It’s rich, flavorful and satisfying. This dirty rice recipe has Louisiana written all over it. It’s loaded with beef, sausage and cajun spices, and be enjoyed throughout the year.
What is dirty rice
This dish was originated in Louisiana, and is made with rice, the holy trinity (onion, bell pepper and celery), meat and cajun spices. It is not only a favorite in Louisiana, but all over the South. Finding a restaurant in the South that serves dirty rice will not be a challenging task.
Many refer to this dish as “Cajun rice”. Browning of the meat and vegetables, along with the use of beef broth gives it a brownish color, and that’s how it became known as “dirty rice”. When it comes to the meat, many people use beef and chicken gizzards. I opted to use beef and sausage. I chose to use sausage because mixed with the cajun spices, it adds more flavor to the overall dish.
How to prepare
Some may consider preparing this dish a task, but I am here to say that it is not as tedious as you may think. It’s actually quite simple. After browning my meat, I add the holy trinity. If you’ve been following my blog, I’m sure you know I am a huge fan of the holy trinity. I mean, what says flavor more than onion, bell pepper and celery? I cook my vegetables until they are tender in texture, then I add my seasonings, which consists of salt, Old Bay, garlic powder and black pepper. Old Bay is my go-to seasoning for a lot of cajun dishes because it doesn’t have an high sodium content. However, you can use other cajun seasonings as well. Another favorite is Tony Chachere’s, but if you decide to use Tony’s, then extra salt will not be needed.
Now here’s the part some consider “tough”, and that’s cooking of the rice. I’ll be the first to admit that it took me a while to make perfect rice. But preparing rice for this dish is a lot easier than preparing plain rice. I know that sounds weird, but trust me on this one. The reason being is because sometimes we don’t like our rice being starchy in texture, so we’ll rinse it several times before cooking, or even toast to it to try to remove some of that surface starch. However, the starchy content is ok for this recipe because it adds more heartiness to the dish. So after you cook your veggies, you’ll just simply add the water, beef bouillon and your bay leaves. Cover the pan and let it simmer for 20 – 25 minutes. Congratulations, you have dirty rice!
What to serve with dirty rice
This is dish very versatile, and be served with any other cajun style food, including seafood or chicken. Also, it can be eaten as a main course with vegetables as well. I personally prefer it with seafood. The last time I made it, we ate it with blackened catfish, shrimp and scallops. You can find the recipe for my blackened seasoning below.
If you make this dish, please tag me on any of the social media platforms listed on this page. Below is also a link from my IG page where you can quickly see me prepare it. I hope you enjoy!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CPOtpygBoHm/
Dirty Rice
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground chuck
- 1 lb. mild ground pork sausage
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 bell pepper diced
- 2 celery sticks diced
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 tsp Old Bay
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 4 cups water
- 2 tsp beef bouillon
- 2 cups white rice
- 2 bay leaves
Instructions
- Add ground chuck and sausage to a dutch oven, or a large heavy bottom skillet, or pan. Heat over medium heat. Crumble the meat with a spatula, and cook until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Drain meat and set aside.
- In same skillet, melt butter. Add onion, bell pepper and celery. Cook until vegetables are tender, about 4 minutes.
- Return meat to pan with vegetables. Stir in Old Bay, garlic powder, salt and black pepper. Add water, then stir in beef bouillon. Stir in rice and add bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 20 – 25 minutes, or until rice is desired texture.
- Let rest for at least 10 minutes then fluff with fork. Serve warm.
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