Not true fried rice in the traditional sense, this easy Chicken Fried Rice and Roni is a homemade cross between fried rice and Rice-A-Roni. It’s so delicious! You’ve got to give it a try!
In my family, this dish is known as “Fried Rice A La Sal.” Sal is Sally, my mom, and this is a recipe she invented way back when I was a kid. It’s one of my all-time favorite recipes. I used to beg her to make it all the time! It might sound a little different, but it’s sooo good, and it’s a great way to use leftover chicken.
When I was growing up, with the exception of Friday night pizzas, we hardly ever had any sort of takeout food for dinner. We might have gotten McDonald’s or Long John Silver’s every now and again as a special treat, but Chinese food never made an appearance (my dad, a real meat-and-potatoes kind of guy, never wanted it – although he did come around later in life AND definitely made up for lost time!).
So instead of takeout Chinese, my mom came up with this chicken “fried” rice – which is actually much more like Rice-A-Roni than fried rice and doesn’t really have any Chinese ingredients in it – but we always drizzled it with soy sauce, which made it like fried rice (to us, anyway)!
Even though it’s not authentic, I would absolutely eat this over regular fried rice any day! It’s so much better! It’s got rice, broken up pieces of spaghetti, and lots of chicken, mushrooms, onions, celery, and (my favorite part) scrambled eggs.
INGREDIENTS YOU NEED:
- Butter
- Rice (I like to use a long-grain rice)
- Spaghetti
- Better Than Bouillon chicken base or chicken-flavored bouillon cubes or powder
- Water
- Tomato sauce
- Worcestershire sauce
- Onions
- Celery
- Mushrooms
- Salt and pepper
- Eggs
- Cooked and shredded or diced chicken breast
- Soy sauce (optional)
HERE’S A QUICK LOOK AT HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN FRIED RICE AND RONI:
This recipe makes a really big batch – enough for 8 servings. You’ll want to use a really large, deep pan or even a large pot. I use an 11-inch saute pan with high sides, and once I add everything in, it fills it pretty full. Ideally, you want to have enough room to easily stir everything together without making a mess. Sometimes I just throw everything in a really big bowl and toss it together and then put it back in the pan.
You could always halve the recipe if you don’t want to make quite so much, but leftovers are excellent for another dinner or lunch. And I have to say that this stuff is pretty darn delicious even when it’s cold! Yep, I have had many, many bowls of this straight from the fridge. I actually love it cold! Weird? Maybe. But it’s really good!!
This recipe is great for using leftover roasted chicken or some of that pre-cooked chicken you might have in the freezer (<– Do this! It’s such a lifesaver on busy weeknights!?).
If I don’t have any leftover chicken or any pre-cooked chicken in my freezer, I usually cook two large chicken breasts in my Instant Pot (about 2 pounds total) while I’m getting everything else ready. Sometimes I just thinly slice two chicken breasts, season, and saute in some butter or olive oil until cooked through.
This is really good as is. You could also try giving it a light drizzle of soy sauce. Delicious!
I hope you try this recipe for Chicken Fried Rice and Roni and love it as much as I do! Thanks for visiting today!
Chicken Fried Rice and Roni
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons butter, divided
- 2 cups long-grain rice
- 1 cup spaghetti broken into 1-inch pieces
- 5 teaspoons Better Than Bouillon chicken base (or 5 bouillon cubes or 5 teaspoons bouillon powder)
- 5 cups water
- 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 cups chopped onions (about 1 large onion)
- 2 cups chopped celery (about 4 ribs)
- 1 (10-ounce) package fresh sliced mushrooms
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 6 large eggs
- 4 cups cooked shredded or diced chicken breast
- soy sauce (for serving), optional
Instructions
- In a large skillet, melt 4 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat. Add the rice and spaghetti and fry until lightly browned.
- Combine the Better Than Bouillon chicken base with the water and add to the pan (be careful – there will be hot steam when the broth hits the pan!) along with the tomato sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Stir and cover.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until all of the liquid is absorbed.
- While the rice is cooking, saute the onions, celery, mushrooms, and some salt and pepper (to taste) in 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium heat until softened. Remove the veggies from the pan to a bowl and set aside.
- In the same pan, scramble the eggs in the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter. Add to the bowl with the veggies.
- When the rice is cooked, add the cooked veggies, the scrambled eggs, and the cooked chicken to the rice and stir well to combine (if your pan isn't large enough to stir everything without making a mess, just put everything in a large mixing bowl and stir). Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
- Serve with soy sauce, if desired.
Notes
- I recommend using the Better Than Bouillon chicken base or the bouillon cubes/powder and water rather than regular chicken broth because it has much more flavor, but you could use 5 cups of chicken broth instead.
- If you don’t have any pre-cooked chicken, you can thinly slice 2 large chicken breasts (about 2 pounds total), season with salt and pepper, and saute in some butter or olive oil until cooked through.
Karisty
👍
Michelle
Thank you!!
Jimmy
Excellent!! Reminds me of what my mother use to make for me growing up. Thanks!! 👍😊
Michelle
Thank you!!
vuasongbac
Awesome cooking!
Michelle
Thank you!
Jerry Roos
I’ve tried a lot of fried rice techniques, and this is the best! You could add leftover roast pork or shrimp. It’s a super foundation for many different chinese style dishes.
Michelle
Thank you, Jerry! So happy you enjoyed it!