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Top down view of of cooked vermicelli rice on a plate, garnished with toasted almonds and parsly

Lebanese Vermicelli Rice

5 from 1 vote
Created by Mariam Ezzeddine
This Vermicelli Rice, also known as Lebanese Rice, is made with only 3 simple ingredients: rice, vermicelli pasta, and olive oil. This rice pilaf is easy, tasty, and is the perfect side dish to any meal. Here’s how to make it!
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Lebanese
Servings 8 servings
servings

Ingredients

  • 2 cups rice long grain, I like Jasmine
  • ½ cup vermicelli
  • 1 tbsps. oil or ghee
  • 3½ cups water
  • salt to taste

Instructions

  • Rinse the rice well and set aside.
  • Bring a medium non stick pot over medium heat and add 1 tbsp. of oil. Add in the vermicelli pasta and toss continuously until golden brown, but do not burn.
  • Add in the rice and sauté for a couple of minutes. Then add in 3½ cups of hot water into the pot, as well as the salt. Adjust the taste.
  • Cook the rice uncovered on medium low heat until the water has halfway dried out, but not completely dry. Then cover and let the rice fully cook on low heat for about 20 more minutes, folding once half way through.
  • When rice it done, fluff it up and serve. You can garnish with some toasted nuts and chopped parsley.

Notes

  • You can swap oil for butter or ghee, or use a mix.
  • If you can’t find vermicelli pasta, you can use angel hair pasta, just be sure to break it up thinly. Unfortunately, spaghetti noodles will be a little too thick.
  • The vermicelli should be a golden yellow color even before you start toasting it. Don’t accidentally use rice vermicelli that’s used in Vietnamese cooking. Those come packaged as well but the noodles itself are white and are also labelled as vermicelli or rice sticks.
  • Keep a close eye on your vermicelli pasta while you toast it as it can quickly go from a beautiful golden brown to burnt! 
  • Be sure you are constantly stirring the vermicelli so you toast them evenly.
  • Do not skip rinsing the rice. You want to remove as much starch as possible so that the grains of rice do not stick together when cooking and you get individual fluffy grains of rice. 

Nutrition

Serving: 8g | Calories: 239kcal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Sodium: 34mg | Potassium: 58mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Calcium: 19mg | Iron: 1mg
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