Spanish Rice

Spanish Rice in cornbread bowl.  Personal Photo. 

I used to love Spanish Rice Rice-A-Roni.  The old version called for a can of stewed tomatoes, and had the rice and pasta.  You would cook the pasta-rice mix briefly in oil in the skillet to brown the pasta.  It always reminds me of Turkish rice pilaf.  Lately I’ve only been able to find the whole grain Spanish Rice, which does not have pasta, and you don’t brown it.  I doctor it up similar to what I’ve always done, and it’s still a favorite.  I add extra white rice.  I like the mixture of the two rices. 

1 box whole grain Spanish Rice-a-Roni

1 cup medium grain rice

1 can diced tomatoes

3 ½ cups water

1 red bell pepper

1 green bell pepper

1 medium sized onion

¼ cup coconut oil

Clean bell peppers and remove stems and seeds.  Chop peppers and onion.  Sauté onion and bell pepper in coconut oil or olive oil. 

Add rice from Rice-A-Roni box, additional rice, tomatoes, water, and flavor packet from the box. 

Cover and simmer about 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  

If you can find the original Spanish Rice-A-Roni with vermicelli pasta and rice, you are essentially going to cook per package directions.  Clean and chop onion and bell peppers and sauté.  Add rice and vermicelli and brown pasta.  Then continue per package directions. 

Personal Photos