I added water chestnuts for a crunch. It was great!

I hate recipes like this. Who in god's name has a 10 oz box of saffron yellow rice in their cupboard ? I've never even seen one! kinda reminds me of a recipe with 20 items that you've never heard of.

Hi Terry,

Did you try Amazon? You can probably find a suitable replacement at your local supermarket (such as Zaitaran's) or use 10 oz. of plain white rice and season it with a pinch of saffron (or any other spices you might be likely to have on your shelf - ?).

Recipes are really more like a suggestion - you never need to slavishly follow each ingredient's recommendation down to the exact ounce and brand name. That would be far too limiting!

The author makes a suggestion about the ingredients they used and you're free to innovate and experiment. Unless you go very far afield, what you turn out is likely to be a good rendition and possibly a new masterpiece for you to share with us!

-- CM

AMEN!

So tactfully stated!!

Does saffron change the flavor of the rice or just the color and the price? I've never made this or used saffron before. Just curious.

I live in Mississippi and use Mahatma yellow rice that already has saffron in it. I will make this recipe.

I found the exact Vigo spanish rice right at Walmart. Very easy to find. Very inexpensive. Cant wait to make it!

Vigo rice is a wonderful brand and is readily available. They also have other rices, red beans and rice; black beans and rice. I use this product a lot and it is a great time saver. It also makes a great paella base.

Ha! I agree! Who the heck has Vigo Yellow Saffon rice in their pantry???? I don't!

Hi Topgun,

Use any brand, and other flavors would do if you can't find yellow saffron.

-- CM

Topgun, do you have ANY rice at all? I doubt it. And Terry, do you? I bet you guys don't even cook.

LOL! If these poor kids ever had to make anything from scratch, they'd starve! Wait till she gets a recipe that says."first, kill and clean the chicken"... LOL

I always keep Vigo yellow rice and other flavors on hand... they are easy and delicious!

So, use white instead! Good grief! Better yet, go to a restaurant, so you wont have to do anything.

You can use any brand of rice w/ saffron. I used a jasmine saffron rice blend. I added the uncooked rice and the rest of the ingredients in the baking dish and added another cup of milk and put foil on top. Baked for 30 minutes at altitude. Sprinkled with medium cheddar and served with a salad. Good!

I always keep saffron rice in my cupboard. My family loves it, including my 4 year old. I am trying this recipe tonight! Sounds so easy!

This is a great quick-and-easy recipe. I substituted a cup of regular white rice for the Spanish rice, and a can of broccoli cheese soup for the cream of chicken/mushroom soup. It was very good.

In 2006 when I posted this, this recipe was my kids favorite. Our 'Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy' recipe. I had a 4 and 7 year old and so I did quite literally have all those ingredients on hand. I did want to drag them to the store and so I threw this together. ;-) And so we began making it often. It all started from this desperate evening. So I thought, why share it with others and help make? I love all the comments and suggestions all this time later. Thanks again, I have learned something new still even now. I have tried 2 different recipes lately and modified them to fit my needs. I still love finding ideas and recipes and trying them so it's great to come back here and see all these suggestions and ideas. Glenda

My family (including my 2yr old daughter) loved it!! I didn't have a package of saffron yellow Spanish rice so I used Mexican rice & it turned out great!!!! :-D

I use Zatarains yellow rice; super easy!

They carry this rice at Walmart, so it's fairly easy to find. I haven't made this recipe yet, but it sounds yummy.

I just wanted to comment and say YAY we finally have ratings and comments on Cooks.com!!

I've always wished there was a rating/comments system. Guess someone heard my thoughts!

Happy Cooking! =)

You can find the rice in the ethnic foods section of your local supermarket. This is a great, easy dish that my son and I love.

Strangely enough I found this recipe after I was plundering in our pantry and came across a bag (actually 2) of Vigo yellow rice, so I guess some people do have that happen. I also found canned chicken, and wow, now with the other ingredients right on hand, we had a surprisingly simple but very tasty dinner.

You can cook regular rice and add a teaspoon or more of turmeric which is a substitute for saffron (cheaper). Saffron itself is very expensive, if you have it you can add it to the rice that is cooking. Turmeric has a long shelf life and is good to add to rice dishes for nutritional value.

Glad to know that about turmeric... What is the turmeric to saffron ratio?

Made this for the third time tonite. Excellent! I use Zatarain's New Orleans Style Yellow Rice from my local grocery store and add rice milk, just a little, to make it creamy. My teenage son loves it. Thank you for the recipe, we love it.

So easy to find 10 oz Vigo saffron rice anywhere. I found it at Wal-mart, Dollar General, Meijer...etc... It is so cheap in my area. $1.25 is all it costs!

Delicious!

You can buy the rice at Sams Club in a big plastic container

I used a box of cooked rice a roni instead of a saffron rice. Worked out fine. It was fantastic with cheese and fried onions on top!!

I always have that rice mix in my pantry. Don't be a hater.

Then, DON'T USE THE RECIPE! GEEZ! I have adapted many recipes to suit what I have on hand, in 60 years of cooking. It isn't rocket science!

I have this rice in my cupboard. Vigo rice and other brands of seasoned rice come in a bag and are on the shelf right next to the bagged white rice in every grocery store. Looking around the rice aisle would take the same amount of time that you spent chastising this recipe.

I never get comments like these -- nowhere does it say that you should have the rice readily available in your cupboard, and oftentimes we need to go and purchase some items that are needed, and this rice is very easy to find in the grocery store. Aside from that, there are oodles of similar recipes on this site, and you could also substitute another type of rice and still have a successful outcome. (And why this recipe would be similar to one with "20 unheard of ingredients" is beyond me...)

I use white rice and instead of cream of chicken, I use corn chowder soup and a half can of Rotel. Throw some chunks of fresh bell pepper, garlic, and onion in there before baking to add more flavor.

Ummmmmm... Sounds yummy! I just happen to have a few cans of Rotel lying around... What do you do with the other 1/2 a can? I think I''d use the whole thing, and a bigger casserole dish! LOL

My Mom made this for my school's teacher appreciation luncheon and all the teachers said it was awesome!

This sound like a great recipe to follow. I will make this and if I cant find the exact ingredients, I will improvise a little. thanks Glenda.

mummmm!!!

Wow! I learned on my own how to cook by doing just what others suggested about mine (or not). Finding a recipe, seeing what I had and modifying it when necessary. Taking ingredients I had ON HAND and making it work for me and my family. That is just what this recipe was and still is. And it is something I really do make in a pinch. The Vigo is just the brand my kids love and it's cheap! As with what others said, try whatever you have in your cupboard or what your family prefers. The point in this recipe was that it is easy with limited ingredients. Different variations would taste great and I am going to try these other suggestions as well. I love the suggestions! Thanks for the compliments. Happy cooking!

This reminds me of the chicken & yellow rice my mom would make for us as kids. Yummy! Side note: I always have Mahatma saffron yellow rice in my pantry, but only because I grew up eating this dish. :)

Great recipe! I am a ranch hand on a horse ranch in Amarillo and had Spanish saffron rice in the cupboard. Most national grocery stores carry it.

I make my own Spanish rice, by mixing whatever rice I have on hand, with some pace mild.

One question.... I see paprika in the ingredients, but not anywhere in the recipe.... It's confusing me, I'm thinking" Now why did I dig this out again?" Turned out great though with the cheese on top

Hi Rose,

Just sprinkle the paprika over the top for a little color and a touch of piquant flavor.

Happy Cooking!

-- CM

I love this recipe so much. I can do pretty much anything I want to with my spices and make it just a little different each time. My favorite, that's also my 2 & 1 yr olds favorite too, is to make it with long grain white rice, add the milk with either soup listed, add the chicken with all its water, mix a little shredded cheese in, and season to your liking with garlic salt, garlic powder, garlic pepper, paprika, seasoning salt, ginger, parsley flakes, and dried minced onion, and cumin before baking it. turns out to be so good.

Was very easy to make. My kids and husband liked it alot. I made it with the paprika, cheese, and fried onions on top which made this recipe. I used white rice and it still turned out good.

I followed the recipe however I added shrimp salted in butter, a can of Rotel, a can of diced tomato and topped with mild cheeses. Yummy!!! Thank you for sharing Glenda Dieterly :-)

Made this again tonight as it's been a year or more since I last prepared it and it's great. This time I poached fresh chicken breast with a little turmeric and lemon pepper rather than using canned chicken, and used Zatarain's yellow rice mix, Health Valley Gluten Free Café cream of mushroom soup and a little bit of almond milk to thicken it. I sprinkled it with paprika and it smelled wonderful cooking. I always find great recipes on this site.

Hi Angela! Its been a while for us too as well but I made this tonight when coming back from the beach. Tired and hungry my husband said what's for dinner and I did NOT want to go out to eat or stop by the store. So what did I think of? This!;) While I made it with what I again had on hand (Publix brand of yellow rice, cream of mushroom soup and also a can of cream of mushroom and garlic soup since I doubled the recipe and then topped with crushed Ritz Crackers.) I would like to know how the almond milk turned out as I never thought of using that. I do use almond milk in my Magic Bullet.

Jwade, I never thought of using shrimp, hotel tomatoes or tomatoes either that sounds delish! So many varieties to try now!

On the yellow rice, I think every southern household has that - esp the AA ones;). Not so rare down here.

This was so simple, quick, cheap, and delicious!! I made this tonight for my boyfriend and he ate almost the entire thing!! I didnt add the paprika but instead added cheese and scallions on top. I would love to make this again and add some different variations!! TRY IT!!