1 Cup of Rice in Grams

One cup of raw white rice is 185 grams

A level US cup of raw long-grain white rice weighs 185 g. USDA FoodData Central record 168877 lists the household measure for rice, white, long-grain, regular, raw, enriched at 185 g per cup, with 365 kcal and 79.95 g of carbohydrate per 100 g. In kitchen units that cup is 185 / 28.3495 = 6.53 oz and 185 / 453.592 = 0.41 lb, and a half cup is 92.5 g.

Raw rice is dense but not packed: 185 / 236.588 = 0.78 g per mL, against water at 1.00. The grains are dry and free flowing, so a leveled cup lands close to the USDA figure, though a heaped scoop can run 10 g over and damp grains a few grams under.

Bag math comes from the same number: a pound of raw rice is 453.6 / 185 = 2.45 cups, so a 1 lb bag holds two and a half cups, a 5 lb bag holds 2,268 / 185 = 12.26 cups and a 10 lb sack holds 24.52 cups.

Rice type moves one cup from 158 g to 202 g

The cup weight follows the grain and the water it carries. Brown long-grain raw, record 169703, also lists 185 g a cup, at 367 kcal per 100 g. Sushi rice is short grain, and USDA record 168931 lists a cup of raw short-grain white rice at 200 g. Medium grain sits between at 195 g a cup in record 169760.

Cooked rice flips the order. Record 168878 puts a cup of cooked long-grain white rice at 158 g and 68.4 percent water, and record 169704 puts cooked brown at 202 g. A cooked cup weighs less than a raw cup because each cup holds fewer grains, not because the rice lost weight: the same 185 g of dry rice still exists, just spread over three cups.

The USDA SR Legacy tables do not carry a separate jasmine entry. Jasmine is a long-grain aromatic, so the long-grain weight of 185 g a cup is the figure that applies.

One cup of raw rice makes three cups cooked

The USA Rice Federation cooking guide gives the rule home cooks use: dry rice triples in volume, so 1 cup dry = 3 cups cooked. That makes 3 x 158 = 474 g of cooked white rice from one 185 g cup, or 3 x 202 = 606 g of cooked brown rice, and it feeds about six half cup servings.

Water follows the same chart. Long-grain white takes 2 cups of water per cup of rice, and 2 x 236.588 = 473.2 g. Of that, 474 - 185 = 289 g soaks into the grains and roughly 473.2 - 289 = 184.2 g boils off as steam. Brown rice takes 2.25 cups of water, medium grain 1.5 and sushi short grain 1.25.

Water math sets the ceiling. One raw cup carries 185 x (1 - 0.116) = 163.5 g of dry matter, and cooked rice is 68.4 percent water, so the pot can hold 163.5 / 0.316 = 517.4 g of cooked rice, which is 517.4 / 158 = 3.27 cups. USA Rice says plan on 3 and expect a little extra from a covered pot that barely steams.

Family math: 4 dry cups is 4 x 3 = 12 cooked cups, about 24 half cup servings, or three nights of rice for four people.

675 calories dry, 205 calories per cooked cup

One dry cup at 185 g carries 185 x 3.65 = 675 calories and 185 x 0.7995 = 147.9 g of carbohydrate from record 168877. Brown rice at 367 kcal per 100 g makes the same 185 g cup 185 x 3.67 = 679 calories with 141 g of carbohydrate, because fiber takes the place of some starch.

The cooked cup is the honest portion. 158 g at 130 kcal per 100 g is 158 x 1.3 = 205 calories and 44.5 g of carbohydrate, and one dry cup turns into about three of those, 3 x 205 = 615 calories before any butter or oil. A cup of cooked brown rice at 202 g carries 202 x 1.23 = 248 calories.

Short grain runs highest per cup because the cup holds more grain: 200 x 3.58 = 716 calories for a dry cup of sushi rice. Cooked, the difference mostly washes out, since a serving is weighed in grams and the grains carry the same energy either way.

What a cup of rice costs

Rice is one of the cheapest calories in the store. At $1.00 a pound, a dry cup of 185 g costs 0.41 x 1.00 = $0.41, and each of its three cooked cups works out to 0.41 / 3 = $0.14. A $2.00 a pound bag of jasmine or basmati doubles it: $0.82 a dry cup and $0.27 a cooked cup.

Bag math beats box math. A 5 lb bag at $5.00 holds 12.26 dry cups, so a cooked cup costs 5 / (12.26 x 3) = $0.14. A 10 lb sack at $9.00 drops it to 9 / (24.52 x 3) = $0.12. Instant rice costs more per cooked cup because the drying step you pay for is undone in your pot.

Against takeout the gap is wide. Two cooked cups of plain white rice cost 2 x 0.14 = $0.28 at home by the rounded cup price, against $2.50 or more as a restaurant side.

Measuring rice without a scale

The measuring cup works when the rice is leveled. Scoop, level with the back of a knife, and a cup of long-grain white lands within a few grams of 185 g. A heaped cup can reach 200 g, and the extra grain shows up in the pot: 200 g of rice with 2 cups of water cooks tight, so add 1 or 2 tablespoons of water when you scoop heavy.

The knuckle trick covers the water side. Level the rice, rest a fingertip on the surface, and pour water until it reaches the first knuckle joint. It is a volume shortcut that works for one or two cups in a wide pot and drifts past that, which is why the chart above is the better guide.

The repeatable way is a scale: rinse until the water runs clear, drain, weigh 185 g, and add water to 2 cups by volume or 473 g by weight. The same three numbers every time means the same pot of rice every time.

Grams back to cups for rice

The reverse is one division by the cup weight. For raw white or brown long-grain rice the divisor is 185, so 370 / 185 = 2 cups, 1,000 / 185 = 5.41 cups and 92.5 / 185 = 0.5 cup. For cooked white rice it is 158, so 316 g is 316 / 158 = 2 cups, and for cooked brown it is 202, so the same 316 g is 1.56 cups.

The converter above does all of it. Type 1 cup for 185 g of raw long-grain white rice, switch the menu to cooked white rice for 158 g, or enter 370 g in the grams box to read 2 cups. Add a price per pound and the tool prices the cup as well.