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.
Dirty Rice is Southern comfort food at its finest!
Dirty Rice is Southern comfort food at its finest!So, in case you're new to this Southern rice dish, it's called Dirty Rice because the rice turns a “dirty” brown color while cooking with 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). Whatever you call it, this dish is as delicious as it is simple to make!
Dirty Rice vs Jambalaya Rice:
While both are beloved Louisiana rice dishes, Dirty Rice gets its name (and signature flavor) from the bits of ground meat, liver, and Cajun spices that “dirty” the white rice. Jambalaya, on the other hand, is more of a hearty, stew-like meal made with rice, tomatoes, and a mix of proteins like sausage, chicken, or shrimp. Dirty Rice is meat-forward and boldly seasoned, while Jambalaya is more saucy and tomato-based.
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. Add 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.
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.
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.
Creole vs Cajun Seasoning:
Though often used interchangeably, Cajun and Creole seasonings have distinct flavor profiles. Cajun seasoning (used in this recipe) is bolder and spicier, with a rustic blend of paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, onion powder, and black pepper. Creole seasoning is milder and has more herbs, often featuring oregano, thyme, basil, and even celery salt.
For Dirty Rice, seasoning is everything. Without it, it would taste like plain white rice. Cajun seasoning adds that unmistakable Louisiana kick—spicy, smoky, and just a little wild. It's a must for this recipe! Slap yo Mama's is a popular brand I'd recommend.
Instant Pot Dirty Rice:
Turn to sauté setting and brown meat. Add and sauté veggies and spices then 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.
Follow me for more great recipes
Recipe
Dirty Rice
Equipment
- Meat Chopper optional
Ingredients
- ½ lb ground beef (227g), 80/20
- ½ lb ground sausage (227g), (I use Jimmy Dean pork sausage)
- ½ cup minced chicken livers or gizzards* (120g)
- 1 teaspoon salt (6g)
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (1g)
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour (30g)
- 1 onion , diced
- ½ cup celery (50g), diced
- 1 green bell pepper , diced
- 3 cloves garlic , minced
- 2 teaspoons cajun seasoning (5g)
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 cups long-grain white rice (370g), or basmati rice
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth (960g)
- ½ cup chopped green onion (50g)
- ¼ cup fresh chopped parsley (8g)
Instructions
- Cook meat: 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.½ lb ground beef, ½ lb ground sausage, ½ cup minced chicken livers or gizzards*, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 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.¼ cup all-purpose flour, 1 onion, ½ cup celery, 1 green bell pepper, 3 cloves garlic, 2 teaspoons cajun seasoning, ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, ¼ teaspoon dried oregano, ¼ teaspoon dried thyme, 2 bay leaves
- Simmer: 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.2 cups long-grain white rice, 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- Serve garnished with green onion and parsley.½ cup chopped green onion, ¼ cup fresh chopped parsley
Notes
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
Follow Me
I originally shared this recipe August 2020. Updated September 2023 and June 2025.
This post contains affiliate links.
I made this on stove top and ITS SO GOOD. Only changes I made were I cut up some link sausage into cubes and after the meat and sausage were cooked I added the minced garlic and stirred for 30 seconds. Left out the gizzard. Excellent !!
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!
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!
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.
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!
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.
Made this the day I saw it pop across my screen. LOVE this recipe! And husband declared it “Better than Zatarain!”
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!
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.
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.
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.
Actually it was the Germans that originally cultivated rice in Louisiana.
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.
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!