The Rice-A-Roni brand has used the registered trademark description "The San Francisco Treat" and images of cable cars since its first advertisement in 1958, the year Rice-A-Roni was first sold. As of 2010, members of the founding family still run the company. The company's other brand, Pasta Roni, was added in 1964 as Noodle Roni, an all-pasta product. The name was changed in 1995 to Pasta Roni. As of 2010, there are more than 30 Rice-A-Roni flavors.
Rice-A-Roni
The original Chicken Rice-A-Roni was half rice and half vermicelli pasta. Other early flavor choices were beef, Spanish and fried rice. For most products, you are instructed to saute rice with margarine, then add water and seasonings. Some of the more recent products, such as Country Cheddar, are made by adding milk, margarine and water. The Nature's Way and Whole Grain Rice-A-Roni mixes use olive oil in place of margarine.
Some of the newer Rice-A Roni products are made with brown rice. The inedible hull is removed from whole grain rice and brown rice, leaving the bran in place, thus giving these types of rice a higher fiber content. The bran is polished off of white rice and iron, thiamine, folate and riboflavin are added, increasing the nutritional value. The U.S. Department of Agriculture notes that 1 cup of brown rice meets more than 60 percent of the recommended daily serving of whole grains and the enrichment of white rice helps prevent birth defects.
Classic Favorites
There are 20 Rice-A-Roni classic flavors. The original chicken has onions, parsley, and garlic added to rice and pasta. When prepared as directed, with 2 tbsp margarine, one package makes three servings, each containing 300 calories, 9 g of fat and 1,060 mg of sodium -- 44 percent of the RDA. There are 7 g of protein and 3 g of fiber. The enriched rice gives Classic Chicken a significant percentage of the RDA for several nutrients: vitamin A, at 6 percent; iron, at 10 percent; thiamine, at 20 percent; niacin, at 15 percent; folate, at 25 percent; and riboflavin, at 10 percent. Don't let the name of Rice-A-Roni packages fool you if you are diet-conscious: Creamy Four Cheese and Fried Rice might sound like they'd be very high in calories, but the former has 270 calories per serving and the latter 310 calories. There are more calories, 350, and a lot of sodium, 1,290 mg, in the healthier-sounding Chicken and Mushroom. Country Cheddar is made with 2/3 cup of milk and 2 tbsp, margarine, which provide 10 percent of the RDA of calcium in each serving.
Low-Sodium
The classic Rice-A-Roni flavors have around 50 percent of the recommended daily amount of sodium in each serving. The low-sodium chicken and beef flavors have around 30 percent of the RDA. Low-sodium chicken made with 2 tbsp. of margarine has 670 mg of sodium, or 28 percent of the RDA per serving.
Nature's Way
The Nature's Way Rice-A-Roni products have no preservatives and all-natural flavors. You add ½ cup of milk, water and 1 tbsp. of olive oil to Italian Cheese & Herb and Parmesan & Romano Rice-A-Roni. When prepared as directed, these contain 10 percent to 15 percent of the RDA of calcium in each serving. No milk is added to Nature's Way Long Grain & Wild Rice, which has 250 calories and 760 mg of sodium. It is not enriched, so has only 4 percent of the RDA of iron and no declared levels of folate, thiamine and riboflavin. Classic Long Grain & Wild Rice has 240 calories and is enriched with iron, thiamine, folate and riboflavin.
Whole Grain Blends
The Whole Grain Rice-A-Roni flavors, Chicken & Herb, Roasted Garlic Italiano, and Spanish make two servings using 1 tbsp added olive oil and water. These have higher fiber content than classic Rice-A-Roni but are not enriched. Whole grain brown rice, pearled barley and pearled wheat with natural flavors are in Chicken & Herb Whole Grain Rice-A-Roni, which provides 260 calories, 32 percent of the RDA of sodium, 6 g of protein and 4 g of fiber.
Member Comments