If you’ve ever wanted a great way to use up leftover rice, crispy rice salad is the answer you’ve been looking for! Of all the new dishes I’ve tried this year, this was the one that made me the happiest. I started with the Asian-inspired version written here. Since then, I’ve made numerous variations riffing on flavor combinations from all around the globe.
This is a great dish to make when you have day-old rice in the fridge. But you can also make fresh rice and let it cool and then proceed with the recipe. Serve this with tons of fresh or lightly cooked vegetables and any dressing that you enjoy.
Ingredients for Crispy Rice Salad
- Leftover rice: I’m a sucker for sticky sushi rice and love the way that it makes crispy rice clump as it bakes, so that’s what I used. However, you can use any type of rice that you happen to have.
- Canola oil: You’ll be using toasted sesame oil to flavor this dish. But that oil has a lower smoke point than the oven temperature at which you’ll be cooking the rice, so it’s a no-go for the cooking step of the process. Instead, crisp up the rice using a more refined oil for frying, such as grapeseed, avocado or canola oil, as they can handle the extra heat.
- Coarse salt: This recipe uses coarse sea salt, which is added to the rice along with the oil. If you seasoned the water when you cooked the rice the first time around, you can skip the extra salt.
- Tahini: Tahini, which is another name for sesame paste, oxidizes (aka becomes rancid) quickly when kept in a warm place, so make sure to store yours in the fridge. If you’ve had some in the cupboard for a while, give it a sniff to make sure that it’s fresh before using it.
- Toasted sesame oil: This oil, which is often kept near the soy sauce and tamari at the grocery store, is nutty and toasty and delicious. Like tahini, it’s best stored in the fridge, or at least in a cool dark cupboard.
- Rice wine vinegar: Choose the unseasoned type of rice vinegar. The seasoned type will add additional salt to the recipe. Rice vinegar has a nice, clean flavor and can serve as a great all-purpose type of vinegar for other recipes too.
- Tamari: Whenever I’m making a dish that’s otherwise gluten-free, I’ll default to using tamari vs. soy, because the former is wheat-free. That way, if I happen to share it with someone who avoids gluten, they’ll be able to eat it.
- Mirin: Mirin is a common Japanese ingredient and a component of teriyaki sauce. The sweetened rice wine is also used in China and South Korea and has been adopted in parts of Thailand. If you don’t have it, use a little honey instead.
- Garlic: My cloves were medium-sized, but if you love garlic, feel free to go big.
- Ginger: Even though you puree the dressing in a food processor or blender, it’s still a good move to chop the ginger a bit before adding it. That way, you don’t risk biting into a big chunk.
- Cabbage: Green cabbage is great in this dish, but red is more eye-catching. Which one you use is up to you. If you can’t decide, use both.
- Scallions: For this dish, you can use both the green and white parts of the scallion, which are sometimes referred to as green onions.
- Carrot: Shredding the carrot is quick and easy, but mincing it or cutting it into a julienne would be equally great.
- Cucumber: Depending on where you buy your cucumbers, you could peel them or leave the skin on. Waxed cucumbers from the supermarket are a good candidate for peeling. If you bought yours from a farm or farmers market and the cukes are young and tender, leave the skin on for its valuable nutrients.
- Edamame: You can often find edamame, also known as soybeans, in the freezer section of the grocery store.
Directions
Step 1: Crisp the rice
Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a sheet pan with parchment. In a large bowl, combine the rice, oil and salt with your hands. Mix until the oil is distributed. Pour the rice onto the pan, spreading it with your hands or a spatula to make an even, thin layer. Bake for 15 minutes, then flip the rice with a spatula and bake for 15 more minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and let cool.
Editor’s Tip: The rice should be lightly golden in parts, with darker areas around the edges.
Step 2: Make the dressing
While the rice is cooking, combine the tahini, sesame oil, canola oil, rice wine vinegar, tamari, water, mirin, garlic and ginger (if desired).
Use an immersion blender or pulse in a blender until well blended and emulsified.
Editor’s Tip: If you don’t have a blender, use a food processor to make the dressing. If you don’t have either, mince the garlic and ginger and shake the ingredients in a tightly sealed jar.
Step 3: Combine the ingredients
When the rice is cool, toss it together with the veggies and dressing to make the salad. Serve with sliced green onion, sesame seeds, chili crisp and/or shichimi togarashi seasoning as desired.
Editor’s Tip: Begin by tossing the veggies and rice with just 8 tablespoons of the dressing to prevent overdressing the salad—you can always add more! Also, before serving, taste for seasoning and consider adding more salt, tamari or vinegar for sourness.
Crispy Rice Salad Variations
- Swap the rice: I used sushi rice when creating this recipe, as I enjoy the way that it creates clumps of crisped rice. A less sticky type of rice, such as jasmine, basmati or long grain, will give you more individual crispy bits.
- Go global: This variation has plenty of Asian ingredients, but you could make versions with inspiration from pretty much any region of the world. A Mexican-inspired crispy rice dish could have a cilantro lime vinaigrette and use roasted corn, tomatoes, pumpkin and black beans as toppings. I tried an Italian-leaning version with radicchio, wilted greens, baked zucchini, heirloom tomatoes and a basil-balsamic vinaigrette that I enjoyed. For a different kind of Asian inspiration, try crispy rice with a Vietnamese lime juice and fish sauce dressing, lots of Thai or lemon basil, and cilantro and the addition of some toasted peanuts.
- Add protein: If you’re sticking with the original recipe, baked tofu would be a perfect protein-rich addition. Shiitake mushrooms would be another perfect complement. You could also add shrimp, slices of steak, chicken or pork.
How to Store Crispy Rice Salad
The rice will start to lose its crunch as soon as it’s refrigerated, but the dish is still pleasant to eat regardless. If you haven’t dressed all the rice, store the dressing separately. Combine it with the other ingredients when you’re ready to eat. Keep the rice and veggies in a snap-top container and the dressing in a little glass jar.
How long does crispy rice salad last?
Leftover rice doesn’t have a long shelf life, so eat this up within two days.
Crispy Rice Salad Tips
Why isn’t my rice crisping up in the oven?
Your oven temperature settings may not be quite right, so you could try bumping up the he