⏱ Prep: 5 min 🔥Cook: 25 min 👤Serves: 4–6🌿Diet: Vegan option
Lebanese vermicelli rice, roz bil sha’riyeh, is three ingredients and one technique that turns plain rice into the side dish every Middle Eastern meal is built around. Broken vermicelli noodles toasted in butter until deeply golden and nutty, then combined with long-grain rice, water and salt and cooked until every grain is fluffy and separated. Twenty-five minutes. One pot. The nutty toasted noodle fragrance alone is worth making it.
Ingredients
- 1½ cups (300g) long-grain white rice, basmati or jasmine both work. Rinse under cold running water until completely clear at least 3–4 rinses. This removes excess starch and is what produces fluffy separated grains rather than clumped, sticky rice.
- ½ cup (60g) vermicelli noodles, pre-broken into 1-inch (2.5cm) pieces. Available at Middle Eastern grocery stores and most supermarkets in the pasta aisle. Substitute: break angel hair pasta or thin spaghetti into 1-inch pieces by hand. Do not use rice vermicelli, wheat vermicelli only.
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, the fat that toasts the vermicelli and gives the rice its characteristic richness. Substitute: extra virgin olive oil for a vegan version, or ghee for extra depth.
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, combined with the butter to raise the smoke point and prevent burning during toasting
- 2¾ cups (660ml) water, or chicken broth for extra flavor. Broth produces a noticeably more savory, deeper result. Use vegetable broth for a vegan version.
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional but traditional in Lebanese home cooking. Adds a subtle warmth that is surprisingly good in rice.
For the garnish: ¼ cup pine nuts and ¼ cup slivered almonds, toasted in 1 teaspoon butter until golden. Fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped. Optional but makes the dish genuinely beautiful.
Step by step
- Rinse the rice. Place the rice in a bowl. Cover with cold water, swirl and drain. Repeat until the water runs completely clear, 3 to 4 times minimum. Drain well. This step cannot be skipped, unrinsed rice releases starch into the cooking water and produces sticky, clumped grains.
- Toast the vermicelli. Heat butter and olive oil together in a medium heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the vermicelli pieces. Stir constantly, do not walk away. Toast for 3–5 minutes until every piece is a deep, even golden brown. Watch carefully: vermicelli goes from pale to golden to burnt in under a minute at the end.Deep golden brown not pale, not dark brown, not black. The correct color produces a nutty, toasty fragrance that fills the kitchen. Pale vermicelli adds almost no flavor. Burnt vermicelli makes the whole dish bitter and needs to be discarded and started again.
- Add the rice. Add the drained rice to the pot with the toasted vermicelli. Stir for 1–2 minutes, coating every grain in the butter and mixing it evenly through the noodles. This coating step prevents the rice from sticking together during cooking.
- Add liquid and cook. Pour in the water or broth. Add salt and cinnamon if using. Stir once and bring to a boil over high heat. The moment it boils, stir once gently from the bottom reduce heat to the lowest setting and cover tightly. Cook for 15–18 minutes without lifting the lid.Do not lift the lid during cooking. The steam trapped inside is what cooks the rice evenly. Lifting releases steam and produces unevenly cooked rice with hard grains at the top.
- Rest and fluff. Remove the pot from the heat. Leave covered and undisturbed for 10 minutes. This resting period allows the steam to finish cooking the top layer and the grains to firm up so they do not break when fluffed. After 10 minutes, uncover and fluff gently with a fork from the edges inward.
- Garnish and serve. Transfer to a wide serving bowl or serve directly from the pot. Scatter the toasted pine nuts, almonds and chopped parsley over the top if using. Serve immediately alongside stews, grilled meats or any Middle Eastern dish.
The one thing worth knowing
The vermicelli toasting is the whole recipe. Pale, under-toasted vermicelli adds almost nothing, the rice tastes like plain rice with noodles mixed in. Deep golden vermicelli adds a specific nutty, slightly caramelized flavor that makes this dish smell and taste completely different from plain rice.
Stay at the stove. Stir constantly. Pull it off the heat the moment every piece is deep golden. The difference between golden and burnt is 30 seconds of inattention.
Make it ahead
Claire’s note
Lebanese vermicelli rice reheats exceptionally well, better than most rice dishes because the toasted noodles maintain their texture and the butter prevents the grains from clumping. Refrigerate in a sealed container for up to 4 days. Reheat with a splash of water (2–3 tablespoons) in a pot over low heat with the lid on 5 minutes and it is back to where it was. Microwave with a damp paper towel on top also works. Make the garnish fresh each time, pre-toasted nuts go soft in the fridge. This rice also freezes perfectly for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge and reheat as above.
Serve with
Lebanese vermicelli rice is the side dish the entire Middle Eastern recipe collection is built around. It goes alongside chicken shawarma, beef kafta kebabs, kibbeh and every stew in the Lebanese collection. It is also how leftover bulgogi, chicken tikka and braised lamb become complete meals without any extra effort.
Add it to your weekly meal planner as the default side dish, make a large batch Sunday and reheat through the week. And for more recipes, follow us on Pinterest.
Print
Lebanese Vermicelli Rice (Roz Bil Sha’riyeh)
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
Description
A quick and flavorful side dish featuring toasted vermicelli and rice, essential in Middle Eastern cuisine.
Ingredients
- 1½ cups (300g) long-grain white rice (basmati or jasmine), rinsed
- ½ cup (60g) vermicelli noodles, pre-broken into 1-inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2¾ cups (660ml) water or chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
- ¼ cup pine nuts, toasted (for garnish)
- ¼ cup slivered almonds, toasted (for garnish)
- Fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped (for garnish)
Instructions
- Rinse the rice under cold water until completely clear, about 3-4 times, then drain well.
- Toast the vermicelli in a medium pot with butter and olive oil over medium heat for 3-5 minutes until deep golden brown.
- Add the drained rice to the pot, stir for 1-2 minutes to coat the grains.
- Pour in the water or broth. Add salt and cinnamon if using, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cover tightly. Cook for 15-18 minutes.
- Rest the pot off heat for 10 minutes, covered, then fluff the rice gently with a fork.
- Garnish with toasted pine nuts, almonds, and chopped parsley before serving.
Notes
Vermicelli toasting is key for flavor; do not skip rinsing the rice for best texture.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 250
- Sugar: 1g
- Sodium: 400mg
- Fat: 10g
- Saturated Fat: 3g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 36g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 6g
- Cholesterol: 10mg
