Rice Dressing, also known as Louisiana Dirty Rice, is a traditional South Louisiana side-dish of white rice, minced meats and Cajun flavors. It is made with small bits of browned meat, vegetables and spices, which gives the rice a slightly ‘dirty’ color when it is cooked. But, it tastes delicious! Serve it with fish, chicken, or pork however you prepare it.
It kind of reminds me of ordering food at an American Chinese takeout restaurant, where the order taker would ask if you want white rice, or fried rice. When I grew up the waitress would ask, ‘White rice or dirty rice, cher’. I usually chose the latter. It was always so savory and good that I never minded the mystery meat ingredients.
Rice Dressing Recipe
Rice Dressing
Equipment
- medium saucepan with lid
- cutting board
- kitchen knife
- large spoon
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- ½ pounds ground beef
- ½ pounds ground pork
- ½ cup chicken livers – minced
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 onion – diced
- ½ cup celery – diced
- 1 green bell pepper – diced
- 3 clove garlic – minced
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- ¼ tsp dried oregano
- ¼ tsp dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 cup dry long grain white rice
- 4 cup chicken broth
- 1 tsp Cajun seasoning – like Tony Chachere’s
- ½ cup green onion – chopped
- ¼ cup fresh parsley – chopped
Instructions
- Prepare the Cajun Trinity – Bell Peppers, Celery and Onions.
- Prepare the garlic, herbs and spices.
- Prepare the ground pork, beef and minced chicken liver.
- Add oil to a medium saucepan, and bring up to medium heat. Add the ground beef, pork and liver.
- Season with salt and pepper and cook, crumbling with a spoon, until browned.
- Add the flour and stir.
- Add the onion, bell pepper, celery and sauté for 2 minutes.
- Add the garlic, cayenne, oregano, thyme and bay leaves and stir to combine.
- Add the rice and chicken broth.
- Bring it to a boil, cover, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Turn off the heat, remove the lid, add the Cajun seasoning then fluff the rice. Reapply the lid and rest for 5 more minutes.
- Toss in the green onion and parsley before serving.
PRIVATE NOTES
Nutrition
More Information
The term, ‘cher’ (pronounced shaa) is a Cajun or Creole slang expression that describes someone who is sweet, or cute. It’s like saying, ‘sweetie’, or ‘darling’. I think it is equivalent to the hispanic use of the term ‘mijo’, or ‘mija’.
In my childhood I was Cajun. When I first married, it was to a Latina. I love both Cajun and Mexican foods, and I find many similarities between the people and cultures. Once, I took my first wife on a trip to see my family in Louisiana. We were going to one of my favorite Cajun venues, Mulate’s. It’ was an amazing restaurant, music venue, and dance hall in New Iberia, Louisiana. I think it is now located in downtown New Orleans. She remarked, ‘I had no idea there were this many Mexicans in Louisiana!’. I told her, ‘those aren’t Mexicans, those are Cajuns!’. We both had a laugh.
About Cajun Cuisine
Cajun cuisine is a style of cooking that combines influences of West African, French, and Spanish cooking techniques (see Wikipedia: Cajun Cuisine). It is comprised of simple ingredients readily found in the local environment, cooked in a simple rustic way, just like in this recipe for rice dressing. When you start to look at a lot of Cajun or Creole recipes, you will notice many similarities between them. In fact, many recipes use pretty much the same basic ingredients. They are only prepared differently with proteins found around the home. Historically, if you are a Cajun living on the bayou, you might eat catfish, crawfish or alligator. Further north, you would probably eat more chicken, pork and rice. On the coast, it would likely be redfish, flounder, trout, shrimp, or oysters, and you might be more influenced by Creole. I was fortunate to live near Lafayette, Louisiana which has a little bit of all of it. And yes, there always seemed to be a side dish of rice dressing, or ‘dirty rice’ at the table. It was so excellent! The cuisine I grew up with profoundly influences how I cook today.
All of this has me thinking of some delicious Cajun meals that go great with a side of Rice Dressing. Meals, such as Blackened Redfish, or Pan Fried Pork Chops. Check out these recipes below, and try it out for yourself.
Related Recipes
Blackened Fish or Chicken
Crab Stuffed Fried Shrimp
Roux
Blue Crab Beignets with Lemon Aioli
Creole Jambalaya
DaLynn’s Famous Potato Salad
Chicken Gumbo
Pan Fried Pork Chops
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