By contributing writer Tessa
This homemade Rice-a-Roni is a delicious substitute for the box version and is perfect for families. It can also easily be made gluten free.
Growing up, I simply adored all varieties of Rice-a-Roni. It was total comfort food for me! Of course, once I started reading labels, there was no way I was going to feed my family something so heavily processed and loaded with nasty ingredients (MSG? Nasty! And what does hydrolyzed or autolyzed mean? I don’t want to know!)
My whole family loves this recipe, and I get my comfort food back!
Homemade Rice-a-Roni
Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons ghee avocado oil, or butter
- 1/2 cup finely diced onion
- 1/2 cup orzo or spaghetti broken into roughly 1-inch pieces I use gluten free orzo or spaghetti
- 1 cup long grain or basmati rice
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt final amount will depend on how salted the broth is
- 2 1/4 cup beef or chicken broth homemade preferable
- 1 - 2 teaspoons spices: parsley sage, thyme, garlic powder (optional)
Instructions
- In a 10-inch skillet with a tight fitting lid, heat the butter over medium low heat.
- Once warm, add in the onion and gently sauté for about 5 minutes to soften.
- Increase the heat to medium and add in the orzo or broken spaghetti. Sauté until pasta is golden and starting to brown.
- Stir in the rice and salt.
- Pour the broth over the rice, stirring. Place lid on top, bring to a simmer, and reduce heat to low.
- Cook for about 15 minutes until the liquid is absorbed, then tun off heat and let sit for 5 minutes.
- Enjoy!
Lynn says
Hello is the pasta cooked.separately then broken up and added to brown or its uncooked pasta? This looks delicious
tessa says
uncooked Lynn!
Michelle Tomasello says
We’ve made this twice, and both times, it sucked up all the liquid and the rice was still crunchy after 15 minutes. Next time, we will add 3 cups of broth and see how that goes.
tessa says
Hi Michelle….sometimes a lot of water evaporates in the initial addition of the liquids. I was thinking of increasing the recipe to 2 1/4-2 1/2 cups for this reason. Thanks! Also, male sure the lid is tight so water is not evaporating out the lid!
!
Cathy says
This looks simple and tasty, just the kind of thing I’d make on a weeknight alongside a main dish. Thank you for sharing the recipe!
Bobo says
This is really good! I’ve started adding a couple minced cremini mushrooms.. With the spices, I usually add garlic powder, thyme, sage, and trader joe’s “21 seasoning salute”. Don’t ask me how much because I just shake the stuff in until I feel like it’s enough ??. Definitely use butter instead of oil, though (ghee is also acceptable) because it needs that richness!