This dirty rice is a savory mix of sausage, peppers, celery, rice and spices, all cooked together to make a hearty and flavorful side dish. Serve Cajun rice as an accompaniment to chicken, seafood or pork, and watch the rave reviews come in!
When I prepare our favorite Cajun style dishes such as blackened salmon and Cajun chicken, I often make a big pot of dirty rice to go on the side. My family just can’t get enough of it!
Our local Cajun restaurant makes the best dirty rice, and I decided it was time I learned to make this delicious dish at home. My version is quick to make with ingredients you probably already have in the house.
Dirty Rice Ingredients
This recipe contains the holy trinity of vegetables, along with rice, broth, sausage and plenty of herbs and spice.
How do you make dirty rice?
Place a little oil in a large pot, then add pork sausage. Cook the sausage until it’s browned, then add onions, bell peppers and celery to the pot. After the vegetables are soft, stir in garlic, herbs and spices. Pour chicken broth and rice into the pot and bring everything to a simmer. Cook until the rice is tender. Stir in fresh parsley and green onions, then serve and enjoy.
Tips for the perfect dish
- I use bulk pork sausage and I break it up into small pieces as it cooks. You can also use sausage links, just remove the casings first. Turkey sausage is an acceptable substitute if you’re looking to save on a few calories.
- Long grain white rice works best in this recipe. I don’t recommend using brown rice, as it will take a lot longer to cook and you will need to add more liquid.
- Leftovers will stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. You can freeze the rice for later use, but it may become softer in texture when thawed and reheated.
- It’s up to you whether you include chicken livers or not. My family prefers it with just sausage, so that’s how I make it. That being said, chicken livers are considered to be a traditional component of the dish.
- Serve this is a hearty side dish to accompany main course options such as Shrimp Creole.
Recipe FAQs
Dirty rice is a classic Cajun dish that contains the holy trinity of bell peppers, onions and celery. It contains ground meat, and sometimes diced chicken livers. It also includes ingredients such as chicken broth, herbs and spices.
This dish was given the name dirty because of all the small bits of meat and/or chicken livers in the rice, which to some people resembles the look of dirt.
Dirty rice is sometimes also called Cajun rice. That being said, dirty rice contains ground meat and chicken livers, while Cajun rice more commonly is made with Andouille sausage.
Flavor Variations
This rice is delicious as-is, but you can add other ingredients to customize the flavors to your tastes.
- Meat: Instead of sausage, you can use ground beef, ground pork, bacon, smoked sausage or a combination of different types of meats.
- Vegetables: Feel free to add other veggies to the mix such as red bell peppers, mushrooms or peas. These additions are not traditional, but they taste great!
- Flavorings: For a spicier rice, add hot sauce to taste. You can also swap out the chicken broth for beef broth which lends the dish a stronger flavor. Stir in a bit of Worcestershire sauce for a more complex flavor.
While I typically serve dirty rice as a side dish, it’s hearty enough to stand alone as a main course offering. No matter how you serve it, this rice will be a hit!
More Cajun recipes to try
Dirty Rice Video
Dirty Rice
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
- 1 pound ground pork sausage
- 1/2 cup chicken livers finely diced, optional
- 3/4 cup onion finely diced
- 3/4 cup green bell pepper finely diced
- 1/2 cup celery finely diced
- 2 teaspoons garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- 3/4 teaspoon salt or more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 1/2 cups long grain white rice uncooked
- 3 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons parsley chopped
- 1/2 cup green onions thinly sliced
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the sausage and chicken liver if using, then cook for 4-5 minutes, breaking up the meat into small pieces with a spatula.
- After the sausage is browned and cooked through, drain off any excess grease. Next, add the onion, bell pepper and celery to the pot.
- Cook for 4-5 minutes or until vegetables have softened.
- Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the Cajun seasoning, thyme, salt, pepper, bay leaf, rice and chicken broth to the pot. Stir, then bring to a simmer.
- Cover the pot and turn the heat to low. Cook for 20 minutes or until all the liquid has been absorbed.
- Let the rice stand for 5 minutes. Remove the bay leaf. Stir in the green onions and fluff the rice with a fork.
- Sprinkle with parsley, then serve.
Notes
- I use bulk pork sausage and I break it up into small pieces as it cooks. You can also use sausage links, just remove the casings first.
- Leftover dirty rice will stay fresh in the refrigerator for 4 days. You can freeze the rice for later use, but it may become softer in texture when thawed and reheated.
- It’s up to you whether you include chicken livers or not. My family prefers it with just sausage, so that’s how I make it. That being said, chicken livers are considered to be a traditional component of the dish.
Loving all of the spices and flavors happening in this side dish recipe! I will have to make this soon. 🙂
This was my first time using chicken livers. It was a great recipe to start with! Loved what the cajun seasoning did to the dish.
Such a hearty and filling meal, I skipped the chicken livers, but was still so very delicious, I might be convinced to try them the next time!
I had some chicken livers to use up and am so glad I found your recipe. This rice is fantastic and so full of flavor!
This is so insanely delicious! Never thought I’d cook with chicken livers but here we are, and I’m never looking back 😉
This was so hearty and delicious. The sausage and peppers taste so good together.
love how easy this recipe is! it’s flavorful and nearly no clean-up!
This was the perfect savory side dish for dinner. My husband raved about it and kept asking for more. Even my picky toddlers wanted seconds (and I used the chicken liver)!
Every level of this recipe comes together so beautifully! I love all the spices in it.
This dirty rice was so good! I skipped the liver, but it didn’t matter. This side disappeared on my table!