Easy Homemade Dirty Rice
With Creole seasoning, turkey sausage, vegetables, and rice, my Cajun-style easy homemade recipe for dirty rice is the perfect flavorful weeknight supper to make for your family.
Some of the best food comes out of Louisiana, like this recipe for dirty rice, which is a Cajun classic. Now, it’s called “dirty rice” (also known as Cajun rice and rice dressing) because traditionally, it was cooked with minced chicken livers, spices, and vegetables, which turned the white rice “dirty”. Over the years, many versions of this filling Creole supper have sprouted up, so this is my take.
This dirty rice recipe is a great go-to meal for busy weekdays. It also happens to be one of my favorite make-ahead meals to take on camping trips. I always make up a double batch of this recipe for dirty rice ahead of time, refrigerate or freeze it, and have instant comfort food whenever we need it. Since it is so easy to reheat, this is one of those recipes that I suggest always doubling. By simply doubling a few meals from time to time, you can build up a bank of convenience meals and shop your freezer rather than stopping by a drive-through.
Now, I’m bypassing chicken livers in favor of turkey sausage. What else do you need? Rice, Creole seasoning, dried or fresh parsley, onion, bell pepper, celery (a.k.a the Holy Trinity in Cajun cooking), and minced garlic. Weeknight meals don’t get much easier than this. We just have to chop up our vegetables, cook our rice, and slowly add all of the ingredients to a skillet. I can never resist a one-pan meal, how about you? Better yet, it’s ready to serve in 30 minutes.
The Creole seasoning adds so much flavor to this simple Cajun dirty rice recipe. It’s hearty, filling, and a must-make, so let’s go!
Recipe Ingredients
- Cooked rice (to decrease carbs you can use cauliflower rice)
- Creole seasoning
- Dried or fresh parsley
- Onion
- Bell pepper
- Turkey sausage
- Celery
- Chopped or minced garlic
How to Make The Best Dirty Rice Recipe at Home
Chop all your herbs and veggies: bell pepper, celery, parsley, and onion. You can use dried parsley if you prefer.
Place these in a large skillet along with your sausage and minced garlic.
Chop up your sausage a bit and cook that over medium to medium-high heat.
Cook this until the sausage is cooked through and the veggies are tender.
Stir in your Creole seasoning.
I use two and a half tablespoons and it is perfect for us. You may want to start with a little less and taste it. You may end up using a lot more!
Lookin’ good!
Toss in cooked rice.
Stir that up well and make sure your rice is heated through.
Sit down with a glass of iced tea and a fine meal!
Storage
Leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 3 months. This dish tastes just like it was freshly made when you reheat it in the microwave or on the stovetop.
Recipe Notes
- I LOVE Jennie-O turkey sausage. The mild and hot are both really good. That is the main brand I recommend if you can find it. I get it at Publix. If you can only find Butterball sausage, I’d just use ground beef or ground pork instead.
- While long grain white rice is the most popular, you can also use brown rice or wild rice.
Recipe FAQs
Can I use Cajun seasoning instead?
You can! Cajun seasoning is more pepper-heavy and thus spicier than Creole seasoning, which features various herbs like oregano, basil, and thyme. If you want to use Creole seasoning but add a little bit more heat, add 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper (or more to taste).
What is in Zatarain’s Dirty Rice?
Zatarain’s Dirty Rice Dinner Mix is made with long grain rice, onion, garlic, red and green bell pepper, and spices like red pepper flakes and paprika. So our recipe for dirty rice is very similar and a bit of a Zatarain copycat version.
How do you make Popeye’s Cajun Rice?
Popeye’s Cajun Rice side dish is also very similar to our recipe. However, Popeye’s uses ground beef and minced chicken gizzards. They also use more spices than just Creole seasoning, like garlic powder, celery seed, cayenne pepper, and coarse ground black pepper.
What do you serve with dirty rice?
This dirty rice is the perfect main dish as it is. But if you’d prefer to serve it as a side, serve it with some fried catfish, blackened chicken, or fried chicken, Popeye’s style.
You may also like these rice recipes:
Crockpot Fiesta Chicken and Rice
Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli Rice Casserole
Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole
Ingredients
- 4-5 cups cooked rice
- 1 pound uncooked turkey sausage or ground beef
- 1-3 tablespoons Creole seasoning* I use Tony Chachere's
- 1 celery stalk, chopped
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1/2 bell pepper, chopped
- 2 tablespoons chopped or minced garlic
- 4 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley or 2 tablespoons dried parsley
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium heat, place celery, bell pepper, garlic, onion, parsley, and sausage. Break up the sausage and cook all, stirring regularly, until sausage is fully cooked and vegetables are tender.1 pound uncooked turkey sausage, 1 celery stalk, chopped, 1 small onion, chopped, 1/2 bell pepper, chopped, 2 tablespoons chopped or minced garlic, 4 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
- Add the Creole seasoning and stir. Then stir in the rice and continue cooking over medium heat until rice is heated through, stirring well the whole time.4-5 cups cooked rice, 1-3 tablespoons Creole seasoning*
Notes
Nutrition
I am so in love with you! finally found someone to help me make outstanding dishes for my family, just tried your recipe for dirty rice, and it was delicious!!! and so simple, now I look forward to cooking every day because you make it a pleasure!!
Well, just had to tell you….I’m a native Texan (and darn proud!)…and I cannot stand spicy!! I’d probably have to use maybe a half Tbsp of Tony’s…lol. Anyway, this sounds wonderful, and I love Dirty Rice! Thanks so much!
I am too, Debbie. There are really a lot of us, you know: we’re just not as colorful as the Movie/TV Texans. Stereotypes of folks from different parts of the country are usually exaggerated, and we’re living proof. I don’t own a pair of boots or a western hat either, and my only connection to cattle and oil is at the grocery and gas station. =-)
Haha Mary! I’m the same way – don’t like kicker clothes, or country music either! But when I see the Lone Star flyin’, I get major goosebumps! And you’re right, every state has it’s stereotypes. I live in NJ now, and it’s way different from what I thought it would be!
Since the Cinnabon rolls came out so good I thought to try the dirty rice. Please understand you are making me a star at my house and office! I made it at home and wanted to share it at work (it was too good to keep to myself). This was the best I ever tasted! My next try is the Peach Cobbler Muffins!!!! Your site is my buried treasurer!
Absolutely amazing!!!! Family went back for seconds. Used hot sausage and 1tbs of Tony Chachere’s seasoning, just the right amount of kick.
Thanks!
I finally made this tonight! I used part of a bag of frozen chopped onions and bell peppers and left out the celery and parsley. The seasoning I used was Messina’s, which has been my favorite Cajun seasoning for the past 15 years (since I was 10!). It was the first time I ever cooked pork sausage, if you can believe it. The finished dish was good but quite greasy from the sausage. Next time I’m going to try using chicken sausage (what I usually use) or drain some of the fat off the meat before adding the rice. In any case, it’s a great, fast meal and would be even faster using leftover rice!
I’m in Toronto, Canada and brought some of Messina’s seasoning home with me many years ago. I CAN’T GET IT HERE! arrrgh. Do you know of anyone who is selling it to Canada. We love it and a flight to New Orleans is out of the question. LOL
Ok just finished making this and I have got to tell ya, its delicious!! I’ve always used ground beef, dont know why I never thought of using sausage. The only think I did differently was that I added some chicken base to the rice as it cooked. (always trying to sneak some extra flavor in everything! ). Another great SP recipe that I will recommend to my daughters to try. It’s easy enough for the oldest one to fix, even with her nonexistant cooking skills! 😀
This was the best. I used the frozen seasoning blend and it turned out great.
ME TOO, I KEEP THE BLEND IN THE FREEZER ALL THE TIME