Here’s how to make your own homemade puffed rice (just like rice krispies) with only two ingredients: rice and salt, no special equipment required! This easy at home method for making your own puffed rice may sound odd, but honestly it works perfectly. This method makes freshly puffed rice that can be used for snacks, cereal, or even crunchy chocolate bars!

WHY DID I DECIDE TO MAKE MY OWN PUFFED RICE?

Honestly because making my own puffed rice just sounds like fun! After I made my Healthy Homemade Buncha Crunch using amaranth, I always thought it would be fun to also make homemade Buncha Crunch using rice. But, I ran into a few problems…

My first attempt at homemade puffed rice was to pop it the same way that I made the puffed amaranth: by adding raw rice to a hot skillet and expecting it to puff up like popcorn. Well, I can tell you now that the result was pretty much a disaster.

The rice toasted instead of popping, so the grains were still rock hard and tasted like burned rice, which was not appetizing at all, even after when coated in chocolate (which really says something).

So, back to the drawing board I went. While I was thinking up new ways to make puffed rice, I remembered how a few years ago I saw a video from someone who made homemade puffed rice by stirring the rice around in a skillet along with a a batch of hot salt.

I looked up that technique again, and came across a few more videos that showed the same method, and I was so intrigued that I finally had to try it for myself. And guess what, it works!

This technique is not something that I came up with, but I adapted it from various sources from watching people online who are much smarter than me. The technique is so cool though and so much easier to do than you might think, so I just have to show it off to you.

Go ahead and give it a go and use the puffed rice for something delicious like Homemade Rice Krispie Treats or Buncha Crunch. Yum! If you do make this puffed rice at home, be sure to leave a comment and review here so I can see that you did it!

HOMEMADE PUFFED RICE KEY INGREDIENTS

This is one of the easiest recipes ever, because you only need two ingredients!

• Parboiled Rice: The star of the show! Because parboiled rice is partially boiled in the husk before milling, its starch is already gelatinized, giving the grain a firm, uniform structure. The small amount of moisture inside each grain turns to steam when heated, causing the grain to puff up and pop, which is exactly how popcorn works, too! Cool, right? Note that raw rice will NOT work for this recipe. Make sure you’re using parboiled rice.
• Salt: Necessary for puffing up the rice. Salt holds very high, steady heat and surrounds each grain evenly, so the moisture inside the parboiled rice flashes to steam almost instantly. It also keeps the rice from touching the bare pan, which prevents sticking and scorching. The salt can be sifted out and reused for later batches, too if you want to make even more puffed rice.

HOW TO PUFF RICE AT HOME

The full instructions on how to make puffed rice at home is in the recipe card at the bottom of this blog post, but here’s a quick overview of how to do it:

Be sure to scroll down to the bottom to view the full recipe and get all of the measurements and instructions!

1. The Salt: Pour the salt into a stainless steel skillet. Heat the salt for 15-20 minutes, until very hot.
2. The Rice: Pour the rice into the salt, and quickly stir it around, making sure to keep the rice moving to help prevent it from burning. It will start to puff up like popcorn and smell like rice krispies.
3. Strain The Rice: Once all of the rice grains are popped, immediately pour the rice and salt into a strainer, and shake it up until all of the salt is strained out.

HOW LONG DOES THIS TAKE?

Making puffed rice at home is actually pretty quick! You’ll let the salt heat in the pan for about 15-20 minutes, and then once the rice hits the salt it puffs up and cooks immediately, so anticipate about 5 minutes of cooking time there.

In total, this homemade puffed rice recipe will take about 30 minutes total!

HOW DO I STORE THE PUFFED RICE?

Let the rice cool completely, and then keep it in an airtight container at room temperature. Stored well, it stays crisp for a couple of weeks.

HOMEMADE PUFFED RICE FAQ

1. Why do I need to use parboiled rice? Can I use regular rice?
Parboiled rice has been partially boiled in its husk before milling, which gelatinizes the starch and makes the grain tougher and more uniform. That tiny bit of moisture inside the grain pretty much explodes as soon as it hits intense heat, which is what makes the rice puff up and pop like popcorn!

Note that I’ve tried this recipe with regular raw rice, and it just does not work. The rice will get toasty but it won’t puff up all the way like actual puffed rice. So it’s best to stick with parboiled rice. Just make sure the rice you buy is simply parboiled rice with no additional oils or preservatives, which can affect the cooking process.

2. Do I need to soak or pre-cook the rice first?
No, you do not need to soak the rice first. If you’d like to rinse the rice first you can do so, but make sure it’s thoroughly dry before you use it for this recipe. Any moisture on the outside of the rice may cause it to steam but not puff up the way that we need it to.

3. Why is the rice puffed in salt?
Hot salt acts as a heat-transfer medium for puffing the rice. It holds a steady, very high temperature that surrounds each grain evenly, so the rice puffs up almost instantly. It also prevents the grains from sticking to the pan or burning.

Trust me, this process sounds strange but it does work!

4. What kind of salt should I use?
I find that fine table salt works best for this recipe. The fine salt grains coat the outside of the rice more evenly, and they’re easier to strain out of the rice afterward.

5. What kind of pan is best?
I used a stainless steel pan. You can also use a cast iron pan, which also retains heats beautifully.

6. How hot should the salt be?
Th salt needs to be very hot, hot enough that a test grain of rice puffs within a few seconds of being dropped in. The temperature should read at least 430 F if you use an infrared thermometer.

This will take about 15-20 minutes of the pan being placed on Medium-High or High heat.

7. How long does the rice take to puff?
Only a few minutes. Once you add the rice to the hot salt, stir it constantly and the grains should pop and expand almost immediately, usually within a few seconds.

Make sure you stir the rice grains constantly so that they don’t burn.

8. Should I cook a big batch at once?
Small batches work best, but to be honest sometimes I’m lazy and just pour all of the rice in at once!

The risk though is that adding too much rice at once cools the temperature of the salt and can lead to uneven puffing.

9. How do I separate the puffed rice from the salt?
Quickly pour the puffed rice into a metal sieve or colander with holes large enough for the salt to fall through but small enough to hold the puffed rice. Shake it around until all of the salt falls off.

If you want to keep the cooked salt to reuse later, make sure you sift it over a bowl or pan so you can keep the salt that falls off. If you don’t plan to reuse the salt, you can just position the sieve over the kitchen sink instead.

10. Some of my rice didn’t puff. What went wrong?
The most common causes of your rice not puffing up are:

• The salt wasn’t hot enough: Make sure the salt is VERY hot, heated to at least 430 F, which you can test with an infrared thermometer.
• The rice was wet: Which can happen if you rinsed the rice first, and did not let it dry thoroughly before using for this recipe.
• Raw rice was used instead of parboiled rice: Only parboiled rice will work for this recipe.
• Too much rice was added to the pan at once: Which cools the salt down and leads to uneven puffing. For the best results, add the rice in small batches.

11. My puffed rice turned brown or tastes burnt. How can I avoid this?
The rice probably stayed in the salt for too long. Next time, make sure you’re stirring the rice constantly to help prevent hot spots, and transfer the puffed rice to the colander as soon as most of the grains are puffed.

12. How do I store the homemade puffed rice?
Let the rice cool completely, and then keep it in an airtight container at room temperature. Stored well, it stays crisp for a couple of weeks.

13. What can I use puffed rice for?
So many things! My favorite thing to use it for is Homemade Buncha Crunch. Just mix about 2 c of the puffed rice with 2 c of melted dark chocolate. Transfer the mixture to two silicone ice cube trays and chill in the freezer for about 1 hour. Remove the chocolate squares from the ice cube tray and enjoy!

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If you love this recipe be sure to leave a review! And feel free to reach out to me with any questions or comments via my Contact page. You’ll hear back from me soon!

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