Excessive pursuit of‘precision， fine， white’ rice milling process has caused a lot of food and nutrition waste. In order to promote the implementation of moderate grain processing policy in China， the effect of degree of milling （DOM） on rehydration properties （moisture content and water distribution）， morphological characteristics （length-to-width ratio， elongation， and volume expansion ratio）， color （L-value， b-value， and ΔE value）， texture （hardness and viscosity）， and microstructure of instant rice were studied. The results showed that when DOM ≥ 3%， the moisture content， water distribution and morphological characteristics of instant rice were similar to that of white rice （DOM 12%）. When the DOM reached to 6%， the morphological characteristics， total color difference（ΔE）， hardness， and microstructure of instant rice were similar to that of white rice. When the DOM reached 9%， the viscosity of instant rice was not significantly different from that of white rice. It can be seen that the adaptation range of DOM for producing instant rice should be 6%-9%. The instant rice produced in this DOM range can retain some of the nutrients in the bran layer and save 3%-6% of grain.