Homemade Rice-a-Roni Recipe or Rice with Vermicelli

Rice-a-Roni, apparently, is a boxed mix of rice and noodles that is sold in the grocery stores. We never bought Rice-a-Roni brand, but we did occasionally indulge in a "Rice and Vermicelli" box mix from another company, and it was always so yummy and delicious.
This is a recipe for your own homemade Rice-a-Roni, or Rice with Vermicelli, that is "just a tad" healthier than the boxed variety, as well as cheaper. You can easily make this gluten free as well, so its pretty allergy friendly, fortunately.
I don't make this very often, but it is a nice change from "boring" rice or noodles.
It's not ultra packed with flavor- I like it as is, but the flavor is more subtle. My husband likes smothering it in ketchup (but then again, he likes to do that with almost every food). If you want to up the spices in it, feel free.
I made a bunch of this and froze it for after birth.

Homemade Rice-a-Roni Recipe

This recipe is in two parts. The first part is a mix that you make at one time and then store it, and then the second part is what you do to actually cook it up.

Rice-a-Roni Mix Ingredients
4 cups corn/brown rice/regular spaghetti/angel hair
8 cups white rice
2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp celery salt
1/4 cup dried coriander or parsley
1/4 tsp thyme

Rice-a-Roni Ingredients:
4-6 tbsp oil
1 large onion
2 cups ground meat or poultry or ground, cooked gizzards or ground seitan (optional)
3 cups Rice-a-Roni mixture
6 3/4 cup chicken/beef/vegetable broth

Rice-a-Roni Mix Instructions
1. Break 4 cups of spaghetti or angel hair pasta into 1-2 inch pieces. This should be approximately a pound of noodles.

2. Mix the broken spaghetti with the rice, garlic powder, celery salt, dried coriander or parsley, and thyme.

3. Mix very well to get a uniform mixture.

Rice-a-Roni Cooking Instructions
1. Chop an onion and saute in oil.

2. If using, add ground meat/poultry or gizzards and cook for a few minutes. If using raw ground meat, cook it while stirring until it's all crumbly.

3. Add 3 cups of the Rice-a-Roni mix, and cook for a few more minutes.

4. Add broth, bring to a boil, and then lower to a small flame. Cover and cook for 15 minutes or until all the water is absorbed.

Enjoy!

Do you ever eat/buy Rice-a-Roni? Did you ever have it growing up? Did you call it Rice-a-Roni or Rice with Vermicelli?
Any chance you'd make this recipe?

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