20 Popular Rice Brands Ranked Worst To Best

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Rice is an everyday staple in many cultures worldwide, and for good reason. Rice is cost-friendly, easy to prepare, and versatile, making it the perfect go-to side dish in any home. In fact, Americans eat more than 20 pounds of rice per year, via Food and Wine. And when it comes to this popular grain, there's no shortage of options to choose from, including grain size, color, whole or refined, and seasoned or plain, to name a few. As a result of its widespread acceptance, food companies are finding new and innovative ways to stand out in the market, including spiced versions, multi-grain varieties, easy preparation, and more. Who knew there were so many different variations of rice to choose from? 

Of course, we had to know which rice brands had us drooling for more and which ones left us pushing our plates away. Here's which brands made our list.

The 817 Elephant brand of rice has some of the most gorgeous packagings around. But does the flavor live up to the eye-popping branding the rice is bagged in? We found the rice fell short in several ways. We hoped the brand's Jasmine rice would smell the way this great varietal is supposed to: lightly floral. Instead, it smelled more like the plastic packaging it came in, even after cooking it. Unfortunately, it wasn't just the aroma that was lacking, but the taste as well. 

Instead of the lovely, complex tasting notes we expected, it tasted as it smelled — like the packaging it came in. While the smell and flavor were off-putting, the texture was on-point and slightly stickier than good basmati. The brand promises a "melt in your mouth" experience, which it seemed to be able to deliver on, at a minimum. But you have to get past the intense manufactured smell and taste first.

What's not to love about this female-owned, family-run business that puts high emphasis on the quality of its products? Well, for one thing, we found one rather big flaw during the cooking process. The rice was overly starchy even after rinsing it several times, and as a result, the end product turned out to be a little milky. Upon another cook, after rinsing it a little more thoroughly, it yielded much cleaner cooked rice. Despite this glaring negative, there were still plenty of positive points about this brand we did love. 

They offer six different rice options: white, brown, sushi, jasmine, parboiled white, and instant white. The branding and packaging are clean and simple, just like the rice inside. For instance, the organic white rice was perfectly balanced in taste and texture. While some rice can yield an overly firm texture, this rice had the perfect bite all the way through. No soggy rice here!

Botan keeps its options simple by offering consumers the choice between brown and white Calrose rice. And if you're in the market, you may breeze right past the bag on the shelf if you're not paying attention. The brand has opted to put its energy into doing simple things well versus offering a plethora of options or fancy branding. But don't let the simplicity fool you, Botan has been known to excel in quality and authenticity. So if you're on the market for sushi or poke bowl rice, Botan may be just the thing you're looking for. It offers authentic, Japanese-style sticky rice, perfect for Asian-inspired dishes. For best results, rinse the rice thoroughly with cold water, stirring with your fingers, drain, and rinse again until the water runs clear. If this rice isn't rinsed well before cooking, it can become overly sticky and even gummy in its consistency. While this rice takes a little more work to prepare it well, it's worth the effort.

If you love Rice a Roni, you'll probably also enjoy Near East. The rice can be prepared either on the stovetop or in the microwave and comes with its own delicious seasoning packets. The brand offers a wide variety of flavors to choose from, so mealtime never gets boring, and you have something to pair with a variety of cuisine styles. We were surprised to find that the rice cooked well and was tender throughout. We noticed that it can be hard to find this line in grocery stores, so availability can be somewhat hit or miss. If you're looking for a recommendation on the best Near East option to choose, we love the rice pilaf. It's buttery and simple enough to pair with any protein. Just make sure to stock up if you find it in the grocery store, in case your market ever decides to stop carrying it.

McCormick is well-known for its famous seasoning line. Perhaps then it seemed like a natural transition for them to include other pantry staples within their brand, like seasoned rice mixes. These rice mixes are so convenient; you simply heat them in the packaging it comes in. Just tear the bag to vent, put it in the microwave, and heat for 90 seconds. While few other brands can match the convenience of McCormick, we wished it offered more options other than Garden Vegetable, Cilantro Lime, and White Basmati, especially considering they've dominated the spice aisle at the grocery store. Another unfortunate miss for this product line is that the seasonings can clump and are not consistently mixed throughout. This can translate into taking a bite of rice and a clump of spice dissolving in your mouth, leaving your tongue numb with the taste of pure salt. If you opt for this product, be sure to mix thoroughly after heating to ensure equal distribution of spice.

RiceSelect has one of the best tastes and textures of all the rice brands we tried. While this rice line doesn't come pre-cooked and requires a little effort to cook up, it can be well worth the effort. RiceSelect offers 12 options ranging from Jasmatic and Royal Blend to Orborio, Sushi, and more. Be sure to follow the directions exactly as indicated. We noticed that the rice can turn out a little mushy if too much water is used, and the fluffiness of the end product can be compromised if you don't let it set for a few minutes after cooking. However, we love that this brand goes well with any protein, has inherent nutty flavors, and chewy, tender textures, yielding perfectly cooked grains of rice. We appreciated that it came in a resealable, plastic jar with a twist-top lid to help preserve freshness and make storing the rice simple.

Goya Spanish Style Yellow Rice is a cult favorite. Seasoned with onion, garlic, chicken flavor, coriander, and other Latin spices, it's easy to see why this rice is such a flavor bomb. For many, it's the only way to do a one-skillet dinner, adding proteins like chicken and shrimp to the mix. The yellow coloring gives it its iconic appearance, a generational staple for families who refuse to buy any other brand. While it's relatively easy to prepare on the stove, it doesn't offer any other cooking methods -– like microwaving. 

Once you've committed to cooking this brand of rice, you're in it for the full 25 minutes, which can seem like an eternity compared to other instant rice brands. Long cook-times aside, we love that we don't have to think too hard about flavoring it. That hard work has been done for you. Additionally, Goya has over 15 other flavored rice mixes to choose from if you ever want to veer away from the tried and true.

Mahatma's slogan is "America's favorite rice," and for the most part, we agree. This rice yields an excellent, firm texture while still being fluffy –- the perfect balance, in our opinion. The extra-long grains make dishes feel hearty and can even be mixed into a salad, soup, or stir-fry. While we love the versatile quality Mahatma offers, it does require prep and cook time, so be sure to block off your calendar for a 20-minute cooking session. If you prefer rice with flavor and seasoning, also be aware you'll need to plan this yourself. This is raw rice with no seasoning. Yet some love that the rice provides a blank canvas to do their own thing, keeping it as simple as adding a little butter and salt. Those who have rice cookers say cooking is super easy, and the rice turns out great every time. All in all, if versatility is your jam, and you don't mind longer cook times, get your hands on a bag of Mahatma.

Tasty Bite is making starchy waves in the cooked rice category. All variations this brand offers are fully cooked. All you have to do is heat and eat. Sound familiar? While we've had several rice brands on our list that make mealtime super easy and convenient, we appreciate that this brand, in particular, has so many global flavor profiles, including Indian, Korean, Szechuan, and Thai. For those looking for plain rice options, Tasty Bite also offers a variety of grains to choose from, like brown rice with quinoa and lentils, basmati, brown rice, and brown rice and lentils. We also love that this brand thinks outside the rice box to offer mixes with beans for a hearty, comforting meal option. One potential problem for buyers has been the salt content. Some claim the sodium content is too high in the seasoned packets and warn consumers to pay attention to the labels if salt is a concern.

This brings us to number one on our list of favorite rice brands –- Zatarain's. Zatarain's has amassed over a thousand 5-star reviews on two products: Jambalaya and Black Bean and Rice. While these two are the most popular, it has stellar reviews on other flavor profiles, including cilantro lime, lemon butter herb with white beans, dirty rice, Parmesan garlic, and Spanish. While these rice mixes take 30 minutes to cook, you have a full meal by the time it's done cooking. 

In other words, these boxes of rice don't exist on the side, they live to be the main course. Many reviewers state that they simply add sausage for an authentic New Orleans-style Jambalaya dish (via Amazon). Even those from New Orleans love the authenticity saying the meals are comforting, flavorful, and easy to feed a whole family. And if you manage to have leftovers, the rice is even better the next day, which is hard to say about most cooked rice that tends to get hard and chewy after refrigerating and reheating.