This homemade rice-a-roni is a blend of rice and pasta cooked in butter, chicken broth and seasonings until light and fluffy. An easy side dish that tastes WAY better than the store bought kind!
Rice-A-Roni is a popular way to round out a meal, but I don’t love all the unpronounceable ingredients in the boxed version. This chicken Rice-A-Roni has no artificial ingredients and is absolutely delicious.
I know this may come as a surprise, but I didn’t learn how to cook until after I graduated from college. In college I survived on pantry food like canned soup, cereal and Rice-A-Roni or Pasta Roni with meat or veggies mixed in. Once I learned to cook, I didn’t buy boxes of Rice-A-Roni anymore, but on occasion I crave those flavors. I decided to make a homemade Rice-A-Roni and I think it tastes even better than the original!
How do you make rice a roni?
To make Rice-A-Roni, you’ll need white rice, and pasta that has been broken into small pieces. I use spaghetti or vermicelli pasta for this, and my store actually sells something called mini spaghetti which is actually small pieces of spaghetti in a box. The pasta and rice are toasted in butter before the seasonings and broth go in.
I use chicken broth in this dish because I feel like it tastes the closest to the box version I used to buy, but you can absolutely substitute vegetable or beef broth if you prefer. After the chicken broth and seasonings go into the pan, everything simmers away until you end up with a flavorful and fluffy rice mix. Be sure not to overcook your Rice-A-Roni so that it doesn’t get mushy.
What kind of rice is used in rice a roni?
Traditional Rice-A-Roni uses a long grain white rice, along with the vermicelli or spaghetti pasta. Long grain rice comes in different varieties, all of which have their own unique flavor. I typically just use a bag of rice simply labeled as long grain, or I use basmati rice for a nuttier flavor.
Can you cook rice a roni without butter?
The butter is important in this dish because it’s used to brown the pasta and rice grains which gives them a lot of flavor. If you’d rather not use butter, you can substitute olive oil instead, but the flavor will be different from the boxed version.
What flavors can you add to rice a roni?
While this Rice-A-Roni is delicious as is, there are so many different ways to add extra flavor. Some of my favorites are:
- Chopped tomatoes
- Fresh chopped herbs
- Parmesan cheese
- Crumbled bacon
- Pesto
- Smoked paprika
This homemade Rice-A-Roni is the perfect accompaniment to chicken, fish, steak or shrimp. Once you try it, you’ll never go back to the boxed version!
More great side dishes
- Stove Top Mac and Cheese
- Broccoli with Cheese Sauce
- Parmesan Zucchini
- Garlic Knots
- Broccoli and Cheese Casserole
Homemade Rice-A-Roni
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup spaghetti or vermicelli broken into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 1/2 cups long grain white rice
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- 1/2 cup diced tomatoes optional
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large pan over medium heat.
- Add the pasta to the pan and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes.
- Add the rice to the pan and cook for 1 more minute.
- Add the chicken broth, salt, garlic powder, onion powder and pepper to the pan.
- Bring the mixture to a simmer. Cover the pan and turn the heat to low.
- Cook for approximately 15 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed. Fluff with a fork and sprinkle with parsley.
- Stir in tomatoes if using, then serve.
Flavor is perfect but my rice didn’t cook.
Maybe less rice next time.
Excellent recipe! Turned out perfect !
Can I use beef broth instead of chicken?
Yes that’s fine!
Can you use brown rice and have it come out the same?
You can use brown rice, but brown rice takes much longer to cook than white rice. I’d check the cooking time on your rice package and adjust accordingly.
Love this recipe. And it honestly is not much harder or time consuming than rice a roni. I always saute onion, celery, and carrots in the butter first and add diced cooked chicken or even ham right before covering and simmering. Comes out great every time.
This is very good. Used Orzo in place of the spaghetti broken up.
Delicious!!! Daughter is eating her 3rd bowl of it right now! I followed the recipe. Used angel hair pasta and in addition to the butter used a little red palm oil for color. This recipe is a major keeper!!!
Love this Rice-A-Roni! Yummy and easy for a cook that is lucky my husband is still alive after 50 years of my cooking! Made it for a dinner party of 8 and doubled the recipe as is. Wil make this again and will try with long grain brown rice next! Thanks!
Have made numerous times. It is a requested family favorite, made just the way written, no changes.
Hi Sara, I’ve made this using orzo pasta and it works well
Cannot wait to try thr homemade rice a roni…I think we all love the taste but like you said very well that all those ingredients in the box are just too much…I love to cook so I’m sure this and many of your other recipes will find a way into my meals…thanks again,
Kyle
Good Morning–
The burning question here is exactly how does one break vermicelli into 1/2″ pieces? I could buy video, use the vermicelli wrapped in a kitchen towel method…but 1/2″? Please advise so that we can enjoy your recipe.
Sincerely
Nancy C
Louisville KY
I just use my hands to break it up, if it’s not exactly 1/2 inch it’ll still taste good! I don’t break the whole bundle at once, I divided it into smaller chunks to make it easier to break.
Buy the ones already broken it help I leave mine a little longer
Actually you can buy it already broken. Its in the Latino section of your grocery store. Comes in small clear packages.
You can always go to the Mexican section of a supermarket and get it there. We eat a lot of vermicelli soup, and it comes in that size already.
I used Basmati rice and no tomatoes, but I needed an extra 1/2 cup of liquid to cook the rice all the way. I also used fideo pasta. Super delicious.