Packed with hearty ground meat, aromatic Cajun spices, onions, green bell pepper, and celery—this Cajun Dirty Rice Recipe delivers restaurant-quality flavor in this one-pot dish.
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Affiliate, if you purchase through those links, I earn a small commission. Thank you! Read our disclosure policy here.
If you’re craving bold, comforting flavors with minimal effort, this Cajun Dirty Rice recipe is a just what you need. You need a big serving of this delicious Southern dirty rice with your Cajun Shrimp Fajitas or Cajun Shrimp Avocado Tostadas. It pairs perfectly with your favorite side dish and packs a mouthful of flavor.
Why This Recipe Works
Whether you need a quick weeknight dinner, a flavorful side, or a meal-prep favorite, this recipe is budget-friendly, satisfying, and versatile enough to go with whatever main dish is on your menu that evening. Plus, it’s a delicious way to bring a taste of Louisiana to your kitchen, no matter where you are!
Simple Ingredients
- Meat: lean ground beef and ground pork sausage
- Veggies: diced onion, diced green pepper, diced celery, and green onions
- Herbs and spices: minced garlic cloves, Cajun seasoning, smoked paprika, bay leaves, salt, black pepper, and fresh parsley
- All purpose flour
- Chicken broth
- Cooked white rice: leftover rice works great here.
How To Make Cajun Dirty Rice
- Step 1: Add ground beef, sausage, onions, and diced peppers to a large skillet. Brown the meat and start to cook the veggies.
- Step 2: After the ground beef and sausage are browned, add in garlic and cook until fragrant.
- Step 3: Next, add the Cajun seasoning, smoked paprika, and all-purpose flour.
- Step 4: Pour in chicken broth. Add bay leaves and let the mixture simmer so it starts to thicken. Fold in the cooked white rice and cut green onions. Simmer for a few more minutes before serving.
Recipe Tips
- You could swap your white rice for brown rice.
- In place of the chicken broth, you may opt to use beef broth instead.
- I used ground pork sausage, but you can use any mix of ground sausage that you enjoy.
- This flavorful dish will not work with uncooked rice as we are not giving the rice enough time or liquid to cook, so be sure to use leftover cooked rice. It‘s a great way to clean out the fridge of leftovers.
- Leftover Cajun rice should be stored in an airtight container and can be kept in the fridge for up to 4-5 days. You can freeze leftovers for up to 3 months in a freezer safe container.
Recipe Faq's
Traditional dirty rice recipes call for cooking the rice with chicken livers or chicken gizzards that give it a “dirty” appearance. In this recipe, we use chicken broth along with the herbs and spices to make the rice appear “dirty”.
Yes, this is a simple recipe to make ahead of time. This popular dish from New Orleans is just as classic in Cajun cooking as Red Beans and Rice. It’s a great recipe to prep earlier in the day to have ready to go later.
Originally, I made this as a side dish, but this classic Cajun dish
can easily be bulked up and used as a main dish if that is what you desire. Pick other sides to make as your dirty rice cooks so they’re ready to serve with this Cajun rice recipe when it’s ready to enjoy.
More Rice Dishes
Make sure to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest for all my latest recipes!
Cajun Dirty Rice
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- ½ pound ground pork sausage
- 1 cup onion diced
- 1 small green pepper diced
- 2 ribs celery diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups chicken broth
- 2 bay leaves
- 5 cups cooked white rice
- ¼ cup green onions
- 3 tablespoons fresh parsley
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet on medium high heat and add the ground beef, sausage, onions, and green peppers and brown the meat about 5-6 minutes.
- When the meat is browned add in the garlic and cook another 30 seconds. Stir in the Cajun seasoning, paprika and flour and cook for another 30 seconds.
- Add in the chicken stock and bay leaves and let simmer 5-6 minutes to thicken up a bit.
- Fold in the cooked rice and green onions let simmer 2-3 more minutes and serve!
Leave a Reply