A staple with every Lebanese family, Lebanese vermicelli rice is always served as the basic rice side. Lebanese rice is the ideal side of rice, using only 3 ingredients, it makes for an easy vegan rice recipe.
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Jump to:
- ❔What is vermicelli rice?
- 🥘Vermicelli Rice Ingredients
- 🔪How to cook vermicelli rice
- 📝Lebanese Rice Recipe Notes
- 💭Lebanese Rice Recipe Tips
- 💡Vermicelli Rice Recipe Variations
- ❔What to serve with pilaf with vermicelli
- 🍚Other Lebanese Rice Recipes
- ❓FAQ
- 📖 Recipe
- 📝Lebanese Rice Recipe Notes
- 💭Lebanese Rice Recipe Tips
- 💬 Community
There’s a reason why kids love this vermicelli rice, it’s buttery and flavoursome on it’s own.
As a kid, I would mix this Middle Eastern vermicelli pilaf with plain yoghurt and happily eat it.
My son did the same thing and now I watch my nephews and nieces do it too. I love how they refer to this Lebanese rice as rice with noodles recipe.
It’s great for those fussy kids.
If you’re Lebanese (or Middle Eastern) you know what I am talking about.
However, this basic Lebanese rice with vermicelli is an every-day go-to and not necessarily intended as per the above.
It’s always found ready in the fridge. And it’s served as a side of rice. No boring plain rice here. You will note I refer to this rice extensively throughout Plant Based Folk. We always have it with Fasolia.
Lebanese Rice is known in Arabic as Riz Bi Sha'rieh. Riz meaning "rice", bi meaning "in" and Sha'rieh" meaning angel hair pasta (vermicelli pasta) as technically sha'rieh is referencing "hair"
Rice with vermicelli is traditionally made with white rice, my preference is basmati rice, as it cooks quick.
Jasmine rice or long grain white rice are great option too.
❔What is vermicelli rice?
It’s the most commonly made Lebanese rice and is always found at a Lebanese table where a side of rice is needed. It’s side rice on steroids. Haha.
Vermicelli rice is commonly referred to as Lebanese rice but is also known as Middle Eastern rice, Arabic rice or rice pilaf with vermicelli.
Why is it called vermicelli rice? This is due to the feature of pan fried golden brown vermicelli within the rice. Vermicelli is thin pasta (made into small bales) resembling tiny spaghetti.
When cooked the vermicelli looks like noodles, hence why it is also known as a rice with noodles recipe or rice with pasta.
🥘Vermicelli Rice Ingredients
- 1 cup white basmati rice (long grain or jasmine are good too)
- ½ cup crushed vermicelli pasta (aka angel hair pasta, be sure to check it doesn’t contain egg to make sure this is a vegan rice recipe)
- 1 tablespoon plant based butter (or olive oil)
- 1 ½ cups water
🔪How to cook vermicelli rice
Step 1 - Heat plant based butter (or olive oil) in a pot over med-high heat. Add crushed vermicelli and continuously stir until golden brown.
Step 2 - Add rice and stir through, coating it with the plant based butter.
Step 3 - Add water and salt. Bring it to a boil and then turn heat to low and allow rice to cook for about 10-12 minutes. Once rice is cooked, allow it to sit (covered) for about 10 minutes and then fluff rice with a fork and serve.
📝Lebanese Rice Recipe Notes
When frying vermicelli, be sure to watch and continuously stir it, as it heats up quick and can burn quickly toward the end.
To alleviate any burning of the vermicelli, when it turns golden, add rice immediately. As this will help distribute the heat throughout the rice rather than keep it in the vermicelli.
The water line above the rice should be approximately 2.5cm (if you need to add a little bit more water, do so at the start.
Rice is done when the water evaporates.
The cooked vermicelli will mostly sit on the top of the rice. This is normal and is mixed through when fluffing rice.
Salt - you can adjust the salt to your liking. I much prefer to under salt my Arabic rice as it will be used with other foods which already contain salt in them too.
💭Lebanese Rice Recipe Tips
Avoid short grain white rices
If you are using a white rice other than basmati, I recommend you wash the rice (until it runs clear) to rid excess starch, as this will help to achieve a non-clumpy rice. However if you are using basmati rice, this step isn’t necessary
Crush vermicelli bales with your hands into bite sized pieces (don’t over crush) before pan frying.
The more golden the vermicelli is, the bolder the flavour is. It’s worth trying to get it as golden as possible.
Coating the rice in the oils of the pan fried vermicelli is important as it helps the vermicelli rice to cook well and evenly distribute the flavour.
Do not open the lid immediately after cooking. Allowing it to sit helps the heat to cook it a little bit more.
💡Vermicelli Rice Recipe Variations
Lebanese vermicelli rice can be altered by using either a vegan butter or olive oil or even equally combining vegan butter with olive oil. You could even try using vegetable ghee. Traditionally this recipe was made using ghee.
Whilst Lebanese vermicelli rice is typically cooked with white rice, you can cook it with brown rice if you desire. Just note, brown rice will take longer to cook.
Whilst my family doesn’t ever garnish this rice (as it is always eaten as a side of rice) you can garnish this Middle Eastern rice with toasted nuts or sliced fresh herbs or shallots (green onions)
❔What to serve with pilaf with vermicelli
As mentioned previously this Arabic rice is served with anything that requires a side of rice, here are typically foods eaten with middle eastern rice
- Kidney bean stew Lebanese fasolia - super easy to make and very filling, it's the perfect comfort food
- Lebanese Spinach Stew Sabanekh wa Riz - a lovely and light spinach stew that works perfectly with this rice recipe
- Bamia Okra Stew - this hearty stew is always best served with this rice
🍚Other Lebanese Rice Recipes
I love Lebanese rice recipes, they are always big on taste, using the simplest ingredients;
- Mujadara recipe - an easy to make, using pantry ingredients rice & lentil main meal
- Lebanese rice vegan - filled with vegetables and topped with toasted nuts - this is a family favourite
❓FAQ
Angel hair pasta or capellini pasta make great alternatives. However depending on which country you are located in, some of these pastas may be referred to each other interchangeably.
Yes, vermicelli rice is the same as plain rice. Simply allow it to cool to room temperature before storing in an air tight container in the fridge for up to five days. Reheat as per plain rice.
No, rice with vermicelli isn’t gluten free. As the vermicelli is made from wheat which contains gluten.
No, vermicelli pasta and vermicelli noodles are two different foods. Pasta is generally made of wheat and noodles are made of rice. Vermicelli noodles will not yield the same result.
Did you make this Lebanese vermicelli rice? I would love to hear from you, leave me a comment below and give me a rating. This will help me greatly to grow. Alternatively did you happen to take a photo? Tag me @plantbasedfolk on Instagram to be featured via stories.
Janelle x
📖 Recipe
Vermicelli Rice (Lebanese Rice)
Ingredients
- 1 cup Basmati Rice or any long grain rice
- ½ cup Vermicelli Pasta or angel hair pasta
- 1½ tablespoon Plant Based butter or olive oil
- ½ teaspoon Salt or to taste
- 1½ cups water or make sure the water line is about 2 cm above the rice
Instructions
- Heat plant based butter (or olive oil) in a pot over med-high heat. Add crushed vermicelli and continuously stir until golden brown.
- Add rice and stir through, coating it with the plant based butter.
- Add water and salt. Bring it to a boil and then turn heat to low and allow rice to cook for about 10-12 minutes. Once rice is cooked, allow it to sit (covered) for about 10 minutes and then fluff rice with a fork and serve.
Video
Notes
📝Lebanese Rice Recipe Notes
- When frying vermicelli, be sure to watch and continuously stir it, as it heats up quick and can burn quickly toward the end.
- To alleviate any burning of the vermicelli, when it turns golden, add rice immediately. As this will help distribute the heat throughout the rice rather than keep it in the vermicelli.
- The water line above the rice should be approximately 2.5cm (if you need to add a little bit more water, do so at the start.
- Rice is done when the water evaporates.
- The cooked vermicelli will mostly sit on the top of the rice. This is normal and can mixed through when fluffing rice.
- Salt - you can adjust the salt to your liking. I much prefer to under salt my Arabic rice as it will be used with other foods which already contain salt in them too.
💭Lebanese Rice Recipe Tips
- Avoid short grain white rices
- If you are using a white rice other than basmati, I recommend you wash the rice (until it runs clear) to rid excess starch, as this will help to achieve a non-clumpy rice. However if you are using basmati rice, this step isn’t necessary
- Crush vermicelli bales with your hands into bite sized pieces (don’t over crush) before pan frying.
- The more golden the vermicelli is, the bolder the flavour is. It’s worth trying to get it as golden as possible.
- Coating the rice in the oils of the pan fried vermicelli is important as it helps the vermicelli rice to cook well and evenly distribute the flavour.
- Do not open the lid immediately after cooking. Allowing it to sit helps the heat to cook it a little bit more.
Judy Vincent
Hello how much water do we use for the recipe above?
plantbasedfolk
hi Judy,
You will need 1.5 cups of water or a general rule of thumb is making sure there is about 2cm of water above the rice line.
Enjoy!
Debbi
Yum, this rice is so good and so easy. I’ve been making it whenever I need rice with my meal. The video is helpful, I’m a visual person. Thanks for sharing
plantbasedfolk
I am so pleased to read this! It's the best rice ever!