Lebanese Rice with Vermicelli – Arabic Rice Recipe

Lebanese rice is a staple food. To make Lebanese vermicelli rice, pasta pieces are sautéed in butter and cooked with white rice. This Arabic rice with vermicelli noodles can be served by itself as a side dish or with Lebanese beef and green beans and other stews. It is absolutely delicious!

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This is uniquely a Lebanese/Middle Eastern way of making rice. The sautéed vermicelli is very reminiscent of “fideos” in Mexican cooking, however this totally different than that! Lebanese rice with vermicelli is a satisfying side dish and a complement to almost any meal. It is also referred to as Lebanese rice pilaf or Middle Eastern rice pilaf.

Since rice is served so often in Lebanese cooking, I thought it appropriate to share the best recipe for rice with vermicelli. This way of cooking Lebanese rice is very common and traditional.

Vermicelli rice pairs well with many different dishes. In Lebanese cooking, this Middle Eastern rice dish can be served alone or as a base for stews like Lebanese stewed green beans. Many dishes call to add toasted pine nuts as well, which gives it a deeper flavor. I highly recommend buying QUALITY pine nuts in bulk, toasting them and storing them in a jar in the freezer. For more on that see How to toast pine nuts.

I highly recommend these pine nuts from nuts.com. The quality and price is worth it!

What kind of vermicelli to use in Lebanese rice with vermicelli

It is imperative to use a very thin pasta like vermicelli pasta, otherwise the texture and flavor will not be right. You will not be using Asian rice noodles, but rather vermicelli pasta that you find in the Italian section of your local grocery store.

How to make Lebanese Rice

The lovely thing about this recipe for Lebanese rice, is that it is easy and only has 3 main ingredients:

• Vermicelli pasta noodles
• Long grain white rice (or Jasmine rice if you prefer)
• Butter

And of course, you will need water and salt, just like any other rice recipe.

The steps are very simple as well…

• Brown the vermicelli noodles
• Cook the rice with the noodles

If you are not familiar with Lebanese food or Middle Easter cuisine check out this article on my ultimate guide to Lebanese food!

How to brown vermicelli noodles for Arabic Rice

Did you know that after we sauté the vermicelli, we love to reserve some and eat it as a snack? Just put it on a paper towel and sprinkle some salt on it, and it is a super tasty snack!

There is something about browned butter that gives a depth of flavor to recipes like this one. It is IMPERATIVE to brown the noodles before cooking it with the rice. The flavor in this Lebanese vermicelli rice recipe will not be the same and it will seem very bland if this step is omitted.

Ok first, start off with a package of vermicelli noodles. Break some of the noodles apart into about 1-2 inch pieces. You will need 1/2 cup of the broken pasta noodles for this recipe for Arabic rice.

Add 3 tablespoons of butter to a saucepan and turn to medium heat. Add the noodle pieces and sauté them stirring them constantly. they are going to brown up very nicely, but make sure you are stirring it and don’t have the heat set to high. It browns quickly.

The browned vermicelli is so lovely because it has that wonderful flavor of brown butter! As soon as it is browned, put a little on a paper towel and lightly salt and use for snacking… EVERY. SINGLE. TIME! Love this stuff!

Now with the rest of your browned verrmicelli noodles, add the rice, water and salt (add 1/4 cup of toasted pine nuts if desired). Bring to a boil then reduce to medium heat and cook for 20 minutes until the rice is tender.

Serve with Lebanese Beef and Green Beans, or as a side dish for shish kabob, or any shawarma dish.

You are going to LOVE this rice recipe!

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