Homemade Chicken Rice & Roni Packets

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My husband is a meat and potatoes kinda guy. He doesn’t like pasta or rice (he refers to it as “fluffy white nothing”), and there is no way he’d ever eat a sweet potato with dinner. Fried. Mashed. Grilled. Baked. Roasted. If it is a potato, he will eat it (well, except for potato salad, but that’s a whole other story).

So imagine my surprise when Steve tried this, and told me that he liked it! So, I did what every busy mom/wife would do – prepare a big batch for the pantry so that I have an easy side dish option ready to go any night of the week.

Chicken Rice & Roni Recipe

For each Chicken Rice & Roni Packet:

In a sandwich sized bag:
1/2 cup broken spaghetti, angel hair, or vermicelli (or for even less work use orzo)
1 cup white rice (I prefer Jasmine rice, but you can use whatever kind you like)

In a snack sized bag:
1 Tbsp chicken bouillon granules
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp parsley
1/4 tsp oregano

Place the snack sized bag inside the sandwich bag, seal, and place in the pantry until you are ready to prepare dinner.

To prepare:
2 Tbsp butter or olive oil
2 cups water

In a pot, melt the 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the rice/pasta, and cook for about 3-5 minutes until the pasta pieces are toasty and golden brown. Then, add the spice mixture, and stir. Add the water, stir to combine. Put the lid on the pot, and turn the heat down to your lowest setting. Leave covered for 15-20 minutes, or until all of the water has been absorbed. Fluff the rice with a fork, and serve. Each batch makes 4 servings (more if you are serving children who do not eat quite as much yet, like I do).

Note: I had just shy of a 1 lb box of thin spaghetti, and this made 6 portions. If you don’t like a lot of pasta in your rice & roni, you can cut back the ratio to 1/4 cup of pasta to 1 cup of rice.

Try out the recipe and let me know what you think.

Print

Homemade Chicken Rice & Roni

Cook Time 25 minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

In a sandwich sized bag

• 1/2 cup broken spaghetti angel hair, or vermicelli (or for even less work use orzo)
• 1 cup white rice I prefer Jasmine rice, but you can use whatever kind you like

In a snack sized bag

• 1 Tbsp chicken bouillon granules
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp parsley
• 1/4 tsp oregano

To prepare

• 2 Tbsp butter or olive oil
• 2 cups water

Instructions

1. Place the snack sized bag inside the sandwich bag, seal, and place in the pantry until you are ready to prepare dinner.
2. In a pot, melt the 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the rice/pasta, and cook for about 3-5 minutes until the pasta pieces are toasty and golden brown. Then, add the spice mixture, and stir. Add the water, stir to combine. Put the lid on the pot, and turn the heat down to your lowest setting. Leave covered for 15-20 minutes, or until all of the water has been absorbed. Fluff the rice with a fork, and serve. Each batch makes 4 servings (more if you are serving children who do not eat quite as much yet, like I do).
3. Note: I had just shy of a 1 lb box of thin spaghetti, and this made 6 portions. If you don’t like a lot of pasta in your rice & roni, you can cut back the ratio to 1/4 cup of pasta to 1 cup of rice.