5 Cups of Rice in Grams

Five cups of raw rice is 925 grams

Multiply the cup count by the weight of one cup and the answer falls out: 5 x 185 = 925 g. That 185 g is the household measure for raw long-grain white rice in USDA FoodData Central record 168877, an SR Legacy entry revised in April 2019, and it is the figure this page uses for every raw white and brown long-grain example.

Converted to the units on a US package, 925 g is 925 / 28.3495 = 32.63 oz, or 925 / 453.592 = 2.04 lb. The volume is 5 x 236.588 = 1,182.9 mL, close to five cups of water by eye but only 78 percent of the weight, since dry rice sits at 925 / 1,182.9 = 0.78 g per mL. A five cup measure looks like a lot of rice in the bag and weighs roughly two pounds, which is the number to remember in the store.

Half steps are easy from here: 2.5 cups is 462.5 g, 4.5 cups is 832.5 g, and 6 cups is 1,110 g. In bag terms, a 5 lb bag holds 2,268 / 925 = 2.45 batches of five cups, and a 2 lb bag holds just under one.

The cooked side of five cups is 790 grams

Once the rice is done, five cups of it weighs 5 x 158 = 790 g, a full 135 g lighter than the dry measure and still the same food. Record 168878 in FoodData Central puts cooked long-grain white rice at 158 g a cup with 68.4 g of water per 100 g, so a cooked cup is mostly absorbed water held inside gelatinised starch. Cooked brown rice is heavier per cup at 202 g, which makes five cups 1,010 g.

The two measures answer different questions. A recipe that says five cups of cooked rice for a salad wants 790 g of cold, cooked grain, about 1.7 cups of dry rice cooked down. A recipe that says five cups of rice for a pilaf wants 925 g of dry grain. Reading one as the other throws the water ratio off by half and the dish either scorches or turns to porridge.

Short-grain rice pushes the dry figure to a round 1,000 g, one kilogram from five cups. That is the grain used for sushi and for rice bowls, and the extra 75 g over long-grain is the reason a sushi recipe measured by volume comes out firmer when you swap in long-grain without adjusting.

A five cup batch fills fifteen containers

Five dry cups make about 15 cooked cups, following the USA Rice Federation rule that white rice triples in volume, and 15 x 158 = 2,370 g of cooked rice. Portion it at 150 g and you get 2,370 / 150 = 15.8 containers, each about 195 kcal. Portion it at a half cup, roughly 79 g, and the batch covers 30 servings at 103 kcal each.

That is a workweek of lunches for three people, or two weeks for one. Cool the rice within two hours of cooking, per USDA FSIS food safety guidance, spread it in shallow trays rather than one deep pot, and keep the containers in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. Anything you will not eat by then goes into the freezer on the day it is cooked, flat and labelled, and reheats to 165 F.

The batch also sets the pot size. Fifteen cooked cups is 2,370 / 236.588 = 10 cups by volume once the grains swell, so a 5 or 6 quart pot with a tight lid is the right vessel. A 3 quart pot will boil over at this quantity even though five cups of dry rice looks small going in.

Water, pot size and the absorption check

Long-grain white rice takes two parts water to one part rice by volume, so five cups of rice needs 10 cups of water, or 10 x 236.588 = 2,365.9 g. The grains keep 2,370 - 925 = 1,445 g of that water and the rest, about 921 g, leaves as steam through the lid. Those two numbers are a useful check: if the pot is still wet after the rest, the heat was too low and the rice steamed instead of absorbing; if it scorched, the water left too fast.

Other grains shift the ratio. Medium grain takes 1.5 parts, so 7.5 cups, sushi rice 1.25 parts, so 6.25 cups, and brown rice 2.25 parts, so 11.25 cups and a longer 40 to 45 minute cook. The USA Rice chart lists those ratios alongside cooking times, and the package on your counter overrides all of them.

Rice cooker owners can skip the cup measure entirely. The plastic cup that ships with most cookers holds 180 mL, which at the USDA density of 0.78 g per mL is 140.8 g of dry rice, so 925 g is 6.57 cooker cups. Fill to the line marked for six and a half, add water to the matching line, and the cooker does the rest.

3,376 calories dry, 3,081 in the pot

At 365 kcal per 100 g, 925 g of raw white rice is 925 x 3.65 = 3,376 kcal, with 925 x 0.7995 = 739.5 g of carbohydrate. Brown rice at 367 kcal per 100 g gives 925 x 3.67 = 3,395 kcal for the same weight, since the bran carries a little fat and fibre in place of some starch.

Cooked, the batch holds 2,370 g at 130 kcal per 100 g, which is 2,370 x 1.3 = 3,081 kcal. Divide by the 30 half cup portions and each is 3,081 / 30 = 103 kcal, matching the 79 x 1.3 calculation you get from weighing a single serving. Fifteen one cup servings come to 205 kcal each.

That per portion figure is the one to plan around. A 150 g scoop at 195 kcal leaves room for protein and vegetables inside a 600 kcal dinner. Two cups of cooked rice at 410 kcal is a large portion by most guidelines, and it is easy to serve by accident when the pot is full and the scoop is deep.

Cost per portion from a five cup batch

Rice priced at $1.00 a pound makes this batch 925 / 453.592 = 2.04 lb, so $2.04. Across 15 cooked cups that is 2.04 / 15 = $0.14 a cup, and across 30 half cup portions it is 2.04 / 30 = $0.07 a portion. Nothing else in the kitchen costs seven cents and fills a plate.

Buying in bulk moves the price only as far as the per pound price moves. A 25 lb sack is 11,340 g, which is 11,340 / 925 = 12.26 five cup batches, or 184 cooked cups. At $22.00 for the sack the cooked cup is 22 / 184 = $0.12, about 2 cents under the one pound price. At $30.00 a sack the advantage disappears and the smaller bag wins on freshness.

Compare the home figure with a $3.00 side of rice from a takeout counter: the same 15 cooked cups would cost $45 there against $2.04 here. The gap is the reason a five cup batch on Sunday is worth the pot washing, even before the leftovers are counted.

Converting grams back to cups at this size

To go from grams to cups, divide by the weight of the cup in your hand. Raw long-grain rice uses 185, so 925 / 185 = 5 cups; cooked white uses 158, so 925 g of cooked rice is 925 / 158 = 5.85 cups. The two divisors are 17 percent apart, which is why a converter that hides the raw and cooked switch gives answers that look wrong in the kitchen.

The converter above starts at five cups and 925 g. Change the menu from raw to cooked and the same five cups reads 790 g, because the cup weight drops to 158 g. Type 1,000 into the grams box and it returns 5.41 cups of raw rice or 6.33 cups of cooked. Ounces, pounds, cooked yield and the cost of the batch update with it, all in the browser with nothing sent anywhere.