For a potluck, this Rice-A-Roni salad works well. Additional vegetables may be added, or shrimp may be substituted for the chicken. This salad can be refrigerated and unmolded onto a platter if you’re careful about how much dressing you stir in.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 20 mins |
| Additional Time: | 5 mins |
| Total Time: | 40 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
Ingredients
- 1 (13.8 ounce) package chicken flavored rice mix (e.g. Rice A Roni)
- ¼ tablespoon butter
- 5 cups water
- 1 bunch green onions, chopped
- 1 (8 ounce) can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 1 cup chopped cooked chicken breast meat
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 1 dash Worcestershire sauce
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Combine rice-vermicelli mix and butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir until vermicelli is golden brown. Slowly stir in water and seasoning packet; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until rice is tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit, covered, for 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer rice to a large serving bowl and place in the refrigerator to chill.
- Add green onions, water chestnuts, celery, chicken, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper to rice in the bowl; mix until well combined. Chill in the refrigerator until serving time.
Reviews
Excellent potluck dish to share. I leave out the olives which give it a bitter taste.
I have made this original recipe many times. I have a made it with various changes. Sometimes I will add some dried cranberries for a little color and sweetness. I have also used the chicken and broccoli Rice a Roni to add a little different flavor. I also like to add a little of red sweet pepper for additional crunch and color.
Yes. I will make it again. I added a small jar of marinated artichokes and a couple of tablespoons of marinade,
this was a big hit with my 5 yr old granddaughter. I substituted large shrimp, which I diced, and added some frozen peas to the hot rice mixture to help them thaw. I bought more mixes today and plan to make it again this week!
Used Greek yogurt instead of mayo. Terrific.
Very simple and easy to make! I used horseradish sauce instead of mayo, which gave it more of a hot kick. Thanks for the recipe!
I just made this for this evening. I used earlier reviewers’ suggestions: chopped red pepper and yellow squash, artichoke hearts, curry, toasted almonds which all are good. But that’s a lot of changes to have to make. My disappointment is that if you follow the Rice-A-Roni directions to brown the rice and vermicelli in butter and then follow the cooking instructions of an additional 20-25 minutes with the seasoning pack and water, it’s mushy. One earlier reviewer had said to cook it for only 15 minutes. Wished I had done that, or less. I cooked it 17 minutes and it’s still sort of mushy. Either don’t brown so much or really cut back on the total cooking time.
Wow, I didn’t expect this to be so good. It mush be all the seasonings, etc. in the rice packet. It was fresh and had a great deal of excellent chicken flavor. Will make it again!
I did not have RiceARoni on hand, so I used Near East Rice Chicken flavor…same sort of thing. It came out great! The scallions I used were very strong, so it overpowered a little…but the taste was shockingly good anyway! Great summer dish – thanks for the recipe!
it was great
No changes.
This was one of the first recipes I saved on this site in 2002, and I just now got around to making it. I’m telling you I wish I had made this a long time ago–it is excellent! I took the advice of the top reviewer and added diced red pepper, green onions, artichokes, water chestnuts, celery and cashews. I also added 1Tbs curry power and some of the artichoke juice to the mayo and it was great. My husband isnt a curry fan, but he loved this and even suggested adding a dash more next time. Very good! A keeper!
I love the texture of this. I actually enjoy it warm a bit better I think.
I used chicken and mushroom boxed mix and I also added shrimp (thats what I had in the fridge) instead of chicken. It was a great way to use up a box of overlooked rice a roni but we were not wild about it.
I don’t keep Rice-A-Roni at home only because I avoid it like the plague but I do have the Almond Rice Seasoning mix from this site, which is very similar. I used an organic brown rice and cooked the rice according to that recipe then let it cool. I then made the rice salad according to this recipe. I used low-fat mayo and added a bit more chopped celery. Next time, I might try to make this with more chopped veggies, like zucchini and carrots. Sturdy recipe as is. Using the spice mix and brown rice did make a sturdier salad. NOTE: You might want to undercook the rice just a bit. It will soak up the mayo and will become mushy. Fifteen minutes is about right.
I prefer this salad with a small jar of artichoke hearts instead of water chestnuts. There are lots of ways to add color and taste–pitted black olives, pimento-stuffed olives, halved cherry or grape tomatoes, and/or any bell pepper. I use 1/3 c mayo and 1-3 T reserved artichoke marinade. Any leftover poultry or shellfish can be used instead of chicken.
This was my first time trying/making rice salad. It turned out alright – I used less mayo than what was called for though. I’m on the fence about making this again – not because it tasted bad – just because it tasted strange to me.
What a wonderful way to use up that extra box of Rice a Roni you’ve had forever! That was the case for me, and this recipe was a great idea. I had leftovers for days, and although probably not the healthiest thing to eat (with all that mayo), it was definitely easy and tasty! I actually had this warm as a dinner one night then had the cold salad as leftovers the next couple of days. It was good both ways 🙂
Very good. Used precooked, preseasoned chicken fajita meat. Great taste!
This was a hit at the potluck I took it to. Everybody loved it!
Did not care this much.