DIRTY RICE
Dirty rice is Cajun/Creole classic made with white rice, onion, green bell pepper, celery, spices, and meat (either pork, beef, or chicken). Traditionally, the rice gets its dirty color from diced chicken livers. In my recipe I skip the chicken liver and use ground beef along with plenty of seasonings to give a fantastic color to the white rice.
I usually cook with lean ground beef, however, the store that I was shopping at wasn’t offering any so I went ahead and used the 85% lean that was available to me. The higher fat content actually does make a tastier dish, you just need to be more aware of your overall fat consumption throughout the day to stay within your goal. Since I am tracking the macros in this dish I left the rendered fat in the dish to sauté the vegetables and mix in with the rice. If you are not tracking macros or calories feel free to remove excess fat from the pan before adding in your vegetables.
I used to make this dish often when I was food prepping for my corporate gig. It is really a quick, one-skillet meal that is packed with flavor. It is also very easy to adjust the rice and meat ratio if you are trying to be lower carb, higher carb, or higher protein.
I do recommend making your own Cajun blend for the seasoning mix using some staple spices from your spice cabinet. If you do use a preblended Cajun mix from the store, just check whether it has salt in it or not. If it does, wait till the end of the recipe to give it a taste test and add more in if needed. For those that don’t, you will want to add in salt on the front end along with the spice mix.
Hopefully at some point in your life you can find an opportunity to experience New Orleans and enjoy authentic Cajun food. In the meantime, travel vicariously through some homemade recipes. If you want another recipe to put your Cajun spice to work check out my Cajun Chicken with Sour Cream Sauce!
Dirty Rice
Ingredients
- 1 pound of ground beef 85% lean or leaner
- 2 ½ stalks of celery diced
- ½ green bell pepper diced
- ½ white onion diced
- 1 jalapeño seeds and stem removed diced
- 3 cups cold pre-cooked jasmine rice from 1 cup dry
- 1 ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Combine the salt, thyme, paprika, garlic powder, black pepper, and cayenne pepper into a small bowl and set aside.
- Heat a large skillet over medium/high heat. Add in the beef and break down until into crumbles. Once the beef is in crumbled stage add in the celery, bell pepper, onion, and jalapeños. There should be enough rendered fat from the beef so that you do not need to add in any extra oil. Allow the vegetables to cook for about 5 minutes until soft. By the time the vegetables are soft the beef should be cooked through. If there is excess oil drain if desired but leave some for coating the rice and spices.
- Add in the seasoning mixture and the cold rice and mix well to combine.
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