Jessica Block
Well, folks, we did it. We prepared, tasted, and ranked ten flavors of Rice-A-Roni, the self-proclaimed “San Francisco Treat,” and never in my life has my body been a higher percentage rice. I may never poop again. I know, I know, not all heroes wear capes. But some wear constipation like a badge of honor. I am one such hero. This is one such story.
Now let’s start at the very beginning, which, if I have learned anything from Dame Julie Andrews, is a very good place to start.
What is Rice-A-Roni?
It does depend a bit on the flavor—some, like Rice Pilaf and Wild Rice are deviants—but, for the most part, Rice-A-Roni is a mix of white rice and little pieces of vermicelli noodles that you fry until toasty brown in some butter, then you pop in some water and a seasoning packet that comes with the ‘Roni, and cover and cook it like rice until it is done. The flavors all vary slightly, but none of them took more than 30 minutes to make, start to finish. That is why it’s become a quick-weeknight-dinner staple. That and the sheer range of options—as I said, we tried ten flavors, but there are TWENTY total.
Why is rice and vermicelli a San Francisco treat?
This stuff was invented by an Italian immigrant family who owned a pasta shop in San Francisco in the early 1900s. They got a rice pilaf recipe they really loved from an Armenian friend, then got an idea to make it with a mix of rice and macaroni cooked in water and chicken soup mix, and everyone loved it. By the 1960s, this stuff had gone national. Plus, their logo is a cable car, so that’s pretty neat.
What made some Rice-A-Roni flavors better than others?
We looked for a few things in the best Rice-A-Roni…
- Rice with bite. It shouldn’t be total mush when you cook it according to the instructions on the box.
- Complex flavor. One-note flavors didn’t really resonate—and bonus points for innovative flavor ideas. A lot of Rice-A-Roni flavors are pretty similar to one another.
But I won’t just leave it at that—read on to see which Rice-A-Roni roni’d right, and which tasted just plain Rice-A-Wrongi.
- Rice-A-Roni Spanish Rice
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This Rice-A-Roni flavor came in last place for a few reasons, but before we get into those, you have to know that none of these flavors are gross. If you had no choice but to buy Rice-A-Roni Spanish Rice, you would live, and so would your dinner guests. But this the only Rice-A-Roni we tried that required an ingredient other than butter and water. It called for diced tomatoes, a step which my grandma would call “a bit of a potchke.” Plus, once you add the diced tomatoes, the finished product tastes primarily like, you guessed it, tomatoes. Overall, this one is very acidic and sour, and basically tastes like tomato but with a faint whisper of paella (truly LaCroix levels of paella flavor).
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Rice-A-Roni Chicken
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As you might have guessed, this Rice-A-Roni flavor tastes like chicken. But here’s the thing: Many of these do. This one, however, tastes the most like chicken, which I guess is good since this is chicken flavor. It’s not the best chicken flavored rice I’ve ever had; it tastes more like bouillon and celery than true chicken broth. It’s kind of like if you cooked rice in chicken noodle soup, including the noodles. So if you like chicken noodle soup a whole awful lot, this just might be the best Rice-A-Roni flavor for you.
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Rice-A-Roni Beef
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Beef-flavored Rice-A-Roni is deeply savory and salty, like if a beef stew had no chunks or spices and was just the beef juice…and rice…and tiny (and I do mean tiny) chunks of carrot. It is somewhat bland but in a very comforting way, kind of like congee. I really like this one (although other tasters were on the fence), but it is lower down on the list because even I can recognize that this is not the best Roni to have ever Riced. It could use a bit more flavor.
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Rice-A-Roni Chicken & Garlic
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The roasted garlic aroma of this Rice-A-Roni flavor is pretty nice, and it’s not overwhelming. It also has that hint of chicken bouillon flavor you’ll detect in a lot of Rice-a-Roni varieties, but the roasted garlic makes this much more compelling than the regular chicken flavor. This was also not quite as salty as the regular chicken flavor or a lot of the other flavors, but considering that we were all a bit desensitized to salt by this point in the taste test, I would take that “less salty” comment with a grain of…well…salt.
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Rice-A-Roni Mexican Style
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Mexican Style Rice-A-Roni is the most unique of the whole bunch. It smells smoky like BBQ sauce, tacos, or smoked paprika (which could be the culprit, given the rice’s orange hue). As for what it tastes like? We all agreed it reminded us of a truly subtle taco seasoning, with hints of cumin, chili powder, oregano, and smoked paprika. With the butter that goes into this, it kind of tastes like Chili Cheese Fritos, but more subtle and in rice form. Again, not bad but not the best Rice-A-Roni flavor of the bunch.
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Rice-A-Roni Rice Pilaf
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Now we are getting into the upper echelon of Ronitown. The classic rice Pilaf Flavor uses rice and orzo instead of rice and vermicelli, and it comes out creamy, buttery, and salty. It tastes like a normal store-bought rice pilaf—the pasta and rice have a good texture and neither is too mushy. It’s a touch bland, but rice pilaf isn’t supposed to blast you in the face with flavor.
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Rice-A-Roni Long Grain & Wild Rice
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Rice-A-Roni’s wild rice blend has the best texture of all of the Rice-A-Roni varieties. The wild rice lends the mixture a nice al dente chew, and the seasoning blend is deeply savory, with some herbs and a mushroomy earthiness that you just don’t find in other Rice-A-Roni flavors.
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Rice-A-Roni Herb & Butter
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We had a lot of fun with this one, because every time we said the name, anyone new in the room looked confused and asked, “What’s so different about butter from a city?!” Objectively very funny jokes aside though, this Rice-A-Roni tastes a whole lot like the rice pilaf flavor. The main difference? The herbs, baybee! This one is like a more herby, just as buttery version of the rice pilaf, but with the classic Roni™ Vermicelli instead of the orzo in the pilaf. This is not by any means a flavor bomb, but it’s a solid, comforting side dish that would go well with most meals.
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Rice-A-Roni Stir Fried Rice
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This, much like many of the Rice-A-Roni flavors, tastes like chicken. The difference? It also tastes like other things! It has a hint of celery, a hint of soy sauce, and an overall flavor akin to a much more chicken-forward, cheap (but delicious) chow mein from somewhere like Panda Express. This tastes like chicken Cup Noodles, but not in a bad way. It is creamy and soft, but not too mushy (though it was a little mushy). Some taste testers also thought it tasted a bit like a Safeway rotisserie chicken, so do with that what you will. We liked it!
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Rice-A-Roni Creamy Four Cheese
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Yep, the lone cheesy Rice-A-Roni we tried came in first. Are any of us surprised? Texturally, it’s a bit mushy, but one could also classify that as “creaminess” from the cheese. Plus, there is a chance that any mushiness was due to some amount of user error, as this was the first one we cooked. This tastes like Kraft Mac & Cheese if it were rice-based and slightly less sharp and cheddar-y. The four cheeses in there are parmesan, cheddar, romano, and blue cheese (in order of amount), and you can sort of taste the blue and the parm funkiness in there, especially as it cools off a bit. It also—and you aren’t going to believe this—tastes a little bit like chicken. I know!! In a Rice-A-Roni? Preposterous. But y’all? We loved it. Yes, it’s still somewhat bland, but sometimes that’s just what the Doct-A-Roni ordered.
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
Rice-A-Roni!
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Rice-A-Roni!
Griffin Parker
Will Morgan
Joe Rumrill
