According to NPR, Rice-A-Roni was inspired by an Armenian dish.
Oh, and from what I understand, you can’t find it in restaurants in San Francisco.
When I heard the news on NPR this morning, as now, I wondered, “What the heck was the Armenian dish?”
Help fight ignorance! Pony up the recipe!
That makes me sad. I love Rice-A-Roni and have used it in a skillet casserole my family likes.
Fizoo:
Make one box Rice-A-Roni according to package directions. Any flavor will work.
While that’s going, brown a pound of ground meat, whatever kind you like.
When the rice is almost but not quite done, add the meat and a package of frozen mixed veggies. I suppose you could use Veg-All, but I prefer frozen. Re-cover the skillet and let the veggies heat up. It helps if they’re already thawed, but this is not usually necessary.
This is a good day-before-payday recipe. It’s cheap, it makes a lot of food and most people like it. I’ll have to make it tomorrow.
Robin
Rest in peace. I like Rice-A-Roni, but “the San Francisco treat”? C’mon. David Letterman once had a segment when he was doing the show in San Francisco; he went to various posh restaurants asking for Rice-A-Roni. Not surprisingly, nobody had it.
Ding Ding!
Amazingly, the undertakers had him ready for burial in just seven minutes.
And yet he was still moist and flavorful.
OK, so I’m going to Hell.
Coca-Cola, when snorted through the nasal passages, stings like a bitch.
Thanks for that.
Did he order out from Jackie McLean’s Pizza and Jazz?
Variations on this are my default dinner, except that I usually use meat cut into bite-sized pieces instead of ground since that’s what I’m more likely to have available. It also has the advantage that the leftovers make an even faster meal later…just pop them in the microwave for a few minutes.
Pilaf, no?
Recipe from a family named Pilafian, Armenian for “people of the pilaf.”
Thanks, but I see no vermicelli in there… 
The thought of puting ground meat into Rice-a-Roni sickens me to the depths of my soul. That is FOUL, people!
Can you get Rice-a-Roni in a restaurant anywhere? 
This is why I don’t get this oft-featured criticism of Rice-a-Roni; somehow Letterman and et al. attempt to “mock” this product by showing that you can’t get it in a restaurant in San Francisco.
Well, I also am willing to bet you can’t get Kraft Mac-n-Cheese, or any other pre-packaged dry food product that you can mix up in a few minutes on your stove. What would be the point in any restaurant serving Rice-a-Roni or say, Kraft Mac-n-Cheese? These are food items that will taste generally the same no matter who makes them, and unless you choose to add ingredients of your own, it’s basically the same food; the only exception would be people who are truly inept in a kitchen and can’t follow the simple instructions printed on the box. One doesn’t typically go to a restaurant to have someone slap together an instant-dinner like Hamburger Helper and et al, because you can always get that cheaper at home and these types of items are so easy to make anyway that you don’t even get much convenience out of paying someone in a restaurant to make them for you.
So no, Rice-a-Roni almost definitely isn’t served in San Francisco restaurants (nor any other anywhere that I’ve ever been to, although I’m sure it may be used somewhere) but I’m all but certain you can buy it in San Francisco just like you can any other city in America since it is a nationally distributed product.
It’s called the San Francisco treat because the Italian immigrant that developed it was living in San Francisco at the time, I’ve never really heard the claim that it is called this because it is especially beloved by people from San Francisco or because it is consumed constantly there.
(snipped for brevity and clarity)
Actually, you can get Kraft Mac n’ Cheese at some restaurants. It’s on the kids’ menu and it’s sold as a branded product, at least at Bob Evans. (IIRC. I could be wrong about the restaurant. But I’m pretty sure it’s Bob Evans.)
Robin
If Mimi’s Cafe in SoCal isn’t serving Kraft Macaroni ‘n’ Cheese on their kids’ menu, it’s a very good imitation.
And speaking of people who can’t follow the instructions on a box, my wife had a visitor in the apartment last week who took a box of instant pudding mix and cooked it on top of the stove.
Anyway, I make Rice-a-roni quite a lot, but I always add an extra 1/2 cup of rice, cup of water, and bouillon cube, so as to make it go further.
Thanks for your contribution to humanity, Mr. DeDomenico.
One of my college roomates subsisted almost exclusively on Rice-A-Roni with a can of tuna added. Sound any better?
See, this is the kind of person Dr. Lecter looks for.