Louisiana Dirty Rice

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This Dirty Rice recipe is layered with flavors from the ground organ meat, Cajun spices, and holy trinity. It's great for feeding large crowds for dinner, parties, or a good kickback.

Here are some options to serve with your dirty rice. Crispy Fried Chicken, Blackened Chicken, Southern Fried Fish, Grilled Coriander Steak, and Chicken Sauce Piquant.

Recipe Video:

I love dirty rice. Growing up in New Orleans, I ate it at least once a month; then, it picked up once I got to culinary school because I learned all the correct techniques required to make a perfect pot of dirty rice.

My grandfather was famous for his dirty rice recipe, but his recipe was never written down, and we lost it forever once he passed away. It was one of the recipes I knew I had to perfect to honor his name.

Every family makes theirs a little different; even in my family, we make it slightly differently. My mom likes more celery in hers, without any chicken liver. The recipe below is how I make mines after learning from Chef John Folse himself and what my mother taught me about my grandfathers.

What is Dirty Rice

Dirty rice is a popular, flavorful rice dish in Louisiana made with chicken gizzards and livers (this makes it dirty), onion, green bell peppers, celery, long grain rice, and lots of cayenne pepper and black pepper. It's usually served with chicken or any meat of choice. If the main dish has some gravy, some will be poured over the dirty rice.

The giblets and liver are usually grounded and added to the pot, but you can use a food processor to achieve a similar texture.

It's sometimes confused for its cousin, rice dressing, which is made very similarly, but uses ground beef instead of ground giblets and omits the chicken livers.

Nowadays, you'll find recipes like the one below that blend the best of both worlds with ground beef and ground giblet meats. Two critical tips, cook the ground beef until it gets crispy for maximum flavor, and do not use warm leftover rice. Only use cold or room temperature; warmed-up rice will give an unpleasant texture.

Key Ingredients

Here are the ingredients for an authentic, easy dirty rice recipe.

Chicken Giblets

You must have chicken livers, gizzards, and hearts for it to be "dirty"; other than that, it's just rice dressing. You won't need chicken broth because the organ meat will create an incredible homemade broth.

Long Grain Rice

You can make the rice fresh, but dirty rice is perfect for using leftover rice. I love using a long grain brown rice like Uncle Ben's.

Ground Beef

I use an 80/20 ground beef (chuck) blend to add flavor and fat since I'm not using any ground pork.

Holy Trinity

You'll need a yellow onion, green bell pepper, celery, garlic, and bay leaves. 

Cajun Seasoning

I use it in everything I cook, but most are loaded with sodium. That's why I use Savory Low-Sodium Cajun seasoning. It helps authentic cajun flavor shine in this recipe.

Green Onion

This will add flavor, texture, and color to the dish.

How To Make Dirty Rice Recipe

The key to cooking dirty rice is getting the most flavor possible from the organ meats. Follow the techniques below, stay patient, and get ready to enjoy something incredible. You can whip it up with a cast iron skillet or Dutch oven.

Add gizzards, livers, and 2 tablespoons kosher salt in a medium pot and cover with water, then bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Skim off the water as gizzards cook. Do not discard water. 

Add the livers and gizzards to a bowl to cool. Cut the gizzards from the sinew.

Add gizzards to the food processor and blitz on high until it resembles ground meat. Chop the livers add to the food processor, and blitz on high until it resembles ground meat. 

In a Dutch oven over medium heat, heat oil; once the oil is hot, add ground beef and cook until water evaporates, about 5 minutes.

Add onions, bell pepper, and celery cook until translucent. Add garlic, bay leaves, worcestershire, oregano, savory, salt, cayenne, and gizzards. Stir in 1 ½ cups of gizzard stock and cook for a minute.

Remove from the heat, and stir in cooked rice and ½ of the sliced green onion. Taste and adjust seasoning, garnish with green onions, and serve hot. 

How To Store Dirty Rice

After the dirty rice cools, place it in an airtight container in the fridge for 7 days. Keep in the freezer in an airtight container or a freezer storage bag for 3 months. Thaw 24 hours before using.

To reheat, bring a small amount of chicken, vegetable, or beef broth or water to a boil and stir in dirty rice; cook until hot. A ¼ cup of liquid will be enough for 1 cup of rice.

Pro Recipe Tips & Tricks

Here are the best practices, techniques, substitutes, and flavor builders you'll need so the authentic Cajun flavor shines!

• You want to cook the ground meat until it gets crispy and leaves a brown fond on the bottom of the skillet. This is what brings a depth of flavor to the dirty rice.
• Do not drain the ground beef; that's flavor! 
• Don't be afraid of the chicken liver, gizzards, and hearts. They're loaded with flavor and nutrients.
• You can still make a bomb dirty rice without chicken livers.
• Use any long-grain white rice or instant rice instead of cooking your own.
• Using hot leftover rice will create a mushy texture.
• Feel free to use ground turkey as a healthier alternative instead of ground beef. You don't need ground chicken because you'll use ground chicken organ meat.
• You can use your favorite ground sausage instead of ground beef.
• You can use any color bell pepper. I like to use red to add a pop of color for the final presentation.
• You can use Italian seasoning instead of dry oregano.
• Creole seasoning and Cajun seasoning can be used interchangeably.
• You never cook rice in dirty rice unless you use par-boiled (converted rice). This will help preserve the delicate chicken livers.
• Boil 2 cups of white rice in 6 cups of water until the rice is tender, then drain and cool.
• Add some dirty rice to your stuffed peppers.

FAQs

Here are the top questions readers have about making homemade dirty rice.

More Delicious Recipes

If you're a fan of Creole-Cajun cuisine, like me, I know you'll love these recipes too!

• Red Beans and Rice
• 20-Minute Creole Jamabalaya
• Seafood Filè Gumbo
• King Cake with Cream Cheese Filling
• New Orleans Beignets
• Pralines

Before You Begin

Here are my steps for getting organized and moving fast in the kitchen.

Step 1: Set all ingredients for the dirty rice on the counter.

Step 2: Measure everything out.

Step 3: Start following the recipe and get ready for the best dirty rice you've ever had.

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📖 Recipe

Louisiana Dirty Rice

Kenneth Temple

This Dirty Rice recipe is layered with flavors from the ground organ meat, Cajun spices, and holy trinity. It's great for large crowds.

4.75 from 4 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 35 minutes mins

Total Time 45 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine American, Creole

Servings 12 persons

Calories 363 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 2 lbs. gizzards rinsed
• ½ lb. chicken livers rinsed
• 2 ½ tablespoons kosher salt
• 1 lbs. rice cooked (2 cups raw)
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 1 lbs. ground chuck
• 1 onion chopped medium
• 1 bell pepper chopped medium
• 3 stalks celery chopped medium
• 6 garlic cloves chopped medium
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons worcestershire
• 1 tablespoon dry oregano
• 2 tablespoons Savory Cajun seasoning
• 1 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 bunch green onions chopped

Instructions

 

• In a pot add gizzards, livers, and 2 tablespoons salt and cover with water then bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Skim off water as gizzards cook. Reserve 2 cups of stock.
• Add the livers and gizzards to a bowl to cool. Cut the gizzards from the sinew add gizzards to the food processor and blitz on high until it resembles ground meat.
• Chop the livers add to the food processor and blitz on high until it resembles ground meat.
• In a Dutch oven over medium heat, heat oil; once the oil is hot, add ground beef, and cook until water evaporates, about 5 minutes. Add onions, bell pepper, and celery cook for 3 minutes, then add garlic, bay leaves, worcestershire, oregano, savory, salt, cayenne, and gizzards; cook for 1 minute. Stir in 1 ½ cups of gizzard stock, rice, and half the green onions, making sure it’s coated evenly.
• Taste and adjust seasoning, serve immediately and garnish with green onions.

Notes

How To Store Dirty Rice

After the dirty rice cools, place it in an airtight container in the fridge for 7 days. Keep in the freezer in an airtight container or a freezer storage bag for 3 months. Thaw 24 hours before using.

To reheat, bring a small amount of chicken, vegetable, or beef broth or water to a boil and stir in dirty rice; cook until hot. A ¼ cup of liquid will be enough for 1 cup of rice.

Pro Recipe Tips & Tricks

Here are the best practices, techniques, substitutes, and flavor builders you'll need so the authentic Cajun flavor shines!

 

• You want to cook the ground meat until it gets crispy and leaves a brown fond on the bottom of the skillet. This is what brings a depth of flavor to the dirty rice.
• Do not drain the ground beef; that's flavor! 
• Don't be afraid of the chicken liver, gizzards, and hearts. They're loaded with flavor and nutrients.
• You can still make a bomb dirty rice without chicken livers.
• Use any long-grain white rice or instant rice instead of cooking your own.
• Using hot leftover rice will create a mushy texture.
• Feel free to use ground turkey as a healthier alternative instead of ground beef. You don't need ground chicken because you'll use ground chicken organ meat.
• You can use your favorite ground sausage instead of ground beef.
• You can use any color bell pepper. I like to use red to add a pop of color for the final presentation.
• You can use Italian seasoning instead of dry oregano.
• Creole seasoning and Cajun seasoning can be used interchangeably.
• You never cook rice in dirty rice unless you use par-boiled (converted rice). This will help preserve the delicate chicken livers.
• Boil 2 cups of white rice in 6 cups of water until the rice is tender, then drain and cool.
• Add some dirty rice to your stuffed peppers.

Nutrition

Serving: 0gCalories: 363kcalCarbohydrates: 33gProtein: 24gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 232mgSodium: 1631mgPotassium: 371mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 695IUVitamin C: 20mgCalcium: 48mgIron: 4mg

Keyword dirty rice

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