Self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) was applied to synthesize alpha-SiAlON powders doped by RE (RE = Eu,Pr,Ce) and codoped by RE and yttrium. The results showed that the weight ratio of a-SiAlON to (alpha-SiAlON + beta-SiAlON) decreased from 70%, 55%, and 25% for europium-, praseodymium-, and cerium-doped alpha-SiAlON compositions, respectively, and the weight percentage of alpha-SiAlON phase increased to 100% for both (Eu,Y) and (Pr,Y) systems and 94% for the (Ce,Y) system, indicating SHS is a promising approach for synthesizing alpha-SiAlONs stabilized by the cations that could not be incorporated into the alpha-SiAlON structure by conventional sintering methods.