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Ingredient guide

Rice

Which rice for risotto, and how do the varieties differ in texture and taste? Here are the eight Italian risotto rices side by side, then every other rice in the cupboard, how much water each one needs, a short history and how to keep leftovers safe.

  • Oryza sativa
  • 8 risotto rices compared
  • 11 other types
  • Water ratios
  • FSA safety advice
  • Carnarolirisotto, Italy
  • Basmatilong and slim
  • Venereblack, Piedmont
Three rices, three jobs: creamy, fluffy and nutty.

Almost all the rice we eat is one species, Oryza sativa, in two big families. Indica rices are generally long grain; Japonica rices are medium or short grain. The risotto rices, sushi rice and Spanish paella rice are Japonica. [27,29]

What makes one rice fluffy and another creamy or sticky is mostly its starch. Starch comes in two kinds: amylose (long, straight chains) and amylopectin (branched and sticky). Ordinary rice is roughly 10–30% amylose; the more amylose, the firmer and more separate the cooked grains. Glutinous (sticky) rice is almost pure amylopectin. [32,12]

Risotto rices in depthRisotto rice: the eight varieties

Risotto needs a medium or long Japonica rice that releases starch from its surface while the centre stays firm. Italian law sorts these rices by grain size into groups (the old words superfino, semifino and fino described size and shape, not quality). Here are the eight you are most likely to meet, from the supermarket shelf to the delicatessen.

The grains, drawn to scale (husked grain, mm)

  • Carnaroli6.9 × 3.2 mm, length/width 2.2
  • Arborio7.4 × 3.6 mm, length/width 2.0
  • Vialone Nano6.0 × 3.6 mm, length/width 1.7
  • Baldo7.3 × 3.3 mm, length/width 2.2
  • Roma7.1 × 3.2 mm, length/width 2.2
  • Sant’Andrea6.6 × 3.2 mm, length/width 2.1
  • Maratelli5.6 × 3.1 mm, length/width 1.8

Grain sizes from the RisoItaliano variety cards [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. Scale bar: 8 mm. Aged Carnaroli is Carnaroli.

Side by sideRisotto rices compared

Higher amylose = firmer, more separate grains; higher stickiness = a creamier, more bound risotto. Full details and sources on each card above.
RiceGrain (mm)Amylose
(lab, g/100 g)		Firmness
(lab, kg/cm²)		Stickiness
(lab, g·cm)		Holds its shapeFlavourBest forStock (approx)Grown in
Carnaroli“The king of rices”6.9 × 3.220.6 (high on the grower’s card)1.110.93Very wellNot aromaticAny risotto, from alla milanese to mushroomAbout 3½–4 × its weightMostly Pavia (Lombardy), also Novara and Vercelli (Piedmont)
ArborioThe one in every shop7.4 × 3.615.3 (low on the grower’s card)0.823.14Fairly well thanks to its size, but less than Carnaroli or Vialone NanoNot aromaticEveryday risotto, antipasti, timballi, rice salads, side dishes and one-pot dishesAbout 3½–4 × its weightMostly Pavia (Lombardy)
Vialone NanoThe Veneto’s rice6.0 × 3.622.4 (high on the grower’s card)1.100.91Very well, despite the small grainA delicate but distinctive aroma, says the PGI descriptionVenetian risotto served all’onda (loose and wavy, so it spreads on the plate)Very absorbent, and the all’onda style is looser, so keep a ladle or two of hot stock in hand at the endThe Veneto
BaldoPiedmont’s everyday risotto rice7.3 × 3.317.9 (low on the grower’s card)0.863.87ModeratelyNot aromaticTraditionally used for risotto, above all in PiedmontAbout 3½–4 × its weightPiedmont and Lombardy (most “Roma o Baldo” rice is grown in Pavia)
RomaBig, quick and absorbent7.1 × 3.2low (grower’s card)not testednot testedNo lab figuresNot aromaticCreamy risotti, plain rice with butter or sauce, sformati and timballiAbout 3½–4 × its weightPiedmont and Lombardy, mostly Pavia (sold under the shared name “Roma o Baldo”)
Sant’AndreaVercelli’s soup and panissa rice6.6 × 3.216.5 (low on the grower’s card)0.754.43Less wellNot aromaticSoups and minestrone, rich creamy risotti and the Piedmontese panissa and riso e fagioli (rice and beans)About 3½–4 × its weightThe Vercelli area of Piedmont (it suits the cold Baraggia
MaratelliThe heritage risotto rice5.6 × 3.1low (grower’s card)not testednot testedNo lab figuresNot aromaticClassic risottiAbout 3½–4 × its weightPiedmont (Vercelli)
Aged Carnarolie.g. Acquerello6.9 × 3.2 (as Carnaroli)as Carnarolinot testednot testedThe maker says long ageing lets the grains hold their textureThe producer says ageing enhances the flavour and helps each grain take up the seasoningSpecial-occasion and restaurant risotti, where you want the grains distinctAllow a little moreAcquerello

Lab columns: Ente Nazionale Risi [12]; stock: our risotto notes [26]; everything else from the cards above. Scroll the table sideways on a phone.

Why they behave differentlyStarch, creaminess and bite

Amyloseg per 100 g; dashed line = low/medium boundary (19)

  • Carnaroli
  • Arborio
  • Vialone Nano
  • Baldo
  • Sant’Andrea

Stickinesscooked rice, g·cm: higher = creamier

  • Carnaroli
  • Arborio
  • Vialone Nano
  • Baldo
  • Sant’Andrea

Firmnesscooked rice, kg/cm²: higher = firmer

  • Carnaroli
  • Arborio
  • Vialone Nano
  • Baldo
  • Sant’Andrea

Cooking timecalculated by the lab, minutes

  • Carnaroli
  • Arborio
  • Vialone Nano
  • Baldo
  • Sant’Andrea

Lab figures: Ente Nazionale Risi’s laboratory measured amylose (g per 100 g), hardness and stickiness of cooked rice and worked out a cooking time. Its bands: low amylose 10–19, medium 20–24. The growers’ variety cards call Carnaroli and Vialone Nano “high” and the rest “low”. A miller’s own figures are close (Arborio 17.3, Baldo 16.8, Sant’Andrea 18.3, Carnaroli 22.1, Vialone Nano 22.8). One UK trade page calls Arborio and Sant’Andrea high-amylose; the Italian lab data say low, and we follow the lab. Roma and Maratelli were not in the study. [12,9,13,27]

On the packetBuying Italian rice: reading the label

Rice typesEvery other rice in the cupboard

How much water?Water ratios at a glance

RiceRinse?SoakLiquidTimeSource
Long grain, whiteYes–1½–2 cups water per cup of rice (75 g rice ≈ 150 ml water)10–12 min covered + 5 min rest[44]
BasmatiYes30 min (optional)2 : 1 by weight (120 g rice, 240 ml water)10–12 min + 3 min rest[42,30]
JasmineYes–2 : 1 by weight (120 g rice, 240 ml water)12 min + 3 min rest[43]
Sushi riceYes, well30–60 min1.2 : 1 by weight (450 g rice, 540 ml water)8–9 min + 5–10 min rest[45]
Risotto riceNo–About 3½–4 × the rice’s weight in hot stock, added gradually (approx)16–18 min from the first ladle[26,22]
Bomba / CalasparraNo–About 3 : 1 by volume (it absorbs 2–3 × its volume)Follow the recipe[27,38]
Pudding riceNo–Lots of milk: our Rice Pudding uses 100 g to 500 mlSlow: hob or oven[27,44]
GlutinousYes4 h–overnightSteamed, not boiled≈ 20 min steaming[46]
Brown / redYes30 min helpsAbout 2½ : 1 by volume35–50 min[44,47,34]
Wild riceOptional–3 : 1 by volume, then drain30–45 min[47]

Brands and cooks differ: our Ask Chef Col answer uses 1 cup rice to 1½ cups water for firmer long-grain rice, Kikkoman and Tilda use 2. Always check the pack, and measure rice and water in the same cup or jug.

HistoryA short, sourced history of rice

  1. About 9,000 years ago

    Asian rice, Oryza sativa, is first domesticated in the Yangtze River basin in China, according to the current archaeological and linguistic consensus. [48]

  2. About 3,000 years ago

    African rice, Oryza glaberrima, is domesticated separately, around the Niger delta. [48]

  3. 1st century AD

    Rome knows rice as an import from Egypt and the East; large deposits of it are found in Roman army camps in Germany. [48]

  4. 8th–10th centuries

    The Umayyads bring rice to Spain, and Arab farmers in al-Andalus grow it; it may have reached Sicily in the 9th century. By the 15th century rice is a staple around Valencia. [48,41]

  5. About 1390

    In England, Richard II’s cooks write down “Ryse of Flesh” in The Forme of Cury: “Take Ryse and waishe hem clene. and do hem in erthen pot with gode broth” (sic), finished with almond milk and coloured with saffron: rice, broth and saffron, four centuries before risotto alla milanese. [49]

  6. 1468–1475

    Rice is recorded on the plain of Pisa (1468) and in Lombardy. Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan, is growing it near Vigevano by 1472, and on 27 September 1475 he promises 12 sacks of seed rice to Ercole I d’Este of Ferrara: the conventional start of Po valley rice. [48,50,51]

  7. 16th century

    Lombard families bring rice to the marshes south of Verona; in 1545 the Venetian Senate appoints officials to drain them and license rice mills. Veronese rice is sold at the Rialto in Venice. [15]

  8. 1809

    The first recipe recognisably like risotto alla milanese is printed, as “riso giallo in padella” (yellow rice in the pan): rice fried in butter with cervellata sausage, bone marrow and onion, then cooked with saffron stock added a little at a time. [52,53]

  9. 1829

    Giovanni Felice Luraschi’s Nuovo cuoco milanese economico calls it “risotto alla milanese giallo”. [53]

  10. 1914

    Maratelli is found at Asigliano Vercellese, the first of the modern risotto rices. [7,22]

  11. 1937–1946

    Vialone Nano (1937), Carnaroli (1945) and Arborio (1946) are bred in Piedmont and Lombardy. [3,2,1]

  12. 1960s

    Roma (1962), Baldo (1964) and Sant’Andrea (1968) follow from the Vercelli research station and the Ente Nazionale Risi. [5,4,6]

  13. 1980s

    Camargue red rice appears in France from a natural cross; Gualtiero Marchesi makes his gold-leaf saffron risotto with Maratelli (1981). [36,7]

  14. 1986–1996

    Calasparra gets its Spanish Denominación de Origen (1986); Acquerello aged Carnaroli is launched (1991); Riso Nano Vialone Veronese becomes Europe’s first rice PGI (1996). [39,21,15]

  15. 1997–2009

    Venere black rice is bred at Vercelli (1997); Riz de Camargue (2000), Riso di Baraggia (2007) and Riso del Delta del Po (2009) gain EU protection. [8,37,18,19]

  16. 2017

    Italy’s Decree 131 replaces the 1958 rice law and creates the “classico” label for the pure old varieties. [10,11]

LegendLegend, not history: the story that saffron risotto was invented at a Milan wedding in 1574 by a glazier’s apprentice nicknamed “Zafferano”. The Corriere della Sera calls it a legend; see the full story on our Risotto page. [52]

In the kitchenCooking tips

  1. Rinse or not?

    Rinse long-grain, basmati, jasmine and sushi rice until the water runs clear: it washes off loose surface starch, so the grains stay separate. Never rinse risotto, paella or pudding rice: that starch is what makes them creamy. [42,45,44,22]

  2. Soak the ones that like it

    Basmati 30 minutes (optional), sushi rice 30–60 minutes, glutinous rice 4 hours or more, brown and red rice 30 minutes to save time. [30,45,46,44]

  3. Measure by the same cup

    For the absorption method, measure rice and water in the same cup or jug, bring to the boil, cover, turn the heat right down and leave the lid on. [44,42]

  4. Don’t stir long-grain rice

    Stirring while it boils rubs off starch and makes it sticky. (Risotto is the opposite: you stir to release the starch.) [44,22]

  5. Rest it

    Leave cooked rice covered off the heat for 3–5 minutes, or under a clean tea towel, then fluff it with a fork. [42,44]

  6. How much per person

    Allow 50–75 g uncooked rice per person as a side; less in a dish with lots of other ingredients. [44]

  7. Risotto

    Hot stock, a 2–3 minute tostatura, wine, a ladle at a time, all’onda, then the mantecatura off the heat: see our step-by-step tips. [26]

Bacillus cereusFood safety: cooked rice

Cooked rice can make you ill if it is kept warm or cooled slowly. Follow the UK Food Standards Agency and NHS advice:

  1. Why rice is specialUncooked rice can carry spores of Bacillus cereus, and the spores survive cooking. If cooked rice is left at room temperature they grow and make toxins that reheating will not destroy. It is not the reheating that causes the problem but how the rice was kept before. [54,56]
  2. Cool it fastChill leftover rice as quickly as possible, ideally within 1 hour: divide it into small portions or spread it on a clean shallow tray. Don’t leave it to cool in the pan, steamer or rice cooker. [54,56,55]
  3. Fridge, then 24 hoursKeep it covered in the fridge and eat it within 24 hours. Cold rice is fine to eat if it was cooled quickly. [54,55]
  4. Reheat once, steaming hotNever reheat rice more than once, and make sure it is steaming hot all the way through. Take extra care with takeaway rice. [54,55]

Cook itRice recipes on Cookeryonline

Sources for this guide (56)
  1. RisoItaliano: “Arborio, scheda varietale” (Italian): grain size, low amylose, bred 1946 by Domenico Marchetti
  2. RisoItaliano: “Carnaroli, scheda varietale” (Italian): bred 1945 by Achille De Vecchi at Paullo (Milan), Vialone × Lencino
  3. RisoItaliano: “Vialone Nano, scheda varietale” (Italian): medium grain, Nano × Vialone, 1937
  4. RisoItaliano: “Baldo, scheda varietale” (Italian): Arborio × Stirpe 136, 1964
  5. RisoItaliano: “Roma, scheda varietale” (Italian): Balilla × R 77, 1962
  6. RisoItaliano: “S. Andrea, scheda varietale” (Italian): selected from Rizzotto, 1968
  7. RisoItaliano: “Maratelli, scheda varietale” (Italian): found in 1914 at Asigliano Vercellese
  8. RisoItaliano: “Venere, scheda varietale” (Italian): Italy’s first black rice, 1997
  9. RisoItaliano: “Le varietà italiane” (Italian): grain groups and the sales names Arborio, Carnaroli, Roma o Baldo, S. Andrea, Vialone Nano (2024 data)
  10. RisoItaliano: “Ecco come si applica la nuova legge”, 6 Nov 2017 (Italian): Decree 131/2017 on rice names and the word “classico”
  11. Gazzetta Ufficiale, 7 Sept 2017, no. 209: Legislative Decree no. 131 of 4 August 2017 on the Italian rice market (Italian)
  12. C. Simonelli, L. Galassi, M. Cormegna, P. Bianchi (Ente Nazionale Risi and ERSAF): “Chemical, Physical, Textural and Sensory Evaluation on Italian Rice Varieties”, Universal Journal of Agricultural Research 5(2), 2017
  13. Riso Zaccaria: “Contenuto in amilosio dei risi Zaccaria” (Italian): a miller’s own amylose figures
  14. Riseria Re Carlo: “Riso Sant’Andrea” (Italian): 14–16 minutes, softer grain, panissa
  15. European Commission: “Riso Nano Vialone Veronese PGI” (origins, the 24 municipalities, first European rice PGI in 1996)
  16. European Commission GI recipes: Riso Nano Vialone Veronese PGI (“traditionally cooked and served in the all’onda style”)
  17. Italiana: “Which rice to use for risotto?” (Vialone Nano, seafood and risotto all’onda in the Veneto)
  18. GOV.UK protected food names: Riso di Baraggia Biellese e Vercellese (PDO, EU registration 22 August 2007)
  19. GOV.UK protected food names: Riso del delta del Po (PGI, EU registration 11 November 2009)
  20. Acquerello (Tenuta Colombara): “The first aged Carnaroli rice” (ageing below 15 °C, the germ, 1 to 8 years)
  21. Acquerello company profile 2023 (PDF): started 1991 by Piero Rondolino; 7-year rice darker, slower, more absorbent
  22. Wikipedia: Risotto (rice varieties; no rinsing; tostatura and mantecatura)
  23. Wikipedia: Carnaroli (“the king of rices”; Pavia, Novara and Vercelli)
  24. Wikipedia: Arborio rice
  25. Wikipedia: Vialone Nano
  26. Cookeryonline: “How to make a perfect risotto” (our risotto tips, with their own 19 sources: Marcella Hazan, Anna Del Conte, Giorgio Locatelli, Felicity Cloake, Serious Eats)
  27. The Rice Association (UK): Types of rice
  28. The Rice Association (UK): Cooking with rice (short, medium and long grain)
  29. Wikipedia: Japonica rice (rounder, stickier grains, more amylopectin)
  30. Wikipedia: Basmati (2-acetyl-1-pyrroline; soaking; the 2005 FSA survey and the code of practice)
  31. Wikipedia: Jasmine rice (Thai hom mali)
  32. Wikipedia: Glutinous rice (almost all amylopectin; no gluten)
  33. Wikipedia: Wild rice (Zizania)
  34. Wikipedia: Brown rice (cooking time, storage, arsenic)
  35. Wikipedia: Black rice (anthocyanins)
  36. Wikipedia: Camargue red rice
  37. GOV.UK protected food names: Riz de Camargue (PGI, EU registration 6 June 2000)
  38. Wikipedia: Bomba rice
  39. Wikipedia: Calasparra rice (Denominación de Origen since 1986)
  40. GOV.UK protected food names: Calasparra (PDO, EU registration 21 June 1996)
  41. Wikipedia: Paella (history; bomba and senia)
  42. Tilda: How to cook basmati rice (rinse; 2 to 1 water by weight; 10–12 minutes)
  43. Tilda: How to cook jasmine rice (2 to 1; 12 minutes; rest 3 minutes)
  44. Kikkoman UK: Our guide to cooking perfect rice (13 Oct 2025): absorption method, short-grain rice, brown and red rice
  45. BBC Food: Yuki Gomi’s perfect sushi rice (Saturday Kitchen)
  46. Sasha Marx, “Khao Niao (Thai Sticky Rice)”, Serious Eats
  47. University of Minnesota Extension, Real Life Good Food: Wild or brown rice
  48. Wikipedia: History of rice cultivation (Yangtze domestication; African rice; rice in Europe)
  49. The Forme of Cury, compiled about 1390, ed. Samuel Pegge (1780), Project Gutenberg eBook 8102: “Ryse of Flesh”
  50. Diane Yvonne Ghirardo, “Mediterranean Pathways: Exotic Flora, Fauna and Food in Renaissance Ferrara”, California Italian Studies 1 (2010)
  51. “12 sacks of rice”, Ferrara – Voci di una Città, Fondazione Estense (2004)
  52. Roberto Perrone, “La fabbrica del Duomo e l’invenzione del risotto”, Corriere della Sera, 29 January 2011 (Italian)
  53. Wikipedia (Italian): Risotto alla milanese (1809 “riso giallo in padella”; Luraschi, 1829)
  54. Food Standards Agency: Home food fact checker (rice: Bacillus cereus, cool within an hour, reheat once)
  55. NHS: Children’s food: safety and hygiene (cool rice within 1 hour, eat within 24 hours, never reheat more than once)
  56. Food Standards Agency, Safer Food Better Business: Rice (chilling quickly: small portions, shallow tray)

Written 1 November 2026. Facts checked against the sources above on 1 November 2026; Amazon listings checked on 1 November 2026.