Dirty Rice is too bold and delicious to call it merely a side dish-it’s a very popular accompaniment for meats, fowl and seafood in South Louisiana cooking. Dirty Rice is a traditional favorite in Cajun and Creole cuisines, made by simmering browned meats with the trinity (onions, green peppers and celery), Cajun/Creole spices, rich stock and cooked white rice. A version of this dish, and there are endless versions, will always be found at family gatherings and holiday celebrations in South Louisiana. Here's how to make Sweet Daddy D's Cajun Dirty Rice!
Cajun Dirty Rice
Note: This article was originally published on November 16, 2018. I have added some discussion about what Dirty Rice is and revised the photos in hopes that it will be easier for you to follow.
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Like many popular dishes in South Louisiana, the origins of Dirty Rice can be traced back to the 19th century, when the better cuts of meat and poultry were saved for the rich and the cheaper cuts, like the chicken livers, gizzards and hearts were left for the poor. It's a common theme when you’re poor, make something tasty with what you have that can be stretched to feed a large family. What they had lots of was some lesser cuts of meat, the innards of the chickens and of course rice, which was very plentiful in Louisiana. It's not unusual in Louisiana cuisine when dishes of humble origins find their way to local restaurants, both simple and fancy, and soon become popular ambassadors of Louisiana cuisine. After all, why do you think Popeyes has been hawking Cajun Rice all over the world for years? It started in poor ole rural Louisiana in the 19th century!
What is the difference between Dirty Rice and Jambalaya?
There are a lot of similarities between dirty rice and jambalaya, but they are not the same thing. They are both primarily rice dishes flavored with traditional South Louisiana seasonings. Each is an example of the South Louisiana heritage of stretching scarce resources into delicious and filling meals-nothing goes to waste! Like many Cajun and Creole dishes, the Holy Trinity (yellow onions, bell peppers and celery) are an important part of their foundation, and the meats used are the less expensive cuts that were traditionally available in South Louisiana. Where jambalaya builds its flavor by browning various meats (primarily pork, chicken, sausage and sometimes seafood) and vegetables and combining those with a rich stock, then cooking raw rice in that flavorful stock until the rice absorbs all those wonderful flavors, Dirty Rice builds its foundation by browning pork (and sometimes beef) and adding organ meat, generally chicken livers and sometimes, gizzards and hearts. The earthy flavor that this imparts is very distinctive. The meats are cooked with the trinity with rich beef stock and then cooked rice is blended in to combine all the wonderful flavors.
Is Dirty Rice the same as boudin?
Boudin is a sausage that shares many of the same ingredients as Dirty Rice. Boudin is unique among South Louisiana sausages because it contains cooked rice, pork and organ meat, cooked down in Cajun spices before stuffing into sausage casings. Although the ingredients are cooked before being stuffed into the casing, Boudin is usually steamed before serving, but it is also common to find grilled boudin and smoked boudin.
Why is it called “Dirty” Rice
The “dirty” part of the name comes from the brown appearance the rice takes on from the browned meat, chicken livers and other parts.
What is Cajun Rice-don’t they have this at Popeyes?
Popeyes Fried Chicken was founded in St Bernard Parish, east of New Orleans. Their very popular side dish, Cajun Rice, is derived from Dirty Rice and is an excellent offering. Using the term “Cajun Rice” helps market the side dish in areas outside of Louisiana. Although I have never seen Popeye's recipe for Cajun Rice, I have it on good authority that it contains ground beef and ground chicken gizzards-no livers.
What is Rice Dressing?
Rice Dressing is very similar to Dirty Rice and many times the terms are used interchangeably. The biggest difference is in the generalities. Rice Dressing is generally made with ground beef while Dirty Rice generally combines, pork and sometimes beef along with chicken livers, and sometimes gizzards. But your grandma may call her Dirty Rice, Rice Dressing and my grandma may call her Rice Dressing, Dirty Rice. They are both delicious and we should never argue with our grandmas.
Here are some things that will help you with this recipe:
Here’s What You Need
You know it's going to be good when you start out with bacon grease. If you don’t have any leftover bacon grease, just fry up a few slices of bacon. The base of this dish, and where the flavor starts is in the meats. I use some ground chuck, the 80/20 mix and some ground pork. The subtle flavor that distinguishes Dirty Rice comes from the chicken livers-pretty much the cheapest thing in the meat department. Of course, we have to use the Trinity-that's yellow onions, bell peppers and celery, plus some aromatics-garlic, green onions and Creole seasoning. The liquids are beef stock and a bit of Worcestershire sauce. It all gets mixed up with some cooked white, long-grain rice and finished off with a bit of parsley, kosher salt and ground black pepper. Normally a couple of beers are included, but they don’t go in the pot.
Here's what you need
Here’s What You Do
First...you have a beer. Let’s get off on the right foot. Get a cold one and read through the recipe a couple of times. To make this truly no-angst, you’ll need to be prepared, that's where the mise en place comes in-don’t forget to get the livers boiled and the rice cooked before you start. While that's happening, chop up the trinity-they can all go in the same bowl because you’ll add them at the same time. Chop the garlic, green onions and parsley, then measure out all the other ingredients. It’s really a pretty straightforward recipe, you’re starting with the meats and building layers of flavor until you have a beautiful pot of Dirty Rice. No angst...take a swig!
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Prepare the chicken livers and the rice
If you’re lucky enough to have enough rice leftover from something else, you’re ahead of the game. If not, you can cook the rice the day before if you want and keep it in the fridge. I use a freezer bag with all the air pushed out. Otherwise, go ahead and cook the rice according to the directions on the package, or your own tried and true method. The chicken livers also need to be cooked in advance, so place them in a pot of enough slightly salted water to cover them, bring it to a boil then let it simmer until tender, about 20 to 30 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to take the cooked livers out of the water and let them cool, make sure to reserve the cooking water. Once cooled, give them a rough chop and set them aside until you need them.
Time for the meats
It's all about the meats. This is where the color and flavor base comes from and this is where the “dirty” comes from. Start out by melting the bacon grease over medium-high heat in a dutch oven. You know it's going to be good if we start with bacon, did I mention that?
Break up the beef and pork into the bacon grease, stir while you fry and when the redness is gone, about 5 minutes, mix in the chopped chicken livers. Cook all this together for another 5 minutes. Scrape up anything that sticks to the bottom of the pan. These little bits of goodness are called fond and fond adds some serious deliciousness.
Fry all the meats together in the bacon grease
Time for the Trinity and concentration of the flavor
Add the trinity right to the meats-that's the yellow onions, bell peppers and celery, saute until the onions are starting to brown which should be about 8 minutes.
Add in the trinity
Stir in half the green onions and all the garlic and continue to sauté for a couple of minutes. The garlic should be smelling pretty darn good about now, so add the creole seasoning.
Next, stir in some chopped green onions
Don't forget the garlic!
Blend in some Creole seasoning
Next, toss in the Worcestershire sauce and mix well, continuing to sauté a minute or two. Add the stock and a little of the reserved water from boiling the chicken livers. (If you have some fond stuck to the bottom of the pot, start with just a little stock to deglaze the bottom. This will mix all that delicious fond-flavor right in before adding the remaining stock.)
Add the beef stock and Worcestershire and bring to a simmer
Stir everything together and bring it to a high simmer, uncovered, until the liquid is reduced by a little more than half, which should take about 20 to 30 minutes. This is going to concentrate all that flavor you've been building at each step.
Let it simmer and reduce
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All you need is the rice
Once everything is looking and smelling good and the liquid is cooked down quite a bit, it's time to make the rice dirty. Just add the cooked rice and blend well to incorporate all the ingredients-the rice ain’t white no more!
Mix in the cooked rice
Finish off with some chopped green onions
Add some kosher salt and ground black pepper, mix in some parsley and the remaining green onions (save some to top the dirty rice when serving, though). Leave the fire on low for just another few minutes, uncovered, until all the liquid is absorbed. Taste it to see if you need more salt, pepper or creole seasoning. You are ready to dish it up-just sprinkle some of the reserved green onions on top when served.
That's it, simple as that, all there is to it.
Delicious Cajun Dirty Rice
Hints and Tips
- For this recipe, I use a combination of ground chuck (80/20) and ground pork. If you prefer to use one or the other, that's fine. Experiment...try some fresh bulk sausage or some other meats.
- All the ingredients contribute to Dirty Rice's flavor, but none take over, so the chicken livers are an essential part of the profile. Many recipes call for using the gizzards along with the livers, so that is certainly an option. If you use gizzards, boil them beforehand, remove the tough cartilage, then grind them in a food processor or chop them very fine. They can be a little tough! Don't go overboard on the amount of liver you use because they can certainly take over the flavor profile. They should be a subtle background flavor, most people won’t even know they're there. If you just can't do it, leave them out and you have a wonderful recipe for Rice Dressing!
- You can substitute chicken stock or vegetable stock for beef stock if you want.
- Remember that most commercial creole seasonings and commercial stocks have high salt content, so make sure that you taste as you cook before you add any more salt.
- Can this be frozen? The simple answer is that it can be frozen, but realistically white rice does not freeze well when mixed with other ingredients. I have read that Dirty Rice made with brown rice does freeze very well and may even be more authentic to the roots of this Cajun specialty. If you want to cook Dirty Rice ahead, make it up to the point before you add the rice. Freeze the meat/vegetable and stock blend in an airtight container, then when you want to serve it, put that back on the stove and add freshly cooked rice to it. Best of both worlds.
- How long can it be stored? Dirty Rice can be safely refrigerated for 5 or 6 days if stored in an airtight container. To reheat, place the Dirty Rice is a saucepan, add a little water and place it over low heat. Break it up with a fork and stir a few times while the water evaporates. It should be nice and warm in 5 to 10 minutes. Just don’t turn the heat up too high!
Here are a few other Creole/Cajun recipes from Sweet Daddy D you will enjoy:
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Here are some things that will help you with this recipe:
Yeah You Right!
Sweet Daddy D's Cajun Dirty Rice
Here's What You Need
- 3 tablespoons bacon grease
- 1 pounds ground chuck (80/20)
- 1 pound ground pork
- ½ pound Chicken livers
- 1 medium to large Yellow Onions
- 1 medium green bell pepper
- ½ cup Celery
- 2 bunches green onions in all
- 3-4 cloves garlic
- 4 tablespoons Creole seasoning
- 3 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
- 3 cups beef stock
- 6 cups cooked rice
- 4 tablespoons parsley
- to taste Kosher Salt and Ground Black Pepper
Here's What You Do
- Place chicken livers in water to simmer until tender, about 20 to 30 minutes. Let them cool then give them a rough chop and set aside; reserve the cooking water.
- In a dutch oven, melt the bacon grease over medium high heat.
- Maintaining a medium high heat, brown the beef and pork in the bacon grease; when the redness is gone (about 5 minutes), add the chopped chicken livers and mix well; cook together for another 5 minutes.
- Add the yellow onions, bell peppers and celery to the meats and saute until the onions are starting to brown, about 8 minutes.
- Stir in about half the green onions and then the garlic and continue to sauté for a couple of minutes until the garlic is aromatic.
- Add the creole seasoning and mix well, continuing to sauté.
- Increase the heat and add the Worcestershire sauce, the stock and a little of the reserved water from boiling the chicken livers; stir together completely and bring to a high simmer, uncovered, until the liquid is reduced by a little more than half-about, 20 to 30 minutes.
- Mix in the cooked rice and blend well to incorporate all the ingredients. Taste and add kosher salt and ground black pepper to taste. Mix in the parsley and remaining green onions and cook on low another few minutes uncovered until all the liquid is absorbed.
- Sprinkle some of the reserved green onions on top when served.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Alison DeRudder
20 minutes seems like such a long time to simmer the livers...is there a reason for that? Or is that just how it's done?
Sweet Daddy D
Hi Allison, thanks for reaching out. I simmer the livers that long to get them very tender so that when I chop them and blend them into the other ingredients they breakdown easily and don't end up in big chunks. I've found that some folks don't like liver but if it's completely incorporated they don't usually notice. The flavor is wonderful. I also use the simmering water later in the recipe which picks up more flavor with a long simmer. You certainly don't need to do it that way, just make sure they are cooked through, then give them a fine chop. Thanks again and ENJOY!