Homemade Rice Roni Mix

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Does your family enjoy the boxed Rice Roni from the store? If so, they will love this homemade Rice a Roni Mix Side Dish. It’s perfectly customizable and can easily be stored in your pantry until ready to use.

Does your family enjoy the boxed Rice Roni from the store? If so, they will love this homemade Rice a Roni Mix Side Dish. It's perfectly customizable and can easily be stored in your pantry until ready to use. #homemadericeroni #makeaheadmeals #makeaheadmix #ricearoni #easydinner #glutenfree

Homemade Rice Roni

I’ve never been big on making side dishes. When I was growing up my grandma always had a huge amount of side dishes for every meal and I always thought that was a little odd because in our family we were more of a one-dish-dinner type of eaters. We ate many stir-frys and similar dishes so generally meat, veggies, etc was all in one bowl for supper (fruit were snacks/desserts). It’s funny how we can create our own little families but still carry these habits. I prefer to make a single dish for supper just like we did in our family. But I often think about how my grandma made her foods and that it would be fun to remember to make a good side dish once in a while!

Many easy side dishes are available in pre-packaged boxed mixes. Well, that really isn’t our thing. I will skip the prices and the preservatives, thank you very much. One thing our family enjoys every so once in a while though is a good rice dish. Since I tend to make meals heavy on the meats and veggies, it’s nice to have a grain now and then.

–More ideas on How to Save On The Cost of Convenience

Rice Roni or Rice a Roni is an easy side dish to make, and you can even make it a base to your meals depending on what you are making. I’m not sure what the boxed version costs but you can make your own version so easily! You can either make this up quickly before dinner or put the dry ingredients in a jar and have them ready to go.

Homemade Rice Roni Mix

Homemade Rice a Roni Mix

What You Need:

  • 1/2 cup Uncooked Spaghetti, broken into little pieces
  • 3/4 cup Rice

To Make:

  • 2 cups Chicken or Beef or Vegetable Broth
  • 2 Tablespoons Butter
  • Optional Add-Ins  *See Below*

Homemade Rice Roni Mix

You don’t need to buy a special kind of pasta, I just used regular spaghetti and broke it into small pieces.

Homemade Rice Roni Mix

If you want to create the dry mix, simply put the rice and the broken pasta pieces into a jar on your shelf. This amount should serve 4 to 6 depending on if you are using it for a side dish or a base for the main meal. Feel free to use whatever kind of rice your family will eat, either white or brown will work. (We usually eat Basimati Rice because I have a hubby that refuses the brown rice. 🙂 )

*You can make this gluten-free like I did by simply using brown rice pasta in place of regular pasta.

Homemade Rice Roni Mix

To cook your Homemade Rice a Roni, pour the contents of the jar, along with the broth and butter into a saucepan on the stove. Cook at medium heat until the pasta and rice is done. *You can brown the butter first in the saucepan to give it more of the same color as regular boxed mix, however we found this wasn’t necessary for good flavor, especially if you are in a hurry.

Homemade Rice Roni Mix

Print this DIY Rice a Roni Mix to add to your Recipe Binder below:

Homemade Rice a Roni Mix

Ingredients

Rice a Roni Mix

  • 1/2 cup Uncooked Spaghetti broken into little pieces (Can use Regular or Gluten Free)
  • 3/4 cup Rice

When Ready to Cook Rice a Roni Mix

  • 1 jar of Homemade Rice A Roni Mix
  • 2 cups Chicken or Beef or Vegetable Broth
  • 2 Tablespoons Butter
  • Optional Add-Ins  *See Below*

Instructions

To create the Dry Mix

  1. Simply put the rice and the broken pasta pieces into a jar on your shelf. Feel free to use whatever kind of rice your family will eat, either white or brown will work. To make this Gluten Free, use brown rice noodles or other gluten free pasta.
  2. This amount should serve 4 to 6 depending on if you are using it for a side dish or a base for a main meal.

When Ready to Cook Rice A Roni

  1. To cook your Homemade Rice Roni, pour the contents of the jar, along with the broth and butter into a saucepan on the stove.
  2. Cook at medium heat until the pasta and rice is done. *You can brown the butter first in the saucepan to give it more of the same color as a regular boxed mix, however, we found this wasn't necessary for good flavor, especially if you are in a hurry.

Rice a Roni Add Ins

The recipe above is very basic so you may want to put some add-ins into your Homemade Rice Roni! Here are some suggestions. These can be added individually or in the combinations of your choice.

  • 1 Green Onion, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon Minced Onion
  • 1 teaspoon Minced Garlic
  • 1/2 teaspoon Dried Parsley
  • 1/4 cup Mushrooms, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning Mix
  • 1 teaspoon dry Ranch Dressing Mix
  • 1/2 cup Tomatoes, diced
  • 1 cup Chicken, cooked and diced

This is a great little recipe to keep in your pantry for some quick additions to meals. I love homemade mixes! Another great way to use this recipe is in soup! Add some veggies, extra water, and chicken and you’ve got a great soup!

Homemade Rice Roni Mix

What’s next? Here are a few more recipe you may enjoy:

Find more Homemade Mixes on Little House Living.

bookcoversmaller

 

Looking for more mixes that you can make quickly and easily? My book, Little House Living: The Make Your Own Guide to a Frugal, Simple, and Self Sufficient Life has over 130 recipes including this one and a bunch of variations for it!

 

Have you ever made homemade Rice Roni? What are your favorite add ins or recipes to use it in?

merissabio

This Homemade Rice a Roni Mix was originally published on Little House Living in December 2013. It has been updated as of December 2019.

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37 Comments

  1. Actual Rice A Roni calls for browning the rice and pasta in the butter before adding the liquid and cooking it. It gives a nice flavor to the dish. I have made something similar for over 20 years but mine calls for 1/2 t. of rosemary and I add 2 T of minced fresh onions to the browning process.

      1. I haven’t seen that at my store. I will have to look. I usually use orzo because breaking up spaghetti is such a mess.

  2. You don’t put all the ‘add ins’ in at the same time, do you? Or are these just separate suggestions?

  3. Rice a roni needs to be browned first, it adds a lot of flavor and color. I wouldn’t skip that step before adding the water.

  4. Hello Merissa,
    first of all HAPPY NEW YEAR! I thoroughly enjoy your site and always feel inspired. Loved your intro to this blog and it was a wonderful reminder to trust that we are where we are supposed to be.
    Love your recipe here and will definitely make some of those. It is always good to have things ‘on hand’ for a quick meal.
    Thank you so much for sharing your idea sand recipes.
    Uli

  5. Merissa! I just found your site tonight, & REALLY like it! I hope to come back again & again! I wish/hope there is a way to print out the recipes? I really like the Rice a Roni one, & also would like to get & have the directions for making the rag rugs. My grandmother used to make the rugs many years ago, but without the sewing machine.
    pat schultz

    1. Yes, at the bottom of each post (near the social sharing buttons) there is a green button that says “Print” and you can choose which part of the page you’d like to print. 🙂 And welcome!

  6. Im here everyday for something! I just love how you live and all the wondeful ideas you have! Thank you for taking time to share. God bless!
    Hugs, Sheila In Texas

  7. This sounds GREAT! In Denmark, where I live, we don’t have Rice Roni – I’ve never heard of it 😉
    But this I must try to make!

  8. Thanks so much for the reminder of such a good dish. I have made it in the past both ways, browned and not browned. I really prefer it browned. When I make it up for the cupboard I put the pasta and rice in the jar then any powdered seasonings I put in a little baggie and stuff it into the top of the jar.

  9. I made this today. I used garofalo whole wheat spaghetti and Lundberg organic short grain brown rice and coconut oil instead of butter. I doubled the recipe and cooked in my Aroma rice cooker. It was really good! Thanks for the recipe.

  10. The homemade rice a roni is great. We love chilie made with the 2 alarm chilie mix and decided to not ever buy it again, but to make it. I measured all the ingredients out and now I prepare 4 mixes at a time but freeze dry packages till need.I’ve even canned a large batch in pint jars to have for chilie dogs or just a small meal. Beans can be added later if wish.
    Love your site and always interested in new homemade recipes. Still looking for the rotel tomatoe’s & manwich recipes to can. Thank you!

    1. 2 tablespoons oil Heat oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Mix rice into skillet, stirring often. 1/4 of a medium onion Add in the fresh onion. Saute for 1-2 minutes and cook with the onions until rice becomes a golden brown color. Meanwhile add 3 cloves of garlic, 1 cup plain tomato sauce, or two roma tomatoes, in a blender with chicken broth or 1 to 2 cubes of Knnor chicken broth add your water if using cubes of broth add 1 to 2 teaspoons of cumin then blend the garlic, tomato, broth and cumin until all ingredients are no longer chunky add the blended ingredients to your hot skillet carefully bring to a boil. Once it starts boiling, turn the heat to low and cover. Let it simmer for 20 minutes and fluff with a fork. P.S. the best way to make it is not to stir the skillet after it has started to boil cover it and turn the stove to your lowest setting and leave it until ready to eat it its perfect every time

  11. I just tried this recipe this week for my breakfast and it is amazing! I’ll never buy the store-bought stuff again!. I did tweak it a little. I added fresh chopped mushrooms and broccoli. I followed the suggestion to saute the rice/noodle mixture in the butter first. Then I added 1 1/2 cups of chicken stock and 1/2 cup milk as well as about 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese. (Milk + Cheese = Creamy sauce) Then some garlic powder. The only thing I’ll do difference next time is to cover while it simmers to give more time for the rice to cook. But it was delicious! Thanks so much for posting this!

  12. Great go to dish to add to the pantry! Thanks for this! It will certainly help us get through our rice in a more fun fashion.

  13. What a great mix, this looks delicious! Thanks so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday and have a great weekend!
    Miz Helen

  14. I have recently stopped working and have been a daily follower on your site. I cannot tell you how much I have enjoyed it! I just made a recipe today that called for chicken and had left over broth and chicken so I froze most of it and I had just enough broth left over and was wondering what to do with it! Then I remembered the rice a roni mix! It is cooking as we speak! Thanks so much for your posts! I am making your homemade soap, cleaner, conditioner, lotion and really want to try my hand at canning…slightly afraid of that though! Trying to save as much money as I can so I will get there with the canning!

  15. Thanks so much for this recipe! The family loves it, and it makes for a quick lunch on the weekends. With three teenagers, it’s easy to double or even triple this and it’s way cheaper than 3 boxes of the processed, chemically “enhanced” version.

  16. Hello. Thanks so much for this idea. I have been making rice a roni type sides for years but never thought to make it ahead. Sounds like a new pantry project!!! Love it! 😉

  17. Thank you for posting this I will be printing this out for my family trying to reduce cost and increase our health reducing all the garbage in the mixes for my kids and I love the little jars you used for these never seen any like that where did you get those and what size are they?

    Love you site and all your information .

    thank you
    Judy

  18. I have not had rice roni in years. I remember loving it so much as a child. Tha add ins are quite creative!

  19. Do you have a homemade recipe for the Herb and Butter flavor Rice a Roni? That’s our favorite and none of our local stores stock it. I’d rather make my own than have to order it in case lots.