A Chicken Rice-A-Roni Knock Off

I love rice a roni, but not so much the price.  It is just pasta, rice and seasoning after all and I do buy all my spices in bulk, so I searched far and wide and after much trial and error in different recipes, I came up with this.

Chicken Rice a Roni

2/3 c. White Rice

1/3 c. Pasta

(pasta can be broken spaghetti, vermicelli or acini de pepe)*

2 Tbs butter

4 Tbs Seasoning

2 1/4 c. Water

Saute Rice and Pasta in Butter until pasta darkens.  Add seasoning and water.  Stir to mix, then cover and simmer until rice is tender.  Equals about 1 box.

I do not recommend brown rice unless is is parboiled or something.  The brown rice always seems to never quite cook all the way and be very hard or at best chewy.  You can play with this and see what you come up with, but I've not made it work yet.

* Spaghetti will darken, vermicelli or acini de pepe will brown.  Basically you want the pasta to absorb the browned butter flavor.  It really adds to the finished product.

Chicken Rice A Roni Seasoning

1/4 c. Parsley

6 Tbs Chicken Bouillon**

2 tsp Onion Powder

1/2 tsp Garlic Powder

1/4 tsp Thyme

Mix and keep in airtight container.

**Be careful to use a high quality, low sodium bouillon or else this will be very very disgustingly salty!