Top 5 compared
The best rice cookers
Fluffy rice every time, without watching the pot or scraping a burned layer off the bottom.
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The top 5 at a glance
A rice cooker does the watching for you: rice and water in, switch on, and it drops to a keep-warm setting by itself once the rice is cooked. Toshiba put the first automatic one on sale in Japan in 1955, and a thermostat switched it off once the water had boiled away. One-touch cookers keep things simple; fuzzy-logic and microcomputer ones adjust the heat as they go.
Capacity is given in cups of uncooked rice, and cooked rice is about double. The 10-cup cookers here can also steam vegetables above the rice and slow cook, while the 3-cup ones suit a small household and take less room on the counter. Every inner pot here is nonstick or ceramic-coated.
What matters
- Settings for the grains you cook most, brown rice and oats included.
- A delay timer, so rice is ready when you walk in.
- A dishwasher-safe pot, if hand washing is a chore.
#1COSORI 10-Cup Fuzzy Logic Rice Cooker
$75–$100
Room for a family meal and leftovers at 10 cups of uncooked rice, with fuzzy logic steering a seven-step cook. Its 18 functions cover white and brown rice cooked soft, regular or firm, quinoa, barley and farro, three kinds of oatmeal, steaming, slow cooking and sautéing.
What owners say: Owners say every kind of rice comes out fluffy and even, the guided menus are simple to follow, and the removable top plate makes cleaning quick.
A closer look: With heating elements in the lid as well as the base, less condensation drips back onto the rice, which helps it stay fluffy on keep warm. The inner pot, inner lid and steamer basket go in the dishwasher, and at about 10.6 in wide it takes more counter space than the small cookers here.
- Heats from lid and base
- Soft, regular or firm rice
- Cooks quinoa, barley and farro
- Dishwasher-safe pot and basket
Best for: Families and batch cooking
- Capacity (uncooked)
- 10 cups
- Programs
- 18 functions
- Delay timer
- 24 hours
- Steamer
- Steel basket
- Inner pot
- Ceramic coated
- Size (W × D × H)
- 10.6 × 12.3 × 9.2 in
#2Zojirushi NS-ZCC10 Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker (5.5 cups)
$200–$300
Zojirushi’s Neuro Fuzzy logic fine-tunes the heat and timing as it cooks, in a spherical pan that heats evenly. Beyond white and brown rice there are settings for sushi, sweet and semi-brown rice, mixed rice and porridge, plus an extended keep-warm and a reheat cycle for rice served later.
What owners say: Brown basmati comes out right time after time, owners say, with less fuss than a pot on the stove, and the nonstick pan wipes clean in seconds. Most expect it to last for years; a few had one fail within months.
A closer look: Two measuring cups come in the box: the regular one for ordinary rice and a second for rinse-free rice. The timer keeps two settings, handy for porridge at breakfast and rice at dinner, and the cord pulls back into the cooker when it’s put away.
- Adjusts heat as it cooks
- Extended keep-warm and reheat
- Sushi, sweet and semi-brown settings
- Rinse-free rice measuring cup
- Retractable cord
Best for: Rice lovers who cook it often
- Capacity (uncooked)
- 5.5 cups
- Programs
- 8 menus
- Delay timer
- 2 presets
- Steamer
- No
- Inner pot
- Nonstick, spherical
- Size (W × D × H)
- 10 × 13.1 × 8.3 in
#3Aroma Professional Plus ARC-5000SB Rice Cooker (20 cups cooked)
$30–$50
A family-size cooker: it makes anywhere from 4 to 20 cups of cooked rice, steams vegetables or fish in a tray above it, and doubles as a 4-quart slow cooker. Sauté-then-Simmer browns onions or meat first, then drops to a simmer by itself once the liquid goes in.
What owners say: Owners cook quinoa and brown rice in it as often as white, find the settings easy to work and say it’s the right size for a family of four. Most report years of use; a few had one give out within about a year.
A closer look: Set the steam tray over the rice for broccoli or salmon to finish at the same time, and switch to Quick Rice, which Aroma says cuts the time by up to half, when dinner’s running late. The pot is hand wash only, so a soft sponge keeps its coating in good shape.
- Doubles as a slow cooker
- Browns meat, then simmers itself
- Quick Rice setting
- Hand wash the pot
Best for: One-pot dinners with steamed vegetables
- Capacity (uncooked)
- 10 cups
- Programs
- 6 functions
- Delay timer
- 15 hours
- Steamer
- Tray
- Inner pot
- Ceramic coated
- Size (W × D × H)
- 11.4 × 10.8 × 11.2 in
#4Zojirushi NS-LGC05 Micom Rice Cooker (3 cups)
$150–$200
Zojirushi’s microcomputer cooking in a cooker small enough for a couple, and it will make as little as half a cup of rice. Seven menus include long-grain white for jasmine and basmati, sushi, brown, GABA brown and steel-cut oats, and a fold-down handle and retractable cord make it easy to put away.
What owners say: The rice is just right every time, owners say, the nonstick bowl is easy to clean and the keep-warm setting earns its place. Some find it slow next to stovetop rice, and a few report it breaking within two years.
A closer look: The steel-cut oats setting runs a shorter cycle than the regular porridge one, handy on a weekday morning. GABA Brown soaks brown rice at about 104°F for two hours before it cooks, so start early or set the timer the night before.
- Setting for jasmine and basmati
- Steel-cut oats setting
- Soaks brown rice before cooking
- Fold-down carry handle
- Retractable cord
Best for: Couples and small kitchens
- Capacity (uncooked)
- 3 cups
- Programs
- 7 menus
- Delay timer
- Yes
- Steamer
- No
- Inner pot
- Nonstick, spherical
- Size (W × D × H)
- 9.1 × 11.9 × 7.5 in
#5Aroma ARC-363NG One-Touch Rice Cooker (3 cups)
$20–$30
One button and no menus: add rice, fill to the water line marked in the ceramic pot, press the button, and it switches itself to keep warm when the rice is done. It makes up to 6 cups of cooked rice and handles oatmeal, chili and soups too.
What owners say: Owners say the rice comes out right every time, the size suits a small household, and the nonstick pot washes well in the dishwasher. A small number had theirs quit within months.
A closer look: Leave the lid closed until it clicks over to keep warm, then give the rice a few minutes’ rest before fluffing it with the spatula in the box. Away from dinner, it keeps a dip or a side dish warm on the buffet at a party.
- Water lines marked in pot
- Switches itself to keep warm
- Pot made without PFAS
- Handles oatmeal, chili and soups
- Pot and lid dishwasher safe
Best for: Plain rice for one to three
- Capacity (uncooked)
- 3 cups
- Programs
- One touch
- Delay timer
- No
- Steamer
- No
- Inner pot
- Ceramic coated
- Size (W × D × H)
- 8.9 × 8.1 × 8 in
How they compare
Swipe sideways or rotate device to see all 5.
| Feature | #1COSORI 10-cup | #2Zojirushi NS-ZCC10 | #3Aroma ARC-5000SB | #4Zojirushi 3-cup Micom | #5Aroma ARC-363NG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall | Best premium | Best compact | Best budget | ||
| Picked Rating | 9.6 | 9.3 | 9.3 | 9.2 | 8.9 |
| Price | $75–$100 | $200–$300 | $30–$50 | $150–$200 | $20–$30 |
| Capacity (uncooked) | 10 cups | 5.5 cups | 10 cups | 3 cups | 3 cups |
| Programs | 18 functions | 8 menus | 6 functions | 7 menus | One touch |
| Delay timer | 24 hours | 2 presets | 15 hours | Yes | No |
| Steamer | Steel basket | No | Tray | No | No |
| Inner pot | Ceramic coated | Nonstick, spherical | Ceramic coated | Nonstick, spherical | Ceramic coated |
| Size (W × D × H) | 10.6 × 12.3 × 9.2 in | 10 × 13.1 × 8.3 in | 11.4 × 10.8 × 11.2 in | 9.1 × 11.9 × 7.5 in | 8.9 × 8.1 × 8 in |
| Best for | Families and batch cooking | Rice lovers who cook it often | One-pot dinners with steamed vegetables | Couples and small kitchens | Plain rice for one to three |
| Buy now | Amazon | Amazon | Amazon | Amazon | Amazon |
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