Y’all we getting down and dirty with this authentic Dirty Rice recipe. The taste is poppin! It’s made perfectly with fragrant rice, browned meats, tender vegetables and Creole and Cajun spices and seasonings. The dirty rice is cooked together until it’s tender and those various aromatic and spicy notes hit like they are supposed to. This is pure love in a pot, and all the effort is legit worth it boos. The end result is a spicy, well-seasoned rice dish that will have your company grabbing another bowl before they even finish the first one.
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They’re Lovin’ It! Here’s what They’re Sayin’:
“This was a hit! I craved Dirty Rice for a few years. I decided to find a recipe and came across yours! It was so worth it!”
—NENE
Y’all I gotta have some Creole blood deep down somewhere. I just feel it in my bones, and my stomach too. The flavors and spices speak to me, and my numerous trips to Louisiana only strengthened that love more and more. This authentic dirty rice recipe is the perfect way to indulge in all of the unique flavors and essences of Creole and Cajun cooking. It’s rich, hearty and beyond indulgent. Thanks to Tanya Holland of Brown Sugar Kitchen for sharing this amazing recipe I’m passing to you. The flavor is just undeniable y’all.
What is Dirty Rice?
Dirty rice is a traditional Creole and Cajun staple dish with roots in Louisiana. It’s made by mixing white rice with a variety of browned meats, veggies like onions, bell peppers, and celery, spices like cayenne and paprika and herbs like bay leaves and thyme. It’s a super popular dish due to the abundant rice crop in Louisiana (that’s why jambalaya is such a hit!). The “dirty” description is because the color of the rice is a grayish-brown which comes from the variety of browned sausages, beefs and chicken livers.
The Lowdown of This
Cuisine Inspiration: Cajun and Creole – This dish is straight outta Louisiana, y’all!
Primary Cooking Method: Sautéing & Simmering
Dietary Info: Gluten-Free (Just always double-check your ingredients to ensure they meet your dietary needs!)
Key Flavor: Bold and savory with a hint of spice
Skill Level: Intermediate – You’ve got this! A little bit of a challenge never hurt nobody
Full Meal Deal
This ain’t just a side dish y’all. This dirty rice dish is super hearty and can be the full meal.
Do You
Creole dirty rice is super versatile because you can decide what meats and veggies you want to add. You can also control the heat and adjust spices as you see fit.
Make Ahead
This is a great recipe to prep in advance. In fact, it tastes even better when those flavors have time to mingle and mix up.
Crowd-Pleaser
This is a great recipe to take to potlucks or large family dinners. It feeds a lot of boos.
Ingredients You’ll Need to Make Easy Dirty Rice with Sausage
- Basmati Rice: This is our dirty rice recipe foundation. Basmati gives a nutty, unique, and slightly floral flavor along with a softer texture which leads to a lighter fluffier rice.
- Oil: We use vegetable oil here because its neutral and perfect for browning the meats.
- Chicken Livers: This is basically organ meat from chickens. They have such a rich and unique flavor due to the gaminess.
- Pork Sausage: This ground pork will give you a lot of savory fatty flavor.
- Veggie Trio: We add in finely chopped onion, red bell pepper and green bell pepper which creates wonderful texture and aromatic essence.
- Flavors: We add chopped jalapeno for some spicy kick, minced garlic for pungent aromatic notes and Worcestershire sauce for a complex savory umani flavor profile.
- Herbs: Fresh thyme and bay leaves are going to provide subtle earthy vibes balancing all of the bold flavors.
- Spices: We gotta get the spice poppin so we throw in black pepper, kosher salt, paprika, and cayenne.
- Green Onions: This is a lovely garnish that adds a nice pop of green to that “dirty” color along with a bit of freshness.
How to Make Dirty Rice
Step 1: Rinse the Rice and Cook It
- Add the rice to a large bowl and cover with 2-3 inches of cold water. Give the rice a stir with your hand then drain.
- Repeat at least 5 times until that water is clear and clean boos.
- Add the washed rice to a medium pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer, cover and cook until the rice is nice and tender, just 20 minutes. Don’t overcook that rice boos!
PRO TIP: Don’t skip rinsing the rice. It truly is important to remove that surface starch so it becomes fluffy and tender without that gummy texture.
Step 2: Cook the Meat
- Let’s get into this meat. Add the oil to a large pan over medium heat until shimmering them toss in those livers and sausages. Break it all up and let it cook until it’s no longer pink.
- Transfer the meat to a bowl then add the onions, peppers, garlic and jalapeno to the pan. Stir occasionally and cook until tender and the onions are translucent.
- Dice up the cooked chicken livers into smaller pieces so it’s easier to eat then return all of the meat to the pot with all of the tender veggies.
Step 3: Combine Everything
- Add that rice in along with the meats and stir together until it’s fully incorporated.
- Toss in the spices and herbs and stir together until everything is super mixed up.
- Partially cover the pan, reduce that heat, and let it continue to cook so those flavors mingle and the deep brown color develops. This will take about 15 minutes. Finally remove the bay laves and serve it up boos.
What to Serve with Dirty Rice
- Main Dish: Creole dirty rice can be a complete meal. Just make a side of honey cornbread and some pecan pie for dessert and get your life boos!
- Side Dish: This is a perfect rice side to serve along with a protein like blackened salmon, Southern baked chicken or grilled catfish.
- Peppers: Stuff dirty rice inside bell peppers for a delish flavorful filling that will take a classic pepper to another level!
- New Orleans Spread: Serve this along with shrimp etouffee, gumbo, shrimp po’ boys, and grillades and grits.
Recipe Substitutions
- Basmati Rice: If you don’t have this around, you can grab long-grain white rice.
- Chicken Livers: If you aren’t a fan of livers, you can substitute with chunks of chicken thighs or ground chicken.
- Sausage: Ground beef, ground turkey, ground chicken or even chicken or turkey sausage are great alternatives to use.
- Jalapeno: Just toss in a few red pepper flakes to turn up the heat more if you ain’t got a pepper. Just tread lightly.
- Worcestershire: Grab Tamari or soy sauce of you are out of Worcestershire sauce.
Recipe Variations and Additions
- Vegetarian: Y’all can definitely keep this meatless by replacing it with mushrooms. Chop up a variety of your faves, cook in olive oil until browned and add in for an earthy, meaty texture.
- Jambalaya it up: If you get down on jambalaya, you can turn this into a combo of the two. Throw in some diced tomatoes, celery and andouille sausage.
- Seafood: Add some plump shrimp, crawfish or crabmeat for a seafood dirty rice experience.
- Broth: Cook your rice in chicken or beef broth or stock instead of water to add even more flavor to this dirty rice recipe.
- Make it Creamy: Adding a bit of heavy cream or coconut milk towards the end can really give a creamy rich texture to the rice.
Expert Tips and Tricks for Louisiana Dirty Rice
- Rinse the Rice: This is gonna get rid of that excess starch that can sometimes make the rice gummy.
- Let it Rest: Before you serve, let the rice sit at least 10 minutes. This will allow the flavorful liquids to absorb into the rice creating the perfect texture.
- Leftovers Taste Better: If you can make this dirty rice recipe the day before serving, it will taste even better!
How to Store and Reheat Creole Dirty Rice
- Fridge: Cool it down to room temp then pop in the fridge in an airtight container. It will last for up to 3 days.
- Freezer: Add the room temperature dirty rice to zip freezer bags or freezer-safe containers getting out all the air to prevent freezer burn then store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Reheat: If you froze it, defrost in the fridge overnight. Reheat on the stovetop and add a splash of water or some broth and cook over medium heat until it’s heated through (about 7-10 minutes). You can also heat in the microwave to speed this up.
Frequently Asked Questions
Basically Cajun rice and Dirty Rice are different names for the same thing. For many years, folks didn’t like the term “dirty” so they came up with other titles like cajun rice and rice dressing.
Yep for sure! It actually tastes better if you do. Pop it in the fridge for up to 3 days before you serve it. Just reheat on the stovetop with a splash of water or broth to get the texture back perfectly.
Absolutely boos! Just adjust the amount of the jalapeno or cayenne pepper you add to the rice. Start off with low amounts and scale up depending on your preferences.
Yep for sure boos! You can easily double this recipe to feed a larger crowd. Just get a large pot to accommodate all the additional ingredients.
Best Rice Recipes
Dirty Rice Recipe
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Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup basmati rice
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 8 oz chicken livers trimmed
- 1 lb bulk pork sausage
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 1 green bell pepper diced
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 tbsp chopped jalapeno chile
- 1/4 cup worchestershire sauce
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
- 2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- pinch of cayenne pepper
- 4 green onions white and green parts, chopped
Instructions
- In a large bowl, cover the rice with 2 to 3 inches of cold water. Stir the rice with your hand and drain. Repeat five or six times, until the water runs clear.
- Transfer the washed rice to a medium heavy bottomed pot. Add enough fresh cold water to cover the rice by about 1 inch. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until the rice is tender, about 20 minutes. Do not overcook.
- In a large saute pan, heat the oil over medium high heat until shimmering. Add the livers and sausage and cook, stirring occasionally and breaking up the sausage with the back of a spoon, until the meat is no longer pink, 7 to 8 minutes.
- With a slotted spoon, transfer the livers and sausage to a small bowl. Add the onion, green and red bell peppers, garlic and jalapeno to the pan, and cook over medium high heat until the vegetables are soft, Stirring occasionally until 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile chop the chicken livers into small dice. Return them to a saute pan, along with the sausage, worcestershire sauce, and the cooked rice. Stir until the rice is fully incorporated. Stir in the bay leaves, thyme, black pepper, salt, paprika, cayenne and green onions. Partially cover the pan, reduce the heat to low and cook until the flavors are well blended, about 15 minutes. Remove bay leaves, discard and serve immediately.
Notes
- Fridge: Cool it down to room temp then pop in the fridge in an airtight container. It will last for up to 3 days.
- Freezer: Add the room temperature dirty rice to zip freezer bags or freezer-safe containers getting out all the air to prevent freezer burn and pop in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Reheat: If you froze it, defrost in the fridge overnight. Reheat on the stovetop and add a splash of water or some broth and cook over medium heat until its heated through (about 7-10 minutes). You can also heat in the microwave to speed this up.
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Really delicious. We loved it! Not one drop left for the next day 🙁
Chyyyyy…! This was sooooo bomb! ♀️♀️. I doubled all but only added 2c rice… jus wanted a ‘meal’ worthy dish… and i did! Thanks so much, im definitely saving this one chica…. Thanx for sharing!
Perfect. Thank you.
“This is the best dirty rice I have ever had.” My husband said this to me. He was born in Mobile and moved to Morgan City, LA when he was 10, I believe, and lived there for several years before he and his family moved to Atlanta. Moved to Pacific NW, which is where I met him, many years ago. We have been married for 45 years. So, he is old Southern guy and I am old northerner, but have lived in TN for the last 30 years so consider myself an adopted Southerner. This is the first time I have made homemade dirty rice-have made boxed and premade varieties in past. I made it over a couple of different days, prepping ingredients first, before putting it together last night. Changes I made-cooked mild sausage with chopped baby bella mushrooms. My husband (call him E), is having some stomach issues and can’t deal with hot sausage right now : ( I did not use veg oil to do this as it has so much fat to start with. After removing meat and ‘rooms from heat, I added an additional tblsp of veg oil to the sausage fat, so reduced total veg oil by 1 tblsp. This was sufficient for the rest of the cooking. I just couldn’t deal with the chicken liver…I thought about it extensively, actually, but then it was decided for me as the store did not have anything smaller than a bucket of livers-something like 5 pounds or something! Nope-not doing that! My husband thought the mushrooms were a fine substitute for the livers…he said he really couldn’t tell the difference and, regardless, it was the best he had ever had! So, that means mushrooms are a great success for this! I cooked them along with the sausage instead of separately-was not quite sure if that was right or not but it worked so guess it was alright. Used fresh minced garlic-PLEASE, everyone, do NOT use pre-minced garlic when cooking-the difference is so obvious! Fresh minced is definitely best! Didn’t use jalapeno for 2 reasons-to reduce the heat some but, really, the real reason was that my jalapeno peppers just…disappeared…into thin air! Maybe the cat ate them! I don’t know what happened to them! Since I didn’t want to wait on getting more, I went without. I also discovered at the last minute, literally, that I was a little short on the Worchestershire-I couldn’t believe it-I have never gone thru so much of that in this past year! I guess staying at home all the time, between Covid and being retired, I have been doing home cooking so much more than for the past many years! That is a good thing but didn’t realize I was so low on it! Time for a bigger bottle or more than one bottle, as the one I had was a pretty good size! There was enough, though, to make the meal, I was probably missing a tsp or two. Next time, I will use the full amount, for sure! It adds wonderful flavor to the meal. And then the thyme…well, I got it fresh, and figured out how to prepare it for use and did that but, by the time I was able to finish the cooking, it had dried out. Not my fault…E decided to take over the kitchen and make gumbo (it was delicious) but what was supposed to just take a “short time” ended up being a 3 or 4 day ordeal. What was supposed to be just a small pot of gumbo ended up being more like about 10 gallons…need I say more about it? Well, we do have a bunch of frozen gumbo now and that is a good thing… So, I ended up using fresh dried thyme which is still pretty good but not the fresh taste I was looking forward to! No other changes and these are not radical changes so I don’t think it changes the essence of your recipe and I still think you can bask in the praise of E’s statement that it is the best dirty rice he has ever had! It should be even better today after sitting and melding flavors for the past 24 hours! Thanks so much for this recipe, Jacelyn, I am looking forward to trying more!
What a wonderful review! I enjoyed reading your experience!
Reading your review just made my day!! I was wanting to make this but questioned the liver too, now I will definitely do mushrooms instead!! Loved reading this through though!!
This was a hit! I craved Dirty Rice for a few years. I decided to find a recipe and came across yours! It was so worth it