This Vegan Rice-a-Roni recipe tastes like the real deal, but is made with 100% vegan ingredients and zero preservatives. The perfect vegan side dish!
When I say that I LOVEDDDDDD rice-a-roni when I was kid, I mean it! It was my absolute favorite thing. I mean what's not to like? It's salty, carby goodness.
BUT, the fact that my favorite childhood flavor (chicken) isn't vegan, only made it that more important that I develop a recipe that would curb the craving.
And that's where this Vegan Rice-a-Roni recipe comes in.
This stuff tastes like the real deal people. The (not so) secret ingredient is vegan chicken broth. It is a must in my books. You can get it at Whole Foods or online here.
The other important part of this recipe is the combination of different rice/pasta. I used white rice, orzo and angel hair pasta (broken into pieces). I'm telling you, this is the holy grail of pasta combos to make this dish.
I promise you are going to want to make this side dish all the time! It is so good!
Vegan Rice-a-Roni
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon vegan butter
- ¼ cup angel hair pasta dry, broken into 1" pieces
- ¼ cup orzo dry
- ¾ cup white rice dry
- 2 ½ cups vegan chicken broth*
- 1 ½ teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- salt if needed
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat. Add the angel hair, orzo and rice to the pan and cook until toasted and slightly browned, stirring constantly.**
- Slowly pour the broth into the pan. Stir in the parsley, garlic powder and onion powder. Bring to a boil, cover and lower heat. Simmer for 12-15 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed.
- Turn the heat off, taste and adjust salt. Serve hot.
Video
Notes
This post may contain affiliate links. If you click on one and make a purchase I will receive a small percentage of the sale. Please know I would never link a product unless I have personally used it and loved it!
If you make this recipe be sure to snap a photo + post it + and tag #thissavoryvegan and @thissavoryvegan!
Mona
Thanks for the memories! At 19 and single I would make it put about a third on a plate and dump my fresh from the oven pot pie on top. Mm, mm, those were the days. I am now 64 and vegan as well as gluten free. But I am going to try to find the right gf pastas for this.
Jenny
This was really good! from what I remember, just like the original but better! Husband loved it, he said he doesn't remember the taste of the original its been so long, but it was one of his favorites several years ago.
I didn't have any angel hair pasta so I added 1/2 cup of Orzo and used Jasmine white rice, used Miyoko's butter for the browning, I used Edward & Sons NOT-CHICK'N Bouillon Cubes, added a sprinkle of sea salt and a few sprinkles of Tumeric for color like the original. I too will be making this again and again and again!!!! Thank you!!!!!!!
Rene
Hi Jenny - so glad you and your husband enjoyed!
Cris
What a great recipe, so delicious and super easy!! I used vegetable Better Than Bouillon because I was out of the no-chicken and instead of the angel-hair pasta, used thin vermicelli I found in the Mexican foods aisle (it's already the right size!). Will definitely be making this again as I find plain rice uninspiring as a side dish for certain meals. Oh, as a side note, I used up the last of my medium grain (sushi or pearl) rice, so would recommend adding a minute or two to the cooking time as it was a tad crunchy still. But only slightly, so if using long grain, stick with the cooking time. Will be making this again, and again, and again...
Rene
So glad you liked it and were able to adjust it with what you had on hand!
Allison
This was delicious and did not disappoint! I used vegetable broth and added 1/2 tsp. salt. Just had this for dinner with some BBQ baked beans and a salad. I will make this one again and again. Thank you! ??
Rene
Yay! So glad you liked it. It really is the perfect side 🙂
Kelly
Rene, this was soo good! I too loved Rice-A-Roni. This was like it but much better. Not greasy or too salty tasting. I'll definitely be making this again. Thanks for another winner!
Kelly
Rene
So glad you liked it! And I'm glad I wasn't the only one obsessed with that stuff lol 🙂
Jan
This sounds really great. Before I make it, could you clear up a little confusion, please? The recipe calls for 1/4 cup angel hair pasta, 1/4 cup orzo, and 3/4 cup rice (which totals 1 1/4 cups). The recipe notes say the total must be 1 1/2 cups. Is it 1 1/4 cups total or 1 1/2 cups? Thank you.
Rene
Thanks for checking my math - 1 1/4 is correct lol