Our favorite easy Dirty Rice recipe is a popular Cajun dish made with white rice cooked with beef, sausage, chicken, veggies and spices. I love that it’s made in just one pot and it’s a meal everyone loves.

If you enjoy Cajun and Creole recipes be sure to try my New Orleans Gumbo, Red Beans and Rice, and Jambalaya.

A close up image of a wooden spoon in a pan of an easy dirty rice recipe, ready to serve.

Dirty Rice is Southern comfort food at its finest! It’s called Dirty Rice because the rice turns a “dirty” brown color while cooking with the diced meats and spices. You’ll also hear Dirty Rice called “Cajun Rice” or “Rice Dressing”, but they’re all variations of the same rice dish (they may use different types of meat or add more or less veggies, or spices).

How to make Dirty Rice:

Cook Meat and Veggies: Add ground beef, sausage and liver (or chopped chicken thighs) to a large pan over medium heat. Season with salt and pepper and cook, crumbling with a wooden spoon, until browned. Dump in flour and stir. Add onion, bell pepper, celery and sauté then toss in garlic, Cajun seasoning, cayenne, oregano, thyme and bay leaves and stir to combine.

Sausage and meat with onion, bell peppers, celery, and seasonings to make dirty rice with sausage.

Add Rice: Add rice and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat all allow to rest for 5 minutes. Remove lid, gently fluff rice with a fork, reapply lid and rest for 5 more minutes.

Rice being added to a pan of meat and chopped veggies to make the best dirty rice recipe.

Serve: Garnish with green onion and parsley before serving this cajun rice. Dirty Rice is a hearty meal alone, but you could also serve it with a green salad, okra, Swiss chard, tomato cucumber salad, artisan bread or skillet cornbread.

Cajun rice in a large pan, garnished with green onion and parsley.

Instant Pot Dirty Rice:

Turn to Sauté setting and brown meat. Add and sauté veggies and spices then pour in rice and 2 cups of chicken broth. Cook on manual/high pressure, for 4 minutes with a 10-minute natural release. Remove lid, gently fluff rice with a fork, reapply lid and rest for 5 more minutes. Garnish with green onion and parsley before serving.

Make Ahead Instructions:

Chop all of the veggies, and even measure the spices ahead, for quick dinner prep. You could also cook the meats and store them in the fridge for a few hours before cooking the remaining meal.

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Recipe

A close up image of a wooden spoon in a pan of an easy dirty rice recipe, ready to serve.
Prep 5 minutes
Cook 35 minutes
Total 40 minutes
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Equipment

Ingredients
 
 

Instructions
 

  • Add ground beef, sausage and liver to a large saucepan over medium heat. Season with salt and pepper and cook, crumbling with a wooden spoon, until browned.
  • Add flour and stir. Add onion, bell pepper, and celery and sauté for 2 minutes. Add garlic, Cajun seasoning, cayenne, oregano, thyme and bay leaves and stir to combine.
  • Add rice and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat all allow to rest for 5 minutes. Remove lid, gently fluff rice with a fork, reapply lid and rest for 5 more minutes.
  • Garnish with green onion and parsley before serving.

Notes

Chicken Livers: you can leave them out, or substitute small uncooked, chopped pieces of chicken thighs, or stir in chopped cooked chicken at the end. 
For the Instant Pot:
Turn to sauté setting and brown meat. Add and sauté veggies and spices. Add rice and 2 cups of chicken broth. Cook on manual/high pressure, for 4 minutes with a 10-minute natural release. Remove lid, gently fluff rice with a fork, reapply lid and rest for 5 more minutes. Garnish with green onion and parsley before serving.
Make Ahead Instructions: Chop all of the veggies, and even measure the spices ahead, for quick dinner prep. You could also cook the meats and store them in the fridge for a few hours before cooking the remaining meal.

Nutrition

Calories: 594kcalCarbohydrates: 72gProtein: 31gFat: 20gSaturated Fat: 7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0.4gCholesterol: 144mgSodium: 875mgPotassium: 743mgFiber: 3gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 3584IUVitamin C: 32mgCalcium: 73mgIron: 6mg

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I originally shared this recipe August 2020. Updated September 2023.

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Lauren Allen

Welcome! I’m Lauren, a mom of four and lover of good food. Here you’ll find easy recipes and weeknight meal ideas made with real ingredients, with step-by-step photos and videos.

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Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Very good recipe. I substituted red pepper flake for cayenne pepper, omitted the salt and replaced it with a dash or two of worchestershire sauce and soy sauce. I also added 1/8th tsp of cinammon which took things to a whole new level. I used the mixture to make stuffed bell peppers and it was fantastic!

  2. 5 stars
    Taste of this recipe is fabulous! I’ve tried it in the instant pot and the stovetop. However each time I cook it I’m fighting with it sticking and wanting to burn on the bottom. With the instant pot I got regular burn errors and would have to stop, scrape up the browning (not burnt) bottom, add more liquid and start cooking again. Still came out tasting great….but it’s not a easy hands off cooking process. Any suggestions for what I might be doing wrong?? Thanks!

    1. 5 stars
      This is one recipe that really benefits from stove top cooking. I usually turn my heat down to 3.0 before I add the vegetables and remove the meat. Even at 3, it still creates a very thick crust on the bottom. Which is then removed when I add back the meat and chicken stock. I’m sure the recipe will turn out delicious, either way you cook it.

  3. 5 stars
    I followed the recipe as far as ingredients and it was AWESOME!!! The only change was using a stovetop instead of instant pot. I’ve tried cooking other recipes and this reminds me so much of my Meemaw’s recipe in MS. Thanks!

  4. 5 stars
    Perfect recipe. Dirty rice is always better when the rice is cooked with the meat and Trinity – so much more flavor. Simple and delicious meal. Best dirty rice recipe on Google.

  5. 5 stars
    Made this the day I saw it pop across my screen. LOVE this recipe! And husband declared it “Better than Zatarain!”

  6. 5 stars
    I have made this multiple times and my family loves it. I have never used the liver (personal preference) but almost always double the recipe to have some leftovers. I use hot sausgae and almost always add more cayenne as we like the heat. Quick easy and delicious!

  7. While I appreciate that many people enjoy traditional food from Louisiana, but as one who was born and raised in Southeast Louisiana, I ask that people please stop calling everything Cajun. This is a rice based dish, it is Creole or to be blunt it is a dish brought over from Africa. If you are ever confused always remember, rice does not grow in France or Nova Scotia, and Cajun food is typically game meat based dishes. Rice was incorporated into Acadian (Cajun)diets via proximity to enslaved and free Blacks. While or food traditions are beautiful mosaic of many cultures, this is a sore spot for many as the labeling of Creole dishes as Cajun, for-profit is infuriating as it negates the horrors that brought these wonderful dishes to America.

    1. 5 stars
      While I appreciate the differences in Cajun vs Creole cooking, the presence of rice in a recipe is not a determining factor. Rice was introduced to French cuisine and agriculture in the late 13th century. The Acadians would have been quite familiar with its uses.

    2. 5 stars
      It’s exhausting listening to people like you that were never enslaved trying to lecture people on history. This world has seen many horrors and every race has had to endure them, not just blacks. People can enjoy food without having to hear a lecture from a non slave. Every time you eat pizza do people lecture you on the Italian history.

  8. 5 stars
    I used rice in a bag and boiled it in chicken broth. Put about 1/2 cup broth in with rice and meat and simmered for 5 minutes. Sped up my cool time and my daughter thanked me twice, so it was a hit! Served cheesey cauliflower as the side.

  9. 5 stars
    My wife was busy bussing the kids around tonight so I had dinner duty. I made the instapot version and it was so good! I’m no whiz in the kitchen, so I appreciate how easy this was easy to throw together. It was a big hit, thank you!