Vermicelli Rice

5 from 11 votes

Whether you call this Lebanese Rice or Vermicelli rice, this an extremely flavorful, versatile and easy-to-make Middle Eastern rice side dish. Vermicelli pasta is toasted in butter with a cinnamon stick and cooked with long grain Basmati rice to make a fluffy and delicious side to serve with stews, curries, and grilled or roasted proteins.

Prep Time15

Cook Time20

Total Time35

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Levantine, Middle Eastern

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings: people

Author: Luay Ghafari

Cost: $5

Ingredients

1 ½ cups Basmati Rice
2 tbsp Butter
½ cup Vermicelli noodles - Or you can break spaghetti or spaghettini into 1" (2cm) pieces
1 Cinnamon stick
2 ¼ cups water - Or you can use low sodium broth
1 tsp Kosher salt
Toasted nuts for garnish - Optional

Instructions

Rince. Rinse the rice with cold water until the water runs clear. Do this by washing it 3-4 times, making sure to discard the water between washes. Soak the rice in a bowl of water for 15 minutes (while you prepare the rest of the recipe).
Fry. In a small pot, melt the butter on medium heat. Add the vermicelli noodles and cinnamon stick. Toast the noodles for 2-4 minutes, tossing regularly. You want the noodles to lightly toast and release their aroma. Be careful, the noodles can burn quickly. If they burn, start over.
Boil. Strain the rice in a sieve and transfer it to the pot. Stir so that the rice gets coated in the butter and the noodles evenly distribute with the rice. Add the water and salt (use less salt if you need to watch your sodium intake). Bring the pot to a rapid boil, stir to release any bits that may be stuck, reduce the heat to the lowest simmer setting, cover with a tight-fitting lid and steam for 20 minutes.
Fluff and serve. After 20 minutes, turn the heat off and set the pot aside for 15 minutes. The rice is now ready to be fluffed, served and garnished with optional toasted nuts.

Video

Notes

Refer to the blog post above for step-by-step recipe photos.

If you plan to toast nuts as a garnish, do that with a little bit of olive oil or butter in a small frying pan on medium-low heat. Be careful. the nuts will burn quickly!

Important ingredient information:

- Rice. My recommendation is to use Basmati rice for this recipe. In fact, Basmati rice is my go-to for all rice dishes unless the recipes call specifically for another type. It is aromatic, nutty and easy to find in most grocery stores. If you don't have Basmati, you can use any long-grain rice. You can also try this recipe with brown rice, but you should adjust the rice-to-water ratio and follow the directions on the package.

- Vermicelli. These thin short noodles can easily be found at Middle Eastern, Greek or Italian grocery stores. In fact, you can probably find them at most grocers these days. If you can't find packaged vermicelli pasta, you can break spaghetti or spaghettini into small 1 inch (2.5cm) long strips. It doesn't have to be perfect. Rustic is just fine.

- Butter. I personally prefer butter, but you can certainly use olive oil if you prefer. This is a matter of personal preference. To make this recipe vegan, use olive oil.

- Cinnamon stick. If you don't have cinnamon sticks you can use 1/8 to 1/4 tsp of cinnamon powder instead.

Nutrition