Objective To evaluate the taste quality of boxed instant rice prepared on industrial microwave cooking production line with eight kinds of rice, including japonica rice and indica rice.Methods Not only composition, cooking quality, and gelatinization characteristics of raw rice are tested, but also taste value, hardness, viscosity, sensory scores, and the microstructure are detected to evaluate the taste quality of different rice varieties.Results There are significant differences in the properties of different rice varieties. Compared with indica rice, japonica rice has lower average content of protein (by 0.76 g/100 g) and amylose (by 0.85 g/100 g), a higher average dry matter content in rice soup (by 4.27 mg/g), a higher average iodine blue value (by 0.21), a lower average gelatinization temperature (by 3.39 ℃), a lower average retrogradation value (by 74.5 Pa·s), and a lower average value of breakdown (by 145 Pa·s). The japonica rice has better thermal gelatinization stability, which is easier to gelatinize and not easy to retrograde. After microwave cooking, compared with indica rice, japonica rice has higher average hardness (by 9.77 N), higher average viscosity (by 2.28 N), a higher average taste value (by 6.87 points), and a higher sensory score (by 2.73 points). Considering the taste values and sensory scores of the rice comprehensively, Longjing 31 among japonica rice performs the best, with its microstructure presenting a honeycomb structure with relatively uniform pores.Conclusion Boxed instant rice prepared by industrial microwave processing has good taste quality, and japonica rice is more suitable for microwave processing than indica rice.