Some reviewers have called this bland - I say it's mild, which sometimes is just what is called for to complement what it's served with. If this were a main dish I might agree it would be missing something substantial, but as a side dish it complemented, rather than competed with, the main dish. That said, I still "enhanced" it just a bit - I browned the rice along with the orzo, cooked it in chicken broth as well as the bouillon, and added another couple of tablespoons of butter and a tiny pinch of saffron. Just before serving I stirred in a little chopped fresh parsley for freshness and color. A really enjoyable side dish that's bound to make its way to my table again.
This is like a cheap low salt version of RiceARoni. I've used vegetable and beef bullion and both were good. I browned a small chopped onion in the butter before the pasta, and added extra parmasan cheese. This is the sort of side dish that could be edited to match pretty much any main dish. And it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan like other rice dishes. I'll be making this again for sure.
This was a nice change from regular rice. I did make some alterations to the recipe after reading the reviews. 1. 2 tsp of butter and olive oil to brown the orzo 2. Used low sodium chicken stock instead of the chicken cubes 3. Added some shredded carrots,1 small diced onion,2 cloves of chopped garlic and about 7 medium chopped mushrooms. All of these were sauteed after I browned the orzo. Then I added the rice and stock. 4. Added just a sprinkle of garlic salt and some dried parsley for color. With these changes this is a definate 5 star recipe. Need I say that I will be making again!
After reading the other reviews I doubled the bouillon. This was good but next time I will even add more bouillon.
We really enjoyed this side dish!! I doubled the recipe because I always make extra rice to have for later meals. I also added about .5 tspn of italian seasoning to the browning orzo step. I don't ever buy rice a roni, and I think I've eaten it once in my life,but I LOVED this recipe!! The orzo makes it almost creamy,and makes "rice“ so much better! I also plan on making it often! Thank you for the recipe!
Great side dish. I used chicken broth instead of the boullion and water, and sauted a little onion and minced garlic with the rice. We enjoyed this change from our usual white rice.
Waaaaay too bland as written! Potentially easy to improve though. Next time I'd take the other reviewer's advice and add sauteed onion minced garlic fresh parsley Parmesan cheese slivered almonds salt and pepper. When I get around to that I'll post my own recipe. =)
This was really good. I cut the butter to 1 T. and increased the rice/orzo to 3/4 c. each, with 3 c. of canned low-salt chicken broth (what I had on hand). The butter adds a lot of flavor - and 1 T. is plenty.
We eat this about once a week at our house. My only tip would be to add more boullion. You can use beef or chicken. Soooo good!
