Dry to Cooked: Rice, Pasta & Grain Yield Converter
Recipes measure grains dry, plates hold them cooked — this converts between the two, in both directions. The quick answers: 1 cup of dry rice makes about 3 cups cooked (≈520 g), 2 oz of dry spaghetti makes about 1 cup, and by weight cooked rice is about 2.8× its dry weight (USDA) — not the 3× that gets repeated around the internet. Pick a food:
Yields are honest approximations — the water ratio, the pot and resting time all move the result, which is why even primary sources disagree (see the last column below). Weight factors are derived from USDA FoodData Central composition data; dry cup weights match our verified grain chart.
What 1 cup of dry grain makes
| Grain (1 cup dry) | Dry weight | Cooked weight | Cooked volume | Published yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White rice (long-grain) | 185 g | ≈ 520 g | ≈ 3⅓ cups | 3–3½ cups (USA Rice / Mahatma) |
| Brown rice (long-grain) | 185 g | ≈ 550 g | ≈ 2¾ cups | 2¾–3 cups (USDA / Whole Grains Council) |
| Quinoa | 170 g | ≈ 520 g | ≈ 2.8 cups | about 3 cups (Whole Grains Council) |
| Rolled oats → oatmeal | 90 g | ≈ 480 g | ≈ 2.1 cups | about 2 cups (Quaker method) |
| Couscous (instant) | 175 g | ≈ 475 g | ≈ 2½ cups | 2–2½ cups (package method) |
| Pearl barley | 213 g | ≈ 610 g | ≈ 3.9 cups | 3½–4 cups (Bob's Red Mill) |
| Bulgur | 140 g | ≈ 575 g | ≈ 3.2 cups | about 3 cups (Whole Grains Council) |
| Wild rice | 160 g | ≈ 565 g | ≈ 3½ cups | 3–4 cups (MN Wild Rice Council) |
Where our computed volume and the published figure differ slightly (brown rice, quinoa), the published one assumes a slightly wetter or fluffier result — both are inside normal kitchen variation.
100 g dry → cooked
The scale-user's version — what 100 g of dry grain turns into, by weight and volume:
| Food (100 g dry) | Cooked weight | Cooked volume |
|---|---|---|
| White rice (long-grain) | ≈ 280 g | ≈ 1¾ cups |
| Brown rice (long-grain) | ≈ 300 g | ≈ 1½ cups |
| Quinoa | ≈ 305 g | ≈ 1⅔ cups |
| Pasta — long (spaghetti, linguine) | ≈ 235 g | ≈ 1.9 cups |
| Pasta — short (penne, rotini, elbows) | ≈ 235 g | ≈ 2¼ cups |
| Rolled oats → oatmeal | ≈ 535 g | ≈ 2⅓ cups |
| Couscous (instant) | ≈ 270 g | ≈ 1.4 cups |
| Pearl barley | ≈ 285 g | ≈ 1.8 cups |
| Bulgur | ≈ 410 g | ≈ 2¼ cups |
| Wild rice | ≈ 355 g | ≈ 2.2 cups |
Pasta: the 2 oz rule, corrected
The standard US serving of dry pasta is 2 oz (57 g), and the famous rule says that's 1 cup cooked. USDA weights show it's really two rules: 57 g of any shape cooks to about 135 g, but that fills ≈ 1.1 cups of long pasta (spaghetti, 124 g/cup) and ≈ 1¼ cups of short shapes (penne and rotini pack just 107 g into a cup). And skip measuring dry pasta by the cup entirely — USDA weighs a dry cup of elbows at 122 g but a dry cup of shells at 64 g. Grams or ounces only.
How much dry rice for the cooked amount you want
Cooking backwards from a recipe that wants cooked rice (fried rice, rice salad, stuffing):
| Cooked white rice wanted | Cooked weight | Dry rice needed | Dry volume |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 cup cooked | 160 g | ≈ 56 g | ≈ ⅓ cup |
| 2 cups cooked | 315 g | ≈ 115 g | ≈ ⅔ cup |
| 3 cups cooked | 475 g | ≈ 170 g | ≈ 0.9 cups |
| 4 cups cooked | 630 g | ≈ 225 g | ≈ 1¼ cups |
| 6 cups cooked | 950 g | ≈ 340 g | ≈ 1.8 cups |
Volume triples. Weight doesn't.
The most-repeated wrong number in this corner of the kitchen is "rice triples in weight when cooked." It doesn't: USDA composition data (checked two independent ways — calorie ratio and dry-solids ratio) puts cooked white rice at ×2.8 its dry weight, and the USA Rice Federation itself only says rice "more than doubles." The volume roughly triples — that's the true half of the saying. The gap matters the moment you portion with a scale: 100 g of dry rice is ~280 g cooked, not 300. Each grain has its own factor — quinoa ×3.06, pasta ×2.37, bulgur ×4.1, and oatmeal an outlier ×5.4 — which is exactly what the calculator above applies.
Need a different conversion?
Feeding a crowd? The portion calculator gives dry grams per person for rice, pasta and more — pair it with this page to see the cooked pile. Weighing the dry grain first? The grain conversion chart has cups-to-grams for every grain here, with white rice, quinoa and rolled oats each getting a full converter. Scaling the whole recipe up or down instead? Use the recipe scaler.
Frequently asked questions
How much cooked rice does 1 cup of dry rice make?
About 3 cups of cooked rice, weighing roughly 520 g. The sources honestly disagree on the exact figure: the USA Rice Federation's culinary guide says 1 cup dry makes 3 cups cooked, while Mahatma's package (2 cups water to 1 cup rice) says 3 1/2 cups. USDA densities land between them: 185 g of dry long-grain rice becomes about 520 g cooked, which fills about 3 1/4 cups at 158 g per cooked cup.
How many cups of cooked grains is 100 g of dry grains?
Depends on the grain, because each absorbs a different amount of water. 100 g of dry white rice cooks up to about 280 g — roughly 1 3/4 cups. Quinoa: about 305 g, 1 2/3 cups. Brown rice: about 300 g, 1 1/2 cups. Dry pasta: about 235 g, close to 2 cups of long shapes. Rolled oats are the outlier: 100 g of oats makes about 535 g of oatmeal, around 2 1/4 cups. The full table above covers all ten foods.
Does rice really triple when it cooks?
By volume, roughly yes — 1 cup dry makes about 3 to 3 1/2 cups cooked. By weight, no: USDA composition data puts cooked long-grain white rice at about 2.8 times its dry weight, and the USA Rice Federation itself only claims rice 'more than doubles' in weight. The widely repeated 'rice triples in weight' line garbles the volume figure into a weight claim — worth knowing if you portion by the scale.
How much dry rice do I need for 2 cups of cooked rice?
About 115 g of dry rice — a scant 2/3 cup. Two cups of cooked white rice weigh about 316 g, and dividing by the 2.8 cooked-to-dry weight factor gives 113 g dry. For 4 cups cooked, start from about 225 g (1 1/4 cups) dry. The calculator above runs this direction for every grain — choose 'I want cooked, how much dry?'.
Is 2 oz of dry pasta really 1 cup cooked?
Only for long shapes. Barilla's own serving guidance says 2 oz of spaghetti or linguine cooks to about 1 cup — and USDA weights agree (57 g dry × 2.37 = 135 g, almost exactly one 124 g cup of cooked spaghetti). But short shapes trap air between pieces: the same 2 oz of penne, rotini or elbows fills about 1 1/4 cups (USDA weighs a cup of cooked penne at just 107 g). The one-cup rule undercounts short pasta by about 25%.
Why can't I measure dry pasta in cups?
Because the shape changes the weight more than the portion does. USDA weighs 1 cup of dry elbows at 122 g but 1 cup of dry shells at only 64 g — nearly a 2:1 spread for the 'same' cup. That's why this converter takes dry pasta in grams or ounces only. Cooked pasta is more consistent, so cups work fine on that side.
How much quinoa equals 250 g of cooked white rice?
For the same volume on the plate, cook about 95 g (a generous 1/2 cup) of dry quinoa. The math: 250 g of cooked rice fills about 1.6 cups; the same volume of cooked quinoa weighs about 293 g (quinoa's cooked cup is heavier, 185 g vs 158 g), and dividing by quinoa's 3.06 weight factor gives roughly 95 g dry. If you just want the same 250 g weight of cooked quinoa instead, cook about 80 g dry.
Why does oatmeal weigh five times more than the dry oats?
Because a bowl of oatmeal is mostly absorbed water. USDA weighs dry rolled oats at 81–90 g per cup but cooked oatmeal at 234 g per cup, and the standard Quaker method (1/2 cup oats + 1 cup water) turns 45 g of oats into roughly a 240 g bowl — a weight factor of about 5.4, the biggest of any food on this page. Volume is far tamer: 1 cup of dry oats makes about 2 cups of oatmeal.
How much does 1 cup of dry couscous make?
About 2 to 2 1/2 cups, using the standard package method (1 cup couscous + 1 1/4 cups water, cover, 5 minutes off the heat). Honest footnote: USDA's own yield line says 1 dry cup makes 528 g — nearer 3 cups — but its cooked entry is 72.6% water, a wetter preparation than the package method can physically produce (175 g of couscous plus 296 g of water is 471 g even if every drop is absorbed). We publish the number your kitchen will actually reproduce.
Does brown rice make more or less than white rice?
Slightly less volume from the same dry cup, surprisingly. Brown rice absorbs more water by weight (×2.98 vs ×2.8), but its cooked cup is much heavier — 202 g vs 158 g (USDA) — so 1 cup dry yields about 2 3/4 cups cooked against white rice's 3 to 3 1/2. The Whole Grains Council rounds both to 3 cups, which is fair as a kitchen answer.
Should I measure rice cooked or uncooked for a recipe?
Measure dry unless the recipe clearly says otherwise — most recipes, package directions and nutrition labels are written for dry weight. If you're tracking portions, weighing dry is also far more repeatable: cooked weight swings with the water ratio, the pot and how long it sits, which is exactly why published yield figures disagree. Our portion calculator works in dry weight for the same reason (about 75 g of dry rice per person as a main).
How much dry rice or pasta per person?
The standard planning figures are about 75 g of dry rice per person for a main dish (roughly 200–210 g cooked) and 85–100 g of dry pasta (2 oz is the official US serving; 100 g is the generous real-world one). Halve them for sides. The portion calculator covers rice, pasta, couscous, quinoa and more, per number of people.