This homemade Nandos spicy rice recipe is my secret to recreating a Nandos style fakeaway meal at home for a fraction of the price!

With an ever-improving-but-still-fussy-eater like Master Frugal to think about, eating out can sometimes be a bit of a challenge but one place he does love is Nandos. Since the first time we visited as a pre-cinema treat, Nandos has been his favourite place to eat and rather surprisingly, the Nandos spicy rice is his favourite dish on the menu.

We enjoy going as a treat but don’t go regularly because it can work our quite costly for the four of us but we do have a great alternative to a meal out at Nandos – we have our own homemade Nandos style tea including our very own homemade Nandos Spicy Rice.

We use the Nandos cooking marinades that you can find in most supermarkets (I prefer the medium peri peri rub to any of the sauces) and we buy the Nandos perinaise which is like a slightly spicy mayonnaise that you can get in the restaurants. We serve the marinaded chicken with fries (often sweet potato), coleslaw and our homemade Nandos spicy rice which took us a fair amount of attempts to perfect!

I spent ages searching for a fakeaway recipe for homemade Nandos Spicy Rice and tried loads – some were too spicy, some not spicy enough and some were just plain and bland but I kept at it because Master Frugal had found something that he loved. This is the recipe I use which is a bit of a hybrid of lots of other recipes that I came across….

Fakeaway Nandos Spicy Rice Recipe

2 cups of rice
1/2 finely chopped onion (or a handful of frozen chopped onion_
1/2 finely chopped red pepper (ours was actually grown in our garden)
2 chicken stock cubes
A handful of frozen peas
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp paprika
Chilli powder – depending on how spicy you like it

Add some oil (or frylight), chopped onion and chopped red pepper to a large frying pan/wok along with one chicken stock cube, cumin, chilli powder and paprika and heat on high for 2-3 minutes.
Add 2 cups of rice (you can use normal coffee cups if you like, it’s just so you know how much water to add in) and 4 cups of boiling water along with the other chicken stock cube and the turmeric.
Bring to the boil and then simmer until all of the water is absorbed which is usually around 20 minutes. You’ll need to stir it regularly at first and in the latter stage, you’ll need to pretty much stay with it as it sticks to the bottom of the pan and burns very easily. You might find you need to add more water to make sure the rice is cooked through.
I then put a lid on the pan and leave it for a couple of minutes to ‘dry’ it out a little.

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Homemade Nandos spicy rice recipe….

Homemade Nandos Spicy Rice - an amazing fakeaway recipe for all the family to enjoy. You definitely want to add this to you weekly meal plan....

Ingredients

2 cups of plain long grained rice
4 cups of water
2 chicken stock cubes
1/2 finely chopped onion, (although I use ready chopped frozen onion so just a good sized handful of that)
1/2 finely chopped red pepper
A handful of frozen peas
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp turmeric
Chilli powder – depending on how spicy you like it

Instructions

Add the onion, red pepper, peas, paprika and cumin in to a large frying pan with some oil and one of the chicken stock cubes. Cook the contents of the pan while stirring frequently for 2-3 minutes.
Add 2 cups of rice (I always use normal tea cups for rice as it’s so much easier to work out how much water to add) and 4 cups of boiling water together with the other stock cube and the turmeric. I say 4 cups but I usually hold a little bit back and add it only if I need to.
Bring the rice mix to the boil and them simmer until all the water is absorbed - this usually takes around 20 minutes or so. Don't forget that the more the water is absorbed into the rice, the more likely it is to stick to the bottom of the pan and burn so keep with it and stir regularly.
Keep stirring until all of the liquid is completely absorbed by the rice - the rice we made today was slightly sticky as I took it off the heat a bit too soon.
When all the water is absorbed just check that the rice is cooked through before serving - once or twice I've had to add a bit more water as the rice wasn't fully cooked.
Enjoy your Nandos Spicy Rice.