The BEST Gluten Free Rice a Roni Recipe

One of The Ranchers all time favorite foods is Rice a Roni…. The problem is I have celiac disease, and Rice a Roni is not gluten free. When we got married that was a tough side dish to take out of our menu line up every week, which meant I needed to make a gluten free version of Rice a Roni that was just as good!

For years, I just didn’t make it. I wasn’t cooking from scratch in the beginning of our marriage and making anything from scratch seemed too far out of my reach. Until I sent our family down this health journey and never looked back.

About 5 years ago, when I started making the changes to cook completely from scratch, I went on a search to find a recipe for Rice a Roni. For the first time this didn’t seem too far out of my reach!

The main gluten ingredients of Rice a Roni are the little noodles in it. So, I knew if I just substituted that and got the spices nailed down, I would have a hit.

There are some gluten free recipes out there but they call for chicken bouillon powder and I was trying to use only wholesome ingredients. I knew finding the right spices that were just as good as chicken bouillon powder was going to be a challenge.

Luckily this rice a roni copycat recipe hit the mark and I have been making it for my family for years. My husband has now even said, he likes it better then the store-bought version. Must be the healthy ingredients!

Ingredients that make this gluten free rice a roni exceptionally healthy.

Your food is only as healthy as the ingredients you put in it. This means that you can have the same recipe as someone else but you make a healthier version simply by switching an ingredient for their counterpart.

In this recipe, it calls for chicken broth. Now you can simply go buy a can of chicken broth from the store or you can make your own immune boosting chicken bone broth at home and get a much healthier product. The dish will taste the same but you are getting more vitamins and minerals in your food.

If you choose to make your own at home, go ahead and pressure can your bone broth for later. That makes it so simple to grab it off the shelf whenever you need it!

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Ingredients:

• 1 cup white rice (you can use brown rice if desired, but we prefer white rice)
• 1/2 cup gluten free spaghetti noodles, broken into 1 inch pieces or cassava orzo If you don’t have to be on a gluten-free diet, simply use regular noodles.
• 2 TBSP butter
• 2 3/4 cup chicken bone broth 
• 2 tsp dried onion flakes
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp parsley
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp turmeric

How to make this Homemade rice a roni recipe.

1. Melt butter in a saucepan on medium high heat. Add in rice and pasta and cook for about 2-3 minutes. The noodles and rice should have a slight golden brown color. If you need to be dairy free, use extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil in place of the butter.
2. Stir in bone broth and all spices. Bring to a boil and cover with the lid.
3. Allow to cook on medium heat until rice is soft. This should take about 25-30 minutes if using white rice. With brown rice it will take a bit longer and I would add an additional 1/4-1/2 cup of bone broth.

This tasty side dish is so simple with very few healthy ingredients, that even if you don’t have to be gluten free, it’s worth making from scratch and ditching the boxed stuff anyways! Sometimes things can get added to a pre-packaged spice mix, so adding your own spices fixes that!

If you don’t need to eat gluten free just simply use regular spaghetti noodles instead of the gluten-free pasta.

Where to buy the Ingredients for this gluten free rice a roni.

My favorite gluten free spaghetti noodles are either Barilla brand or the Jovial Foods brand. Both are the closest pasta to regular and I promise you can feed this side dish to everyone and no one will be able to tell the difference. They are the best gluten free noodles I have tried!

Some local grocery stores carry the Barilla brand in the pasta aisle, however lately I have been getting them on Amazon. I buy all my Jovial Foods brand items on Azure Standard.

Buying in bulk is a great way to save time and money. There are so many staple ingredients you can have in bulk, ready to whip up any dish needed at the drop of a hat! One of these items is dry rice. When you aren’t having to run off to your local grocery store to buy little bags of every ingredient you need, you are saving both time and money on your grocery bill.

I love being able to host guests without any notice, because I know I have plenty of bulk pantry staples to whip up a meal.

If you haven’t already, check out my post on how I grocery shop for the month online with Azure Standard!

Cooking from scratch doesn’t have to be complicated.

When I tell people I mostly cook from scratch, I usually always get… “how in the world do you have the time?!” The idea of it always seems too big to manage in an already busy schedule.

That’s why I am here to tell you (and show you), that is doesn’t have to be complicated. Making little changes in your every day cooking can bring you great rewards… and the best part, if you start buying in bulk you will have the ingredients you need already on hand. You just have to put them together!

You have easy meals or even just an easy side dish that is from scratch, and not really even notice the difference in the time it takes. Being prepared with your bulk ingredients definitely helps the ease of cooking from scratch.

So the next time you are shopping and start to reach for that boxed rice a roni… remember how simple it is to make it from scratch. Not to mention you will be fueling your family with a much healthier side dish as well!

We love to eat this perfect side dish with these main dishes.

• Roast Chicken
• Oven Cooked Pork Chops
• Crockpot French Dip Sandwiches