We’re busy enjoying our Louisiana favorites this time of year. I am not kidding when I tell you that my kids are just about as excited for Mardi Gras as they are for Christmas. Parades, candy, music, screaming like idiots for beads and plastic cups. If I’m being completely honest with myself, it’s a pretty awesome holiday. It involves lots of yummy food, fun, great music, and very little effort or preparation on my part.
One of my favorite Louisiana foods is Dirty Rice. Now…this recipe comes with a big disclaimer. Dirty Rice is traditionally made with chicken livers and gizzards. I don’t care how good they make your food taste, I cannot cook with them. So, in case you haven’t guessed, I’m not using tiny organ meats in my dirty rice, and no, the color isn’t quite “dirty” enough. But I promise this Not-So-Dirty Dirty Rice still delivers big on flavor. It makes a great one-dish meal or side dish, and it’s perfect for reheating for an easy lunch during the week as well!
Ingredients Needed
This is just a preview of ingredients and method, keep scrolling for full printable recipe.
- Ground pork sausage – AKA breakfast sausage, like Jimmy Dean brand. Spicy or mild, depending on your preference.
- Yellow or white onion
- Celery stalks
- Fresh garlic cloves – Fresh is always best, but garlic powder will work in a pinch.
- Green bell pepper – Green bell pepper has a distinct flavor compared to the sweeter, more ripe yellow, orange, or red varieties. You can use whatever you like, but I like the flavor of the green pepper in this dish!
- Long-grain white rice – Long grain white rice cooks up separate and fluffy. It absorbs liquid without turning sticky. You can use medium grain rice, it will just turn out a little softer and stickier. I wouldn’t recommend short-grain or sushi rice. Jasmine is a long-grain rice that would work well here.
- Black pepper
- Tabasco sauce – This does not make the dish spicy, just adds a nice kick of flavor.
- Salt-based Cajun or Creole seasoning – Like Tony Cachere’s.
- Kosher salt to taste
- Beef broth – Canned, from a carton, or reconstituted from bouillon base are all good options.
- Green onions – Optional.
How to Make Not-So-Dirty Dirty Rice
- You’ll start by browning your sausage. When it’s about halfway cooked you’ll add some chopped onions, peppers, celery, and garlic.
- Once that’s cooked you’ll add some uncooked rice and cook for a few minutes before adding black pepper, Tabasco, Cajun seasoning and beef broth. That gets brought to a boil and everything gets covered and simmered over low heat until the rice is tender.
- After it’s done it just needs to rest for a couple of minutes then you can serve it up, top with green onions if desired, and enjoy!
Storing and Other Tips
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator and enjoy within 4-5 days for best results.
- We like eating this as a meal with a simple green salad. It also makes a great side dish.
Frequently Asked Questions
You bet! This is a great meal to prep at the beginning of the week and eat as an easy lunch for several days.
You bet. Ground beef, ground turkey, smoked sausage, or a mix of meats work well here.
You can, but you’ll need to increase the beef broth to 4.5-5 cups and simmer the rice for longer – at least 40-50 minutes.
Not-So-Dirty Dirty Rice
Ingredients
- ¾ pound ground pork sausage mild or spicy, depending on your preferences, you can use a 16 ounce roll of sausage if that's what you have
- 1 medium onion minced
- 2 stalks celery minced
- 5-6 cloves garlic minced or pressed
- 1 green bell pepper seeded and chopped
- 2 cups long-grain white rice
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 10 dashes Tabasco sauce
- ½ teaspoon salt-based Cajun or Creole Seasoning like Tony Chachere’s; you may want more or less depending on how hot you want your rice to be
- Kosher salt to taste I used 1/2 teaspoon, but again, this will largely be to taste
- 4 cups beef broth high elevations may need up to 1/4 cup more
- Optional: 1/2 cup chopped green onions
Instructions
- Preheat a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook until it is about halfway browned. Add the onion, celery, garlic, and green pepper and cook until the sausage is cooked and the vegetables are tender and fragrant.
- Add the rice and cook for another 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Add the Tabasco, Cajun seasoning, and black pepper and stir until combined. Add the beef broth and bring to a boil. Cover tightly, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes or until the moisture is absorbed (again, higher elevations may take as long as 45 minutes).
- Season to taste with salt and Tabasco sauce. If desired, toss with green onions before serving. Makes 10-12 servings.
Questions & Reviews
Hey if you want this darker there is something called “kitchen bouquet” is it just a browning sauce. I use it to trick people when my gumbo roux doesn’t darken enough (because I am scared my gumbo will taste too rouxish), but I don’t realize that the roux isn’t dark enough until it’s too late. A little goes a long way of this stuff and from what I can tell, it doesn’t add flavor or anything. Btw way I vividly remember the day I found out what was actually in dirty rice. I was in the grocery with my mom around thanksgiving and she had all these parts in her cart, I was like whoa what are those for? Still ate it though and it’s still yummy, however I’m not cooking with them! This sounds like a nice alternative to the box I used to make.
Kate, I am so sorry about your driveway liquid issue. I just love you both that it makes me sad when regular life stuff happens to you guys too. Thanks for not cooking with organs, yuck. Even though I went to culinary school, I still pretend not to know what offal is…my motto is, offal is awful!!
Ahh! I have a sewage leak in my house too! We found it on Valentine’s Day after dinner. My kitchen is broken right now, and it’s no fun. We are probably going to have to fix all the sewage pipes in our home eventually. I’m also pregnant, so the hormones just are going crazy and I woke up really frustrated this morning. I hope you get that fixed soon, and I’m glad there’s somebody else going through something similar—even though it’s not fun and not cheap to fix! Now I’ll go back and read more about the rice! Thanks for sharing life stories, and recipe stories, I love your blog!
I am totally with you on the whole “tiny organ meat” thing. Growing up my mom would put the turkey ones in her stuffing on Thanksgiving…I have had a problem with stuffing ever since. This grossness free version of dirty rice looks delicious, we will be eating this very soon at my house. Thanks for another great recipe!
I’m totaly with you on moms’ turkey & chiken stuffing. I still can’t eat any stuffing to this day even thou it is not made with those “tiny organ meats”.
Don’t laugh,….but um, what should I serve this with? It sounds really good, & we’re trying to eat more rice. ILm just drawing a total blank about what it might go with……
Not laughing at all! 🙂 You could serve it as a main dish with a green salad and fruit or veggies, or you could serve it alongside pork chops or something along those lines. 🙂
I like to make stuffed bell peppers with dirty rice (I cheat though and use Zatarain’s 😉 but maybe I’ll have to give this a whirl!)
It Goes Great With Bbq Anythingy. You Can Also Stuff In Whole Chicken And Bake Chicken
I’m sorry but I’m LOL over here. A few months back I hosted a Cajun themed dinner party and made the dirty rice with the tiny organ parts and everyone raved about it 😉 I didn’t say a word…
LOL away–I know I’m being silly here! 🙂 And I know I’ve had dirty rice with tiny organ meats in it and it is GOOD, but I didn’t KNOW know. And I didn’t see them or cook them, so I just feigned ignorance.
My family lived in New Orleans for 12 years (I was away at college/mission/grad school for most of it) and my sister LOVES dirty rice but the way she described it always sounded nasty to me so I don’t think I’ve ever actually tried it but this sounds delicious. We always try to celebrate mardi gras a little bit and maybe this will make an appearance on our table this Tuesday. Thanks for the recipe!
Looks delicious! Feel better soon!!
But it doesn’t have gizzards and livers in it!!! 😉 *ducks*
oh dear Kate, I am SOOOOO kidding! I hate them too! Yuck!
This looks delicious and I may have to try and make it. Gizzard and liver free of course.
Thanks for the giggle!
Kate, you make me laugh. As for tiny organ meats, can we just say “gross” and leave it at that?