This recipe appears at just about every occasion in Cajun Country. Whether it's a holiday, funeral, family reunion, or potluck dinner, you can bet there will be at least one form of dirty rice or rice dressing. At the Link family reunion in Robert's Cove, I counted six versions, all different. The essential ingredients are few, but flavor and texture vary greatly. The main difference between dirty rice and rice dressing is that rice dressing is generally made with ground beef or pork, whereas dirty rice is made with pork and chicken livers. Many people think they don't like liver, but when it's balanced with other flavors, the liver taste is not overpowering. I've served this deeply flavored rice to many people who claim they hate liver, only to have them love it.
Ingredients
Serves 6 to 8
Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat. When the oil is hot, add the pork and chicken livers and cook, stirring, until browned. Add the salt, black pepper, and chili powder and stir often, but resist the impulse to stir constantly: You want the meat to stick to the pan and get crusty. Add 1/4 cup of the chicken broth and cook until it has evaporated, allowing the meat mixture to get browned and crusty and stick to the pan once again. Add the onion, celery, garlic, jalapeño, and oregano and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are nicely browned and crusty and beginning to stick to the pan. Add the rice, the remaining 1 1/4 cups broth, the scallions, and parsley. Stir until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is heated through.
Nutrition Per Serving
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Reviews (11)
Back to Topmy home town my best memories were at the dinner table
ERIC FLOYD
LAKECHARLES NOW I LIVE IN FL.
11/25/2021
A good starting point for a delicious dirty rice. I'm not a southerner but married to someone who claims to be one! I would add some non authentic veggies as well as some smoked paprika and perhaps cumin to give it a punch. If I were not cooking for my weeones as well, there would probably be a bit of chipotle and or cayenne thrown in for punch. I will use this recipe as an outline for my next attempt for sure¿
Moderationmama
Hoboken, NJ
7/4/2014
I wanted a "comfort" carb to add back into my diet and Dirty Rice is one of my childhood favs but I couldn't recall the ingredients. The first indication that this recipe was not sterling was the broken trinity: the Cajun variant of mirepoix: onions, bell peppers, and celery in roughly equal quantities, here lacking the bell pepper, which I added. Second indication was the use of chili powder, which was quite foreign sounding based on my experience (mostly NOLA/Thibodaux) but I subbed this for doubled homemade cajun seasonings and it was just fine. Where it went sideways I think was using cooked rice. I thought I remembered browning the rice like pilaf and then cooking it all together but that could have been dozens of recipes, so I followed the recipe. Rather than the light, spicy dish I fondly recall, this turned out to be a heavier, starchier cousin, a little to heavy on the parsley and not nearly as versatile nor comforting as I'd intended. The flavors are good, but it isn't spectacular and certainly isn't what I recalled from youth. Next time, I'll look to one of the blogs for advice.
emmiegirl
Norfolk, VA
5/27/2014
This was delicious. Made the recipe exactly except that I threw in half a finely chopped red bell pepper that I happened to have around.
gregglemont
Chicago, IL
9/14/2013
This is a great recipe! I made it for my brother who loves Cajun and it was a huge hit. I had some trouble getting everything to stick to the pan the first time I made it, but after turning up the heat on my next shot it was perfect.
Anonymous
Texas
4/5/2013
this is an insult to YSy hometown famous dish an all cajun's we DO NOT USE jalapeño , lake charles cooks tex-mex style cajum food an this is NOT AUTHINTIC , USE cyan pepper , and omit the pork an use ground beef , the tru cajun way. an a quick way 2 spot a faulse cajun recipe is the wrd "scallion " we say "green onion "
buddygood
new orleans , la
3/14/2013
cooked this for lunch. couldn't stop eating. recipe adjusted to my own tropical spices instead of chili otherwise its the same.
jyanzi
singapore
2/15/2012
This recipe is EXACTLY like the rice I grew up eating in Orange, TX. Lake Charles was just over the Sabine River but luckily the cajun influenced cookin' crossed the river to our supper tables in TX :) Made this for New Years Day Brunch.
tenorgold
Nashville, TN
1/1/2012
Great flavor, even with ground beef alone! Add a pinch of red pepper flakes if you like it spicy.
Anonymous
Phoenix, AZ
11/24/2011
The dish is very flavorful and the aroma is incredible!!! Adding a half cup of cooked chopped chicken gizzard just to stay true with the cajun cooking spirit... Served as a side dish to Roasted Chicken with Thyme and Mustard Sauce on this website... love it!
tknguyen46
Nj
3/19/2011