Learning how to cook rice is like riding a bike. Once you know how to make fluffy, perfect riceevery time, you easily repeat the process over and over and wonder how your rice ever turned out any differently. Brown or white rice — or any other kind you prefer—is a staple in countless dishes, so knowing how to make perfect stovetop rice yourself is a pretty important skill.

Many white and brown rice recipes make cooking it look so simple, but everyone I know has burned rice at least once (or, in my mom’s case, every time). To master the cooking feat once and for all and make sure your water-to-rice ratio is always on point, follow our step-by-step guide for how to make rice right on the stove. We promise this is the only easy white rice recipe you'll ever need—and once you nail it, you’ll never wonder how to cook rice again.