In 30 minutes, you can have perfectly-seasoned Homemade Dirty Rice right at your fingertips! Using a combination of ground sausage and ground beef, plus the perfect blend of spices, this Cajun dish will taste SO good... you just might eat it for your main course instead of a side.
Dirty rice (or Rice Dressing) is one of my FAVORITE sides when eating Cajun or Creole food. And growing up less than an hour from Louisiana, I've had a lot of amazing Cajun food like this authentic Red Beans and Rice. I'm here to say - this dirty rice recipe nails it! From the spices, to the sautéed veggies, to the perfectly cooked rice... and the best part is, this is made all in one skillet!
The Coined Breakdown
- Total Cost per serving: $0.76
- Total Cost (8 servings): $6.06
- Those Other Guys: $8.99 per serving
Ingredients
- Ground Sausage - I'm partial to the Jimmy Dean brand of ground sausage. Although I normally don't eat pork, I do save my cheats for delicious dishes like this! You can sub this with turkey or deer sausage.
- Ground Beef - Try to find an 85/15 blend of ground beef; it's just lean enough for this dish while still giving off a good amount of oil to cook the veggies.
- Cajun Holy Trinity- Speaking of vegetables - you simply can't make a savory Cajun recipe without the Cajun Holy Trinity: green bell peppers, onions, and celery. Trust me, I'm not a HUGE celery fan but you can't skip it in this recipe. Your vegetables will all soften down while cooking.
- Seasonings - We keep it pretty simple with seasonings. Garlic powder, No-Salt Creole Seasoning (I love Tony's brand!), and salt. If your Creole seasoning has salt included, simply skip the extra teaspoon of salt.
- Long-Grain Rice - No need to get picky with the brand names on this - any type of long-grain rice will work perfectly.
- Chicken Broth - Chicken broth helps cook the rice until perfectly fluffy. Don't have broth? Use a combination of water + chicken bouillon. It's just as delicious!
Variations and Substitutions
A Quick & Easy Broth: If you don't have chicken broth, stir together 3 cups of water + 2 ½ tablespoons of powdered chicken bouillon. You can use beef or vegetable broth instead of chicken.
No-Pork Dirty Rice: Instead of pork sausage, substitute seasoned ground turkey sausage or deer sausage.
Dirty Rice Without Red Meat: If you don't eat red meat, use ground turkey instead of the lean beef in this recipe. I suggest adding the seasonings listed, then tasting the cooked meat and adjusting to your preference - turkey is more bland than beef, so you may need a little more bang!
Shortcut Veggies: Feel free to use frozen chopped onion, chopped green bell peppers, and chopped celery. I've made this recipe with all fresh vegetables, and I've made it with all frozen veggies. You save lots of chopping time using frozen, and it still turns out tasty!
How to Make Dirty Rice at Home
My recipe for dirty rice from scratch is incredibly easy to make, and you only need one skillet to cook everything in. With the holidays coming up, this would be a great recipe for an alternative Thanksgiving or Christmas feast! Imagine a Cajun-themed dinner with a Blackened turkey, dirty rice, sautéed green beans, jalapeño skillet cornbread, and bananas foster for dessert - yum!
Step 1: To begin, add your ground meats to a pan. You don't need any oil in the pan beforehand - the sausage and beef will create enough grease.
Step 2: Sauté the meat mixture until browned. Use a silicone spatula to crumble it into pieces.
Step 3: Next, add in your chopped vegetables and seasoning mix. Cook for a few minutes until the veggies are softened.
Step 4: Pour in the uncooked rice and the chicken broth (or water & powdered bouillon mixture).
Step 5: Let the pan come to a boil, then cover and turn the heat to low. Simmer covered for 22 minutes.
Step 6: Remove the cover, and it should look like this. Use a fork to fluff the rice, and you're done!
Recipe Pro Tips
- Don't mess with the Cajun Holy Trinity. A big part of dirty rice's bold flavors is the foundation - a mixture of green bell pepper, onion, and celery. Don't leave out any of these ingredients! You can, however, use variations of onions if you really need to; a red onion is fine.
- Size the veggies similarly. If you're cutting the veggies by hand, chop them into evenly-sized pieces so that you have a better bite in your final product.
- Watch the salt! In this recipe, I use no-salt Cajun seasoning and salt. Many Cajun seasonings already have salt included - if you have the regular kind, omit the extra salt. You can always taste your broth & add a little salt before simmering if you need to.
- Don't peek. We cook the rice in the broth. So, once you cover the pot and turn the heat to low, don't open the lid until the cooking time is done! This ensures you get perfectly fluffy rice.
Recipe FAQs
Traditional dirty rice uses organ meats like liver. In this recipe, I wanted to be a bit more accessible (and give picky eaters a chance to try it) - so we use a 50/50 combination of ground beef and ground pork sausage.
This is a one-skillet dish to make life easier for whoever is washing dishes tonight. So you're just going to mix the uncooked rice and broth right into the meat and veggies. Then, after the mixture simmers, just cover the skillet with a top and DON'T lift it until after 22 minutes. The cover helps steam the rice to a perfect consistency.
Really, any type of onions you have will work. For these photos, I used red onion because we had one that needed to be used up. The ideal type of onion would be white or yellow, but you don't have to get super picky.
Don't worry - your food isn't really dirty. Dirty rice originated on plantations during slavery, and slaves often were left with the less-than-desirable parts of chickens and cows to cook with. Traditionally, this was cooked with ground organ meats like liver, which gave it an earthy-flavor. The seasoning blend also gives the rice a brownish-gray color.
This recipe is a more accessible version of dirty rice. We don't use organ meats or flour. However, it's still just as delicious - this recipe for dirty rice is great because it comes together really quickly, and is easier to make than more traditional versions. You can find all of these ingredients in any local grocery store.
Other One-Pot Meals Your Family Will Love!
If you tried this Homemade Dirty Rice Recipe, or any other recipe on my website, please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you! Thanks for visiting!
Easy Homemade Dirty Rice
Equipment
- Skillet
- Chef's Knife
- Silicone Spatula
- Wooden Spoon
Ingredients
- 8 ounces ground sausage (I used the Jimmy Dean brand)
- 8 ounces ground beef 85/15 lean
- ½ cup chopped green bell pepper
- ½ cup chopped celery
- ½ cup chopped onion sweet yellow or white
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon no-salt Creole seasoning
- 1 teaspoon salt if using the salty Creole seasoning, skip this
- 1 ½ cups long-grain rice
- 3 cups chicken broth or water & powdered bouillon, see recipe notes
Instructions
- On medium heat, brown the ground sausage and ground beef in a large skillet. Use a spatula to crumble the meat into small pieces.You don't need to grease the pan - the ground sausage will create its own oil.8 ounces ground sausage, 8 ounces ground beef
- Add in the chopped veggies, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, no-salt Creole seasoning, and salt.Only add the salt if your Creole seasoning is salt-free like mine; otherwise, omit!½ cup chopped green bell pepper, ½ cup chopped celery, ½ cup chopped onion, ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon no-salt Creole seasoning, 1 teaspoon salt
- Pour in the rice and chicken broth. Stir well.1 ½ cups long-grain rice, 3 cups chicken broth
- Once the mixture begins to boil: turn the heat to low, cover the skillet, and cook for 22 minutes.
- Fluff the rice with a fork to distribute all of the meat and veggies throughout the pan. For a truly southern-style meal, serve this with jalapeño cornbread. Enjoy!
Trish says
Looks great I’m going to try this (with a couple of improvisations) tonight
Shani H. says
Love to hear it Trish!
Michael Frugé says
Wonderful, exactly like my Cajun mother made as a side dish. Thank you
Shani H. says
Wow, that's a huge compliment! Thank you for leaving a review Michael 🙂
Anonymous says
The recipe needs significantly more seasoning. I added the exact amount of liquid and rice mentioned in the recipe and cooked it in a pot and the rice was a bit overdone, so this time I tried it in a skillet like the recipe stated thinking that's why the rice was overdone the first time and in the skillet the very bottom of the rice was done but the rest was not cooked at all. I scrolled through more through this link and saw that the pictures you showed of the steps uses a pot not a skillet but your instructions did saw a skillet in the recipe for supplies needed. A skillet is different than a pot which is why I thought you used a skillet and that's why the first time I cooked it in the pot it was overdone. As stated before I used the exact measurements of everything and 2 completely different results just because the second time I used the correct type of pan you stated in the recipe. I'll try it one more time but next time I'll add my typical ratio of rice to water which is 1:1.5 since that ratio I always get perfect results when just cooking jasmine rice in a pot.This recipe called for a 1:2 ratio which is more water than I use.
Shani H. says
Thank you for your comment! The step-by-step photos were made in a skillet with deep sides, not a pot - although I can see how the angles could make them look like a typical pot.
Regarding the rice: if you're using jasmine, you absolutely do need less water than regular long-grain rice. Jasmine rice is much softer. I'll be sure to update the recipe post to specify the type of rice needed. Hopefully when you give it a try with your usual ratio, it will work out well!
Allison says
So good!!! Served it with green beans and your roasted chicken leg quarters recipe (best chicken I’ve ever made).
Shani H. says
That's an amazing and well balanced meal! Thank you so much for trying some of my recipes and leaving reviews 🙂
Joe says
There was nothing wrong with this recipe, it was good but seemed it be missing something. I think next time I'll dust the meat with a Tbls of flour while it's browning, before I add the broth to help with a more velvety mouth feel. And definitely add about a Tbls of crushed garlic with the onion mix and Worcestershire sauce.
Shani W. says
Sounds like great suggestions! Thank you for your review Joe!
Arielle says
Totally delicious
Shani W. says
Thanks so much for leaving a review Arielle! 🙂
Georgie says
Great recipe and so easy. Thanks.
Shani W. says
Thank you for leaving a review Georgie!
Patricia Erickson says
Hi..I haven't tried the recipe yet but plan to very soon...is there any adjustment to the cooking time for high altitude? Thanks!
Shani W. says
Hi Patricia! I haven't tested this recipe at high altitude, but from my limited knowledge it may take a bit longer for the mixture to boil in step 4. Other than that, I think you should be fine - but please let me know how it turns out 🙂
Tonya Preston says
This was so good! Even my very picky grandson loved it.
Shani W. says
Love when the kiddos are able to expand their taste buds using a great recipe! Thank you for trying and commenting, Tonya!
Susie says
I'm talking about this recipe was right on time!! Had to cook for my in-laws and needed a soulful recipe and this hit the spot 10 out of 10!
Shani W. says
It's always a comment when the in-laws love it! Thank you for commenting Susie 🙂
Joann Spangler says
Amazing recipe. My boyfriend frequently request this now.
Shani W. says
My husband does the same! Thankfully, this is a nice & quick recipe to make for dinner haha. Thank you for commenting, Joann!
SS says
Another hit! This dish cooked up perfectly. I halved the seasonings (& onion) since kids were eating it too. Will definitely be a regular one for us. Thanks!
Shani W. says
Yay! I love to hear that. Thanks so much for commenting!