CAJUN DIRTY RICE 
1 lb. ground pork
1 lb. ground beef
1 large bell pepper
1 medium onion
5-6 cloves garlic, peeled
1-2 fresh, cayenne peppers
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 4-6oz cans mushroom steak sauce
3-4 cups cooked rice

The Dressing Mix:

Pan fry the ground meat well until all of the meat is well done. Put bell pepper, onion and garlic into food processor and "nearly" liquify it, then add this to the meat. The pepper/onion/garlic should sizzle as you stir it well into the the meat. When the sizzling fades, add the mushroom steak sauce and a little water and allow the entire dressing mix to simmer for at least a half hour.

Dirty Rice: Cooked rice can be added to this mixure and thoroughly stirred. The more rice you add, the drier and "whiter" the resulting dressing will be. Adding the right amount of rice will result in a dress that is moist with the rice appearing very brown ("dirty").

Cornbread Dressing:

Substitute crumbed cornbread for cooked rice.

Save some for later: Freeze the dressing mix, i.e., before adding rice/cornbread, separately. When needed, defrost the mix by heating it and add the rice or cornbread.

Submitted by: Karl Zerangue

recipe reviews
Cajun Dirty Rice
   #192770
 Liama (United States) says:
This is the recipe I use all of the time. I add ground livers. Cayenne powder.
   #132760
 Traci (United States) says:
Family loved this so much there wasn't even enough left over for lunches the next day! The mushroom steak sauce was easy to find. I added 1/2 a red pepper and 1/2 a green pepper, and while it was tasty, I think the next time, I'll put in the whole peppers on each (and not 1/2)! Thank you... it's a keeper! :)
   #127557
 K G Sibille (Louisiana) says:
Bird's eye peppers were pretty much wiped out by Katrina in New Orleans. Where as before they were everywhere for the pickin', it's a lot harder now to find 'em. Hopefully time will heal that.
   #126497
 Edd Morris (Maryland) says:
I grew-up with a Bayou LaFouche native Cajun father living near Detroit. Most of our food always used GUMBO FILE (finely ground Sasafras root & maybe powdered okra), and often we were mailed from New Orleans little brown bags of this wonderful seasoning. Yes, I've read that it might be carcinogenic, but it has not been an issue for the Cajun people for a hundred years. Also Bird's Eye tiny peppers were used some time for that 'biting french kiss.' as-per-Gus/Jean.
   #53604
 Moire (North Carolina) says:
Walmart carries a line of small canned mushrooms and mushroom sauce in their grocery, if you have one nearby. "DelGiorno" is the brand ... very good. I find them in the pasta aisle, on an upper shelf.

Pureeing the veggies in this recipe is a good idea: it emulsifies the flavors throughout. I also added a can of beans for texture, however.

Karl, I must admit I blushed at your description of "a dress that is moist with the rice appearing very brown ("dirty")." Something very tactile about that!
 #33924
 Bootstrap Johnny (Colorado) says:
This was fantastic! I changed the spicy element because I couldn't fine fresh cayenne peppers. I used 4 tsp Jamaican Jerk Seasoning and 1/2 tsp dried cayenne powder instead. It had a sneak-up-on-you kick that everyone liked.

It was tough finding the mushroom steak sauce in Colorado, but eventually I did. I would like to know a substitute for that if the one store that carries it runs out...

Oh, and I used brown rice, 'cause that's the only rice I use.

Awesome sauce! Thanks!
 #28374
 Kgsibille (Louisiana) says:
This dressing mix is the real thing...we attended college in Lafayette, LA for 7 years, and this recipe makes a 100% authentic cajun rice. Many people there also add ground chicken hearts and gizzards to the meat mixture. Super recipe! Wow-owow-o-wowie.

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