Louisiana Dirty Rice
Louisiana dirty rice is a cajun rice dressing made with pork sausage, ground beef, chicken livers, and the holy trinity (onion, bell pepper, and celery). It’s a side dish staple in south Louisiana for family gatherings and holidays. Get out ya big pot and let’s get cookin’!
Along with the turkey, sweet potato casserole, and mirliton dressing, dirty rice was always on the Thanksgiving table growing up. This recipe is adapted from my grandpa Jimmy’s. His traditional recipe used chicken gizzards, but I skipped them for this version. I tested it with gizzards, liver, and a combination of both. The taste test winner was just a little bit of liver for flavor, but it’s not overpowering at all. I included the version with gizzards in the recipe card in case you like your dirty rice with gizzards!
What is Dirty Rice?
Like all dishes with cajun roots, there’s a lot of debate over what exactly makes a recipe dirty rice. Dirty rice originated in south Louisiana made by enslaved people on plantations. Traditionally, Creole dirty rice was made with organ meats. This gave the rice a darker color, leading to the name “dirty rice”. Over time, people started making it with ground meat instead of organ meats. Some say to be true dirty rice, it must contain organ meats like liver or gizzards. If it doesn’t, then it’s rice dressing. Read more about the history of dirty rice.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Kosher salt – I tested this recipe with Diamond Crystal kosher salt. It’s much less salty than table salt, so make sure to add to taste if using another type of salt.
- Ground beef – If your ground beef is lean, you can add an extra tablespoon of butter or bacon grease to add in more fat, aka flavor.
- Pork sausage – I’ve tested this recipe with ground pork and pork sausage, like Jimmy Dean. Both versions came out great, so you can use either.
- Chicken liver – I know this might seem a little scary, but trust me, it’s good! You can use a food processor to pulse the livers down if you don’t want to handle them, or skip them altogether.
- Onion, bell pepper, and celery – The Cajun holy trinity. I use a yellow onion and the traditional green bell pepper, you can swap for other colors.
- Chicken broth – I’m a fan of broth base like Better Than Bouillon.
- Cajun/Creole seasoning – Add this to taste since some versions can have more salt and spice than others.
No Gizzards?
My grandpa’s traditional cajun version of this recipe used chicken gizzards, but I liked the chicken liver version better.
If you want to make this recipe with gizzards, here’s how! Bring 4 cups of chicken broth to a boil, then add ½ pound of chicken gizzards. Boil for about 30 minutes until tender. Remove the gizzards and set aside to cool, but reserve the chicken broth. When gizzards are cool enough to handle, pulse them in a food processor until the pieces are about the size of grains of uncooked rice. Use the remaining broth in the simmer step of the recipe.
If you live around south Louisiana, you may be able to find dressing mixes like those shown above. Savoie’s and Richard’s are two popular brands of dressing mixes that you can usually find in the meat department, especially around the holidays. They contain gizzards and liver. You can use this in place of chicken liver, and add up to one half pound.
How to Make Dirty Rice
- Bring chicken broth to a boil, then add rice. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until rice is cooked. For a full rice tutorial for your cajun dishes, check out How to Cook White Rice.
- Brown ground beef and pork sausage in a large pot.
- Add in liver and the holy trinity. Cook until vegetables are soft.
- Add chicken broth, parsley, and green onions and simmer until only about ½ cup liquid remains.
- Fold in cooked rice and mix until combined well. Let sit off heat for the liquid to absorb.
- Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary. Serve hot and enjoy!
Lauren’s Tips
- If your pork or beef is lean, you can add an extra tablespoon of butter or bacon grease.
- Cooking the rice separately helps prevent a mushy final dish.
- To check how much liquid is remaining in the “simmer” step, move the ground meat to one side of the pot, then gently tilt the pot towards the other side.
- Making sure you only have about ½ cup of liquid left in the pot before you add the rice is essential to make sure your dirty rice isn’t mushy. It’s better to have not enough liquid than too much.
- Stirring too much can also make it mushy.
- Have a lot of leftovers? Use it to make stuffed peppers!
Equipment Needed
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Buy Now → Storage & Make Ahead
- Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Freeze for up to 6 months.
- Defrost in the refrigerator overnight and reheat in the microwave.
- You can make this dish a day ahead of time and reheat gently on the stove with a splash of broth. Be careful not to stir too much or the rice can get mushy.
What to Serve it With
Louisiana Dirty Rice
Ingredients
Rice
- 1 cup white long grain rice
- 1 ½ cups chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt (*see note)
Dressing
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 pound pork sausage (or ground pork)
- ¼ pound chicken liver (optional, about ½ cup)
- 1 large yellow onion
- 2 large stalks celery
- 1 green bell pepper
- 6 cloves garlic
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 5-6 green onions
- ½ cup parsley leaves (loosely packed )
- Cajun seasoning ( to taste)
Instructions
- PREP: Chop onion, celery, and bell pepper. Thinly slice green onions. Finely chop parsley. Mince garlic. Finely chop livers or pulse in a food processor.
- RICE: Rinse rice in cold water until water runs clear. Add rice, 1 ½ cups of chicken broth, and 1 teaspoon of kosher salt to a small pot and stir. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a low simmer. Cover and cook for about 17 minutes until rice is tender and all the liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat, fluff with a fork, and cover to steam while you prepare the rest of the recipe. Alternatively, cook rice in a rice cooker.
- BROWN: Heat a large dutch oven over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon butter. Add ground beef, and ground pork with a pinch of salt. Cook until browned, about 10 minutes, breaking up the meat as it cooks.
- SAUTÉ: Add in chicken liver, onions, celery, and bell pepper and stir. Cook for about 10 minutes, until vegetables are softened and liver is browned. Stir in garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
- SIMMER: Add chicken broth, parsley, and green onions and stir together. Simmer for about 20-30 minutes, until only about ½ cup liquid remains, stirring occasionally. *see note
- MIX: Fold in cooked rice and mix until combined well. Taste and add cajun seasoning to taste. Turn off the heat and let sit for about 10 minutes for the remaining broth to absorb.
- SERVE: Top with extra parsley or green onions. Serve hot and enjoy.
Notes
- I tested this recipe with Diamond Crystal kosher salt. It’s much less salty than table salt, so make sure to add to taste if using another type of salt.
- If your pork or beef is lean, you can add an extra tablespoon of butter or bacon grease.
- Chicken liver is optional. It adds extra flavor, but isn’t overpowering in the amount included. Can substitute for a dressing mix like Savoie’s or Richard’s.
- To add gizzards: bring 4 cups of chicken broth to a boil, then add ½ pound of chicken gizzards. Boil for 30 minutes until tender. Remove the gizzards and set aside to cool, but reserve the chicken broth. When gizzards are cool enough to handle, pulse them in a food processor until the pieces are about the size of grains of uncooked rice. Use the remaining broth in the simmer step of the recipe.
- Making sure you only have about ½ cup of liquid left in the pot before you add the rice is essential to make sure your dirty rice isn’t mushy. It’s better to have not enough liquid than too much for this step.
- Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Freeze for up to 6 months.
- Defrost in the refrigerator overnight and reheat in the microwave.
- You can make this dish a day ahead of time and reheat gently on the stove with a splash of broth. Be careful not to stir too much or the rice can get mushy.
Equipment
- Small heavy rice pot or rice cooker
- Large dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot
- Fine mesh strainer
Nutrition
Meet Lauren
I’m the blogger, recipe developer, food photographer, and otherwise food obsessed gal behind Lauren From Scratch. I was born and raised in New Orleans and lived in South Louisiana most of my life. Growing up around Cajun country has instilled a love of food that runs deep in my bones. I am passionate about food and teaching you how to make mouth-watering Louisiana inspired dishes in your own kitchen!
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I was looking for a good dirty rice recipe to jazz my recipe up a bit and I found this one. This recipe is almost identical to mine, except that I have never used Jimmy Dean pork sausage. I’m gonna make it with Jimmy Dean tonight! The other thing that I do differently is add a little worcestershire for color and flavor, and I use green, red and yellow bell peppers. I already know that this rice will be delicious!
Hope you enjoy it! I like the addition of Worcestershire sauce.
Love us some dirty rice! And your recipe is excellent. Used livers and gizzards and it turned out awesome! Thanks!!!!
Thanks, Connie!
Wonderful recipe! That is a great note, to make certain to keep the liquid low and that not enough is better than too much. I love this with the flakier rice vs mushed. The house is smelling amazing and the dish is terrific. I went with the 1/2 cup of liver just to live dangerously. Otherwise, I did add half a diced turnip and half a diced zucchini just to clear them out of the fridge. Great job and thank you for sharing!
Thanks, Jarrod! Love the addition of the turnip and zucchini. You probably won’t notice them in there, and its a great way to get in more veggies and clean out the fridge!
This is a great recipe. I was a little hurried (late start) so I used extra rice instead of simmering down the broth, but seasoned accordingly and it was still awesome. You have a beautiful website and I’m stoked to try more of your recipes.
Thanks, Jackson! Hope you enjoy them all.
Thank you so much for sharing this delicious recipe!!! The only thing I would have loved to see was at least one or two reminders to season along the way – if I’d only followed instructions, only the rice would have ended up seasoned by the end!
Thank goodness for common sense though 😉
Now on to my compliments!! This recipe was unique in that the dressing has a sauce/gravy, (which was absolutely excellent,) and so the rice is cooked with a bit less water than you’d usually use, and to a slightly firmer outcome, in order to allow for it to soak up some liquid and not become soggy. Rice can be so finicky that i was suspicious, but by god did it come out amazing!!!
Made as a Thanksgiving side dish this year and it came out nicely!