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I usually cook a stew of some kind on a Sunday, put it in a container in the fridge, I then eat it for an evening meal during the rest of the week up to Friday or Saturday. Each weekday evening I cook a portion of brown rice and once cooked I add it to the stew.

Would it be safe to cook 5-6 portions of rice on the Sunday, then mix it in with the stew and store in the fridge? My reasoning for doing this is because it would drastically reduce my energy usage. I guess I am paranoid about rice not being safe to store?

In typing this question a previous similar question came up, Cooking and storing rice for a whole week, but it doesn't answer my question because it is about cooking rice and then storing it separately.

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  • Hi, I know that people tend to think that each food is somehow "individual". But in fact, food safety rules are very generic. Cooked meals have a fridge life of 3-5 days, regardless of what you put in them, and so the question you found is actually relevant. I now closed as a duplicate of our canonical storage lifetime question.
    – rumtscho ♦
    Commented Aug 30, 2022 at 11:58
  • Adding rice to the stew in advance will most likely make it absorb a ton of water, which will thicken the stew and turn the rice soggy and mushy. Not sure if you want that.
    – Esther
    Commented Aug 30, 2022 at 14:38
  • @rumtscho rice is different to many cooked foods in that it's stricter because bacillus cereus spores can survive cooking and it's higher risk. The UK FSA for example states 24 hours in the fridge (after the usual cooling as quickly as possible). The canonical answer at the question you linked doesn't mention this difference, therefore this isn't a duplicate. You should have checked before using mod powers to close this question. I will vote to reopen but I suggest you edit the answer at the target
    – Chris H
    Commented Aug 30, 2022 at 14:54
  • As a general rule if it's not obvious why we're closing a Q as a duplicate of that canonical one, we should explain it in a comment, and if we can't, it's not a dupe, is it?
    – Chris H
    Commented Aug 30, 2022 at 14:56
  • @ChrisH usually, indeed, we would reopen if the question is a very specific exception. In this case, rice is so common, that my preference would be to edit the rules for cooked rice directly into the answer to the canonical question, and keep this one closed.
    – rumtscho ♦
    Commented Aug 30, 2022 at 19:21

1 Answer 1

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I'd freeze it instead; prepare individual portions.

You could use freezer bags or plastic containers.

In my experience, rice starts to go bad (mostly texture and taste) after 2 days.

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  • I second this; for sure freezing brown rice on its own works surprisingly well (I was expecting weird texture, but it tasted absolutely fine!).
    – Esther
    Commented Aug 30, 2022 at 14:38
  • I have followed this answer for a year now with brown rice and have lived to tell the tale. You have to slightly overcook the rice, then portion it up and freeze in small bags. Then 2-3 minutes in the microwave and mix into the pan with the stew as you warm it all up. Once its all mixed I'd dont think I could tell the difference with freshly cooked. Although I dont think I'd do this if I was serving the rice separately, it can be clumpy until mixed with stew.
    – The Footsie
    Commented Oct 2, 2023 at 20:48

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