I have been writing and testing quick and easy side dishes for my website and my YouTube channel. Quick and easy means these recipes have a small list of ingredients and they take less than 20 minutes to cook.

We like to host dinner parties at our place often, where we serve a 4-5 course meal. When you are making so many dishes, it helps when some of the dishes take less time and effort.

Today I am sharing my simple Rice a Roni dish using a store-bought mix.

I don’t use the seasoning from the box since I want to keep the recipe vegetarian. I also like to add my own flavoring, depending on what my protein and the theme of the meal is.

What makes this recipe delicious is the addition of a couple tablespoons of roasted garlic base and green onions. I like to use the Better Than Bouillon brand in my dishes.

I served this as a side for my roast chicken dinner a few nights ago, and it was delicious. I hope you try it and let me know your opinion!

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup green onion, sliced
• 2 (6.9 oz.) box Rice A Roni chicken flavor, discard seasoning packet
• 1 tsp. ground turmeric
• 2 tbsp. better than bouillon roasted garlic base
• 1 tsp. ground black pepper
• 5 cups water
• More green onions to garnish

Instructions

In a large heavy bottom saucepan, melt butter over medium-heat. Then add the green onions, sauté for 40-60 seconds.

Add the rice a roni, then stir, and cook for a minutes, discard the seasoning packets. Add turmeric and sauté until vermicelli is golden brown, stirring frequently.

Add water, roasted garlic base, and black pepper.

Stir everything very well. Bring the mixture to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Then simmer for 15-20 minutes or until rice is tender. Once the rice is cooked, turn the heat off and rest the rice for 10 minutes. Fluff the rice with a fork, then transfer the rice to a serving bowl. Garnish with more chopped green onions.

This goes very well with roast chicken, pork, or grilled shrimp.

Serves 6-8

Did you make this dish? I’d love to know how it turns out! Feel free to like this post and comment or use the hashtag #globaldinein on Instagram. If you would like to be notified of upcoming posts, please consider subscribing to my blog!