Dirty Rice

Louisiana Dirty Rice – adapted from Southern Discourse

Note: I don’t use sausage, just ground beef, sometimes a little minced chicken liver and/or chicken gizzrds (my family doesn’t even know 🤭), also. And “my” family has been liking it more with crushed Calabrian chile peppers and chipotle seasoning 😉 so that’s how we roll.

Changed it up from my usual one pot (like Jambalaya) and tried this. I know the Holy Trinity is celery, onion, and green pepper, but… I’ll add other colored bell peppers, too. Why not? 😜 I get the rice and meat/veggie mixture done better separately. 🤷‍♀️

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork sausage
4-5 C cooked rice, prepared with chicken broth
2 C chicken broth
¾ C green bell pepper, diced
¾ C yellow onion, diced
¼ C celery, diced
¼ C flour
1 tablespoon bacon grease or cooking oil
3 bay leaves
2 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 ½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Instructions

In a large skillet, heat bacon grease or cooking oil. Add ground beef and sausage and brown.
As meat begins to brown, add diced bell pepper, onion and celery.
When meat is fully browned, stir in herbs and spices except for parsley. Mix well. Add flour. Mix well again, making sure the flour coats the meat.
Add broth and bay leaves. Scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen any of the browned bits from the pan. Allow to simmer 5-8 minutes.
Fold in rice and parsley. Simmer for 5 more minutes. Serve.

Notes

Traditional Dirty Rice is made using finely chopped chicken livers, this recipe uses bacon grease to make up for their rich flavor. Sometimes mushrooms or even oysters are added as a substitute.