Chicken Flavored Rice & Pasta: Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Soy-free
When my husband and I were in college, we ate a lot of Rice-a-roni since it was cheap and quick. When I became a stay-at-home mom, I bought it less, since I didn’t care for it that much, and wanted to develop my cooking skills beyond boxed food. Then when we learned of Joseph’s allergies, I stopped buying it, since Joseph couldn’t eat it. But my husband wasn’t happy with that solution. So, I set off to make a Joseph-safe version of Rice-a-roni. Unlike my First-Try Friday posts, this recipe was refined until we liked it.
I have never seen vermicelli pasta on it’s own – with or without gluten (although orzo [only seen with gluten] comes close). So, I made my own by breaking brown rice spaghetti noodles into one-inch pieces. I tried using a chef’s knife, but found it was easier to break them in my hands. Just extend the noodles an inch above my fingers and snap them off.
Heat oil in a skillet, then add the rice and spaghetti bits. Stir occasionally until the pasta turns golden brown. This time around, I let it go a bit longer, so the rice turned light brown as well. Oops.
Add the chicken broth and spices. Stir to evenly distribute spices.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Cover and let simmer for 15-20 minutes until liquid is absorbed. To make it a one pot meal, add meat and vegetables to the skillet along with the broth.
Chicken Flavored Rice & Pasta
Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Soy-free
Ingredients
- ¾ cup rice
- ½ cup (about 4 oz) brown rice spaghetti broken into 1″ bits
- 2 Tablespoons canola oil
- 2 ½ cups chicken broth
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon rubbed sage
- ¼ teaspoon dried basil
Heat oil in a large skillet. Add rice and spaghetti bits. Stir occasionally until pasta turns golden brown.
Add chicken broth and spices – stir to combine. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes until liquid is absorbed.
Makes 4 side dish servings
This recipe is featured in my cookbook The Best of the Rice of Life: Over 70 Gluten-free, Dairy-free, and Nut-free Recipes available now in print (Amazon, Create Space) and e-book (Kindle, iBooks, nook, Kobo and Smashwords).
Shared at Allergy-free Wednesdays, Allergy Friendly Friday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, and Gluten-free Wednesdays
The Rice of Life 
This looks wonderful and easy too! I’d love for you to share it at our new Allergy-Free Wednesdays blog hop. Hope to see you there! http://www.realfoodallergyfree.com/2012/01/allergy-free-wednesday-125/
It looks great. That I might be able to do ;).
This recipe is fairly easy – the hardest part is snapping all the spaghetti bits. 🙂 Thanks for the invite to your blog hop, Nancy. I’ll go add it
I LOVE Rice-a_Roni, but haven’t had it in ages…the ingredient list too much for me! I love the idea of making your own, thanks for the inspiration and sharing on Allergy Free Wednesdays!
You’re very welcome!
I’d never thought of making my own Rice-a-roni, but I’ve got to try it now. We eat a lot of rice/barley, and mixing it up looks super-appetizing.
It is nice to mix up how we eat all our rice. Plain white rice all the time gets boring. 🙂
What type of rice did you use in this recipe? Long grain? Parboiled? Thanks! I used to love Rice A Roni! This looks great! So creative!
Long grain. I hope you enjoy it!