Colored rice is fun to have around for a few different projects. My favorite, though, is a Rice Box.
You will need:
- Rice (any amount)
- Food dye (liquid drops work well)
- Bowls (one per color you intend to make)
- Water
- A sieve
Good to have:
- Paper towels
- Spoon/spatula
The Project:
Coloring rice is actually pretty simple. I put some dry, uncooked rice in a bowl. I filled the bowls with enough warm/room temperature water to cover the rice (not too much, or you’ll need more food dye to achieve the same colors) adding a few drops of food dye to each bowl to achieve my desired colors. You can swirl the rice around to distribute the colors or use a spoon/spatula to stir them in (especially with larger batches). After you mix in the colors, set the bowls aside for a while (an hour or so was perfect for the amount I did in each bowl) and let the rice absorb the colored water. When the rice is the color you want, rinse the rice in a sieve and then put the rice back into the (dried) bowl. Let the rice dry, stirring occasionally to help it dry faster. When it’s dry, the rice is ready to use!
Tips:
- I put a double layer of paper towels (or kitchen towels) under my rice to help absorb the water a little, and removed it when the towel felt wet.
- When you add the water to the rice, the water gets cloudy from the rice dust; that won’t really affect the color and rinses off when you rinse the rice. You could pre-rinse the rice, but make sure not to let it absorb too much water before you dye it or the rice won’t absorb as much color.
- You can also lay the rice flat to dry on a cookie sheet and could probably even let it sit in a warmed oven for a while to speed it up, but I just had my son help me get it ready the day before I intended to use it. That worked out really well.
- Be creative with your colors; add a little yellow to your green and orange to get nice, warm hues, a little more red than blue to get a pretty purple, etc. Feel free to do some testing in small batches to figure out nice color mixes beforehand.
- Make sure your bowls (or pots!) are large enough to allow for the rice to expand as it absorbs the water. Add a little water as necessary to each bowl to keep the rice covered and to make sure it moves freely and doesn’t clump.
PHOTO OP: I took a few pictures of the finished rice because it turned out such pretty colors! It’ll make a nice background for something I’m sure!
