Empty calories. White rice. High carb. Low nutritional value. So why not come up with a faux rice “packed with the power of vegetables”? Keith Belling, Founder and CEO of Right Rice, made with lentils, chickpeas, peas and a bit of rice, put together a team of rice lovers to develop this product, which now has several flavor profiles including cilantro lime, garlic herb, and Thai curry.

We selected the garlic herb Right Rice for our taste trial and purchased the product from our local Whole Foods. While Right Rice offers more potassium and iron than regular rice, it still has a significant amount of carbs (30 grams per 1/3 cup dry) with 5 grams of fiber. What Right Rice does right is its 10 grams of protein per serving, which is around twice that of regular white rice.

Cooking rice can be tricky, unless you have a fancy rice steamer, but cooking Right Rice is simple. Boil water. Drop in Right Rice. Cover and let sit for 12 minutes. Done.

The texture of Right Rice is very close to the texture of white rice. For the taste testers who didn’t know it wasn’t regular rice, they couldn’t tell a difference. For those of us who knew what we were eating, we thought it was slightly chalky, though nearly imperceptible.

The garlic herb flavoring had an overwhelming oregano essence, which many of us didn’t like. We added in some cumin and that created a better flavor profile.

The biggest win for Right Rice is its low glycemic index. Both white and brown rice have a high glycemic index, which means there is a substantial impact on blood sugar levels. According to the Right Rice website, “a low-glycemic index diet (55 or less) is recommended as a way to lose weight and prevent chronic diseases related to obesity. Right Rice has a low GI of 51 vs. 72 for traditional white rice.”

There is a lot more information on Right Rice and its benefits on the website. 

After much consideration, we decided Right Rice deserves an IMBHO-yes. We also agreed cilantro lime is the next flavor profile we’ll try, so watch for more on Right Rice in a future blog.

To learn more about Right Rice, be sure to visit their website and let them know IMBHO sent you their way!

Have you tried Right Rice? What did you think? Start the discussion here.