These 8 Dishes Actually Taste Better With Day-Old Rice

I was always skeptical of rice cookers, mostly because I grew up with stovetop rice cooked pilaf-style. Rare is the Levantine dish that isn't served with a side of vermicelli rice (toasted vermicelli noodles mixed with rice). After making hundreds of pots of it, I never understood the need to plug in a machine to do what a pot on the stove could do in 13 to 15 minutes, and without leaving me with the dreaded leftovers that seemed inevitable with a rice cooker. That was true until two years ago, when I finally saw the error of my ways.

When I lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, my roommate—one of my best friends and a then-coworker at America's Test Kitchen—introduced me to the ease of a rice cooker. We'd start a batch as soon as we got home and let the evening settle around us until the rice was ready. Later, we'd scoop the warm rice into bowls and top it with whatever quick dinner we pulled together from the test-kitchen leftovers.

She also helped me get over one of my biggest complaints: the inevitable leftovers we always wound up with, even from our tiny model. In an article I wrote last year, I talked about how she introduced me to gyeran bap, the Korean egg-and-rice dish that changed how I think about day-old grains. Before then, I'd often let cold, clumpy rice linger in the back of the fridge until any intention of using it faded into guilt. But realizing how a single bowl of leftover rice could turn into something so comforting made me start to think about all the clever, practical ways cooked rice can have a second life.

Having leftover cooked rice on hand is not just a convenient way to get dinner on the table faster—it actually works better in many dishes. As rice cooks, its starch granules absorb water and gelatinize, meaning they swell, soften, and release some starch into the surrounding liquid. Once the rice cools, those gelatinized starches firm up and the grains lose surface moisture, making day-old rice drier and less sticky. That slight dryness is exactly what allows leftover rice to fry, crisp, or reheat without turning mushy.

8 Ways to Use Leftover Rice

Leftover rice is a gift—already cooked and ready to slip into dishes that benefit from a head start. Here are a few smart (and delicious) ways to use leftover rice before it disappears into the cold corner of the fridge:

• Make fried rice. I had to put this one first because it's the most obvious—and for good reason. Leftover rice, already dried out and firm, is perfect for frying since it doesn't clump or turn mushy. Try kimchi fried rice, garlic fried rice, or vegetable fried rice.
• Mix day-old rice into soup. Add a scoop of leftover rice to soup near the end of cooking—it soaks up the broth, softens slightly, and thickens the soup. I like to make a tomato soup and stir some in, or add it to a lemony, herb-filled chicken broth for something hearty and filling, perfect for a crisp afternoon in a chunky sweater.
• Make a savory porridge or congee. Simmer leftover rice with water or broth until the grains start to break down and the mixture thickens and becomes creamy and spoonable. I like topping mine with a drizzle of black vinegar, a few spoonfuls of pickled mustard greens, soy sauce, chili oil, Chinese sausage, crushed peanuts, and scallions, but you can add extras like shredded chicken, a jammy egg, or whatever else you have on hand.
• Turn it into crispy rice cakes. To channel the crisp, golden edges of Japanese yaki onigiri, press leftover rice into an even layer in a lightly oiled pan and let it chill until firm. Cut into squares, then sear until the outsides are golden and crisp with a tender interior. The crunchy rice makes an ideal base for toppings like marinated raw tuna or salmon, smoked salmon, or sliced avocado. A drizzle of soy sauce or chili oil brings contrast to each bite.
• Crisp it up for salads. In Thai and Lao cooking, there's a dish called nam khao—a crunchy rice salad made by frying rice until golden, then crumbling it into a mix of herbs, lime juice, and fermented sausage. I love borrowing that idea for leftover rice: Fry it in a skillet until the grains turn crisp and nutty, then sprinkle it over punchy salads for some crunch. 
• Make biko (Filipino sticky rice cakes). To make this popular dessert and snack, cook coconut milk with dark brown sugar and a pinch of salt until it forms a thick, glossy caramel, then set aside a few spoonfuls for topping. Stir the leftover rice into the remaining caramel until evenly coated, spread the mixture in a baking pan, spoon the reserved caramel on top, and bake until the surface is glossy, bubbling, and deeply golden.
• Make rice pudding. Simmer leftover rice with milk and/or coconut milk until it thickens and turns creamy. Using cooked rice here is ideal—it's already fully gelatinized, so it thickens quickly, requires less milk, and doesn't produce the firmer, starchier texture that raw rice can develop when fat slows hydration. And because rice pudding made with cooked rice requires less milk than raw rice, the flavor of the rice comes through more clearly. When I make rice pudding, I sweeten it to taste with granulated sugar and season it with cinnamon, cardamom, or vanilla, then fold in a handful of golden raisins for chew. I finish with a tiny splash of orange blossom water for a subtle floral note, and a sprinkle of chopped pistachios for color and crunch.
• Turn it into tacu tacu. In Peru, tacu tacu is a clever way to revive leftover rice and beans by pan-frying them together into a crisp, golden patty. The inside stays soft and creamy, while the exterior turns crisp and golden. Serve it with a fried egg, a piece of seared meat, or a spoonful of saucy stew over the top.

The Takeaway

A little leftover rice goes a long way. With these ideas, it becomes the beginning of another meal instead of something forgotten in the fridge. Once you realize how many dishes improve with day-old rice—crisper fried rice, creamier puddings, sturdier rice cakes—it stops feeling like leftovers and starts feeling like a head start.