What blessings should I say on rice?

Question:

What blessings should I say before and after eating rice?

Answer:

There are different opinions as to which is the blessing to be recited before eating rice:

Some halachic authorities say it is mezonot; others say it is ha'adamah; yet others contend one ought to say shehakol. Ideally, one should avoid this entire issue by only eating rice during a meal which includes bread. Since hamotzi was already said on the bread, there is no need to say individual blessings on the other foods eaten throughout the meal—rice included.1

Another way of avoiding this issue is to recite the blessing over and eat a food which is definitely mezonot, another which is definitely ha'adamah, and something else which is shehakol, and only then eat the rice.2

If neither of these options is feasible, the Alter Rebbe rules that one should say shehakol on rice.3

According to all opinions, the after-blessing to be recited is borei nefashot.

All the best,

Rabbi Eliezer Posner