese and Southeast Asian restaurants had both personality and restraint. It was fragrant without being perfumey, soft without being gluey, fluffy without being dry.

At the same time, we started seeing little mentions of restaurant “house blends” and even grocery store products that mix fragrant and neutral rices together. Guides like this custom rice blend article on Epicurious talk about pairing rice varieties with similar grain lengths and cooking times, which makes blending feel a lot less intimidating.

Once we realized that blending was a thing real people are doing, the experiment basically wrote itself.

Jasmine vs Long Grain: Why Blend Them at All?

To make the experiment fair, we first had to understand what each rice was bringing to the pot.

Jasmine rice

• Jasmine is a type of long grain white rice that happens to be aromatic. When you lift the lid, you get that buttery, floral, popcorn like smell that makes the whole kitchen feel cozy.
• Cooked jasmine rice is usually soft and slightly sticky. It clings together just enough to be easy with chopsticks, which is why it shows up so often with Thai and Vietnamese food.
• If you want a deep dive into cooking technique for jasmine itself, this detailed “how to cook jasmine rice” guide is a helpful reference for water ratios and timing.

Plain long grain white rice

• Standard long grain white rice, the basic bag you find in most supermarkets, is designed to cook up fluffy and separate rather than sticky.
• Its flavor is intentionally neutral, which makes it a great backdrop for stews, curries, sheet pan dinners, and anything saucy.
• For a simple, reliable method, you can check a straightforward stovetop tutorial like Good Housekeeping’s guide to cooking white rice on the stove.

Once you line these two up, blending them makes a lot of sense. Jasmine brings the personality and aroma. Long grain brings structure and restraint.

How We Tested Our Rice Blends at the Studio

Rather than guessing, we treated this like a small kitchen project. If you want to recreate it, here is the basic framework we followed.

• We always rinsed the rice in a fine mesh strainer until the water ran mostly clear, to remove excess surface starch and help keep the final pot fluffy.
• We used the same pot with a tight fitting lid and cooked on the same burner, so heat and evaporation stayed consistent.
• We kept the total amount of rice the same for each test, only changing the ratio of jasmine to long grain.
• We tried both stovetop and rice cooker methods so we would know that the blend behaves well in real life, not just in a single pan on a good day.

If you enjoy the nerdy side of food, this guide to rice varieties from RiceSelect and the RD approved guide to U.S. grown rice from USA Rice are both great context on how many types of rice are out there and how they differ.

Those details gave us more appreciation for what was happening in the pot, but the most surprising part was how much the blend changed the experience, even when the water and timing stayed identical.

The Blend That Won: 1 Part Jasmine, 2 Parts Long Grain

We tried all jasmine, all long grain, and several ratios in between. Over and over, we kept coming back to the same sweet spot:

One part jasmine rice to two parts plain long grain white rice.

Flavor balance

• When the blend was half jasmine or more, the aroma was intense and wonderful, but sometimes it started to compete with very delicate mains.
• At 1 to 1, the fragrance was lovely, but still a little strong on nights when the rice was supposed to stay in the background.
• At 1 part jasmine to 2 parts long grain, the floral, buttery notes of the jasmine were clearly there, but stretched out into something gentle and cozy instead of loud.

Texture balance

• Jasmine on its own leans soft and slightly sticky, especially if you use a higher water ratio or skip rinsing.
• Long grain on its own can be very separate and even a bit dry if you undershoot the water.
• In the 1 to 2 blend, the slightly sticky nature of jasmine and the fluffy personality of long grain meet in the middle. The grains cling just enough to be easy to pick up, but still fall apart on the fork.

The best way we can describe it is “house rice” energy. It tastes like something a restaurant might quietly serve with everything without calling attention to itself on the menu.

How to Cook Our White Rice Blend

This is not a formal recipe card, but it is the simple method we use most nights. Adjust it to your own cookware and preferences.

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked rice blend, made from:
  • 1/3 cup jasmine rice
  • 2/3 cup plain long grain white rice
• About 1¼ cups water (for a standard lidded pot on the stovetop)
• Pinch of salt, optional

Stovetop method

1. Measure the jasmine and long grain rice into the same bowl. Stir them together so the blend is even.
2. Rinse the rice in a fine mesh strainer under cool water, swishing with your hand, until the water runs mostly clear.
3. Add the rinsed rice and water to a medium saucepan with a tight lid. Add a pinch of salt if you like.
4. Bring just to a gentle boil over medium heat, then immediately reduce to low, cover, and let it simmer for about 15 minutes without lifting the lid.
5. Turn off the heat and let the rice rest, still covered, for another 10 minutes. This rest time evens out the moisture.
6. Uncover, fluff gently with a fork or rice paddle, and serve.

Rice cookers and other machines

• In our rice cookers, we have found that a ratio of 1 part rice blend to 1.5 parts water gives us the fluffiest, most reliable results. If we add 3 cups of the dry blend, we add 4.5 cups of water.

Our favorite machine right now is the Instant Pot 20 Cup Rice Cooker (affiliate link). It is a dedicated rice cooker that advertises “carb reducing” technology. We are still a little skeptical about the nutrition claim, but the way it works is interesting. The rice cooks in a perforated inner pot that sits above a lower chamber, and when the cycle is done there is a pool of extra starchy water sitting underneath.

Does that actually change the carbs in a meaningful way? That is a question for lab equipment and dietitians. What we can say is that it cooks our jasmine and long grain blend beautifully. The grains stay separate, the texture is consistent, and the pot is easy to rinse out afterward.

We usually only cook 3 cups of rice at a time, so we have never come close to testing the full 20 cup capacity. Even so, the machine has handled our normal batches perfectly. If you are looking for a dedicated cooker that gets a lot of use, this is one we actually use in our own kitchen. The link above is an affiliate link, which means we may earn a small commission if you choose to buy through it, at no extra cost to you.

If you are using an electric pressure cooker instead of a dedicated rice cooker, many people like a 1 to 1 rice to water ratio with a short cook time and natural pressure release. Blend the jasmine and long grain first so they behave as a single “rice,” then follow your machine’s manual and safety guidelines.

If your rice is consistently too firm, bump the water up a little. If it is consistently soft and sticky, pull the water down in small steps. The blend is forgiving, which is a big part of why we like it.

When We Reach for This Rice

This is our everyday table rice. We reach for the jar when we are making:

• Simple Chinese takeout at home nights with a quick stir fry and frozen potstickers.
• Thai inspired curries where the jasmine notes play nicely with coconut milk and herbs, but the long grain keeps things from turning too sticky.
• Sheet pan dinners where the rice needs to be neutral enough for roasted vegetables, sausage, or chicken.
• At home travel nights where we want something a little more special than plain white rice without adding extra work.

If you are planning a full theme night and want ideas for mains to go with this blend, link this text to the Food hub page where we collect rice friendly recipes and experiments.

And if you are leaning into a cozy “takeout at home” evening with movies and snacks, link this text to the At Home Experiences hub so readers can pair this rice with an easy themed night.

A Tiny Rice Nerd Corner

Because we like to understand why things work, we spent some time reading up on how rice behaves and why blends make sense.

• Rice guides aimed at home cooks often point out that long grain white rice tends to cook up fluffy and separate, while aromatic types like jasmine bring more fragrance and a softer bite. Resources like RiceSelect’s rice varieties overview and the USA Rice nutrition guide give a good big picture of how many styles of rice exist.
• Articles on blending, like the Epicurious custom rice blend piece, suggest pairing rices with similar cooking times and grain lengths, which is exactly what we are doing by marrying two long grain white rices.
• Some Chinese cooking resources, such as Made With Lau’s egg fried rice recipe, point out that you can use Thai jasmine, American long grain, or a mixture for fried rice. That lines up with how flexible this blend is if you want to turn leftover rice into fried rice the next day.
• Even grocery shelves quietly back this up, with products like Carolina’s long grain and jasmine blend and Mahatma’s jasmine white rice showing how common it is to pair fragrant and neutral rices.

Troubleshooting Your Rice Blend

If you try this and your first pot is not perfect, here are a few simple tweaks to try.

If your rice is too soft or mushy

• Reduce the water slightly. For example, go from 1¼ cups to about 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons per cup of rice blend and see if the texture tightens.
• Check how tight your lid is. A very tight lid traps more steam, which means you may need less water.
• Avoid stirring during cooking. Stirring breaks grains and releases starch, which makes things gluey.

If your rice is too firm or dry

• Add a little more water next time and give it a slightly longer covered rest off the heat.
• Make sure you are not cooking on too high a heat, which can boil away water before the rice has time to absorb it.

If the jasmine flavor feels too strong

• Lower the jasmine portion slightly, for example to 1/4 jasmine and 3/4 long grain.
• Keep this blend for nights when the rice can have a little more personality, and use plain long grain when you truly need something very neutral.

If you want more personality

• Lightly toast the dry rice blend in a thin film of neutral oil or butter for a minute or two before adding water, stirring constantly, until it smells nutty.
• Add a very small splash of neutral oil to the pot to help keep grains separate and give a subtle sheen.

Why This Blend Has Stuck Around For Us

We love grains, we love experiments, and we also love having a default that does not require a lot of thinking on a Tuesday night. This blend does that job for us.

It respects what we have learned about rice, it lines up with how a lot of restaurant cooks think about texture and aroma, and it still feels very low pressure at home. Once you have a jar of mixed rice sitting on the counter, getting a pot going is as simple as scooping, rinsing, and adding water. If Niko happens to wander through the kitchen while the pot is steaming, the whole house smells good enough that even the dog stops to sniff the air.

What To Do Next

If you try your own jasmine and long grain blend, start with the 1 to 2 ratio and then adjust it until it feels like “your” house rice. Everyone’s taste and cookware are a little different, so do not be afraid to tune it.

Once you have a blend you love, link this text to the Start Here page so readers who are new to our site can see how this rice fits into the bigger picture of travel inspired, at home meals.

• Build a simple stir fry or curry night around this rice, using whatever vegetables and proteins you already have.
• Experiment with fried rice using day old leftovers of this blend and your favorite flavorings.
• Pair it with one of our travel inspired at home nights so the rice becomes part of a bigger memory, not just a side dish.

However you use it, we hope this little jasmine and long grain mix, plus a rice cooker that makes your life easier, helps make your dinners more comforting, more fragrant, and a lot more reliable.