How to Use the Rice Porridge Ratio Calculator
Rice porridge (also known as congee) changes texture dramatically depending on the ratio of rice to water. This calculator takes your number of servings and desired thickness (thin, regular, or thick) and calculates exactly how much uncooked rice and water you need. It uses about 1.75 oz (50g) of raw rice per serving as a baseline and scales up with the number of servings.
A common rule of thumb is a 1:7 rice-to-water ratio for a thin, congee-style porridge, about 1:5 for a regular porridge, and about 1:4 for a thick porridge. Recovery meals or early baby food are usually made thinner, while a porridge meant to replace a full meal is often made thicker.
These amounts assume unsoaked, raw rice. If you pre-soak your rice, it has already absorbed some water, so reduce the calculated water amount by roughly 10-20% to hit the same consistency. Since porridge can reduce as it simmers, checking the texture partway through and adding more water if needed is also a good habit.
Frequently Asked Questions
A thin porridge (congee) typically uses a 1:7 rice-to-water ratio, a regular porridge about 1:5, and a thick porridge about 1:4. Recovery or baby-food porridges are often made even thinner.
About 1.75 oz (50g) of uncooked rice is a common baseline per serving. If porridge is the whole meal rather than a side, using 2.1 to 2.5 oz (60-70g) per serving is also common.
Yes. This calculator assumes unsoaked, raw rice. If you pre-soak the rice, it has already absorbed water, so reduce the calculated water amount by about 10-20%.