What is Dirty Rice? Info About the Cajun Rice Dish & a Recipe

Dirty rice is a rice dish originating in the south, probably Louisiana, though its exact origins are lost somewhere in history. Traditionally served as a Cajun dish, it is highly popular in New Orleans and many southern American states. Dirty rice is sometimes referred to as Cajun Rice in northern areas so as to give it a "cleaner" name and thus make it more appealing.

Dirty Rice received its name due to its appearance. A blend of white rice mixed and cooked with small pieces of meat such as gizzards, giblets or ground chicken liver, the browned meat imparted a dirty look to the dish. Over time, many variations of the dish have surfaced, using ground sausage or other meats in place of the ground chicken liver or gizzards. Choicer meats and poultry parts are usually favored in upscale restaurants that serve dirty rice or Cajun rice as a side dish. Aside from the meat ingredient, dirty rice will also be made with any variety of additional ingredients, the most common of which are celery, onion, green pepper, and various spices, seasonings, or garnishes.

Sometimes you'll see a recipe or a dish that uses a Dirty Rice "dressing". What this refers to is the combination of meat and other ingredients that are well chopped or blended, and then poured over the cooked rice, which has also usually been seasoned to some degree.

In the supermarket, you'll probably be able to find more than a few packages of Dirty Rice or Cajun Rice mixes, from manufacturers such as Zatarain's, Luzianne, and New Orleans Gourmet, among others. You can also try making your dirty rice using the recipe below.

The following recipe for dirty rice is a traditional recipe, but you can substitute other items such as ground beef, pork, chicken and sausage, add chili peppers or Cajun seasoning, and more. Dirty rice recipes are in abundance on the internet, but, using the recipe for dirty rice below as a basic introduction, you can easily experiment and create your own Cajun rice dish more suitable to your specific tastes.

Traditional Dirty Rice
Using a combination of chicken livers, wings, gizzards, and necks, boil the chicken in a quart of water for half an hour, then allow to cool. De-bone the chicken.

In a large saucepan, heat a stick of butter until melted and saute two cups of white rice until browned. Add 1 cup of chopped celery, 1 cup of chopped green pepper, 2 cups of chopped green onions, and minced garlic and parsley to taste, and continue to saute until the onions turn transparent.

Reheat the chicken in the same pot of water and then add both the chicken and the water to the saucepan with the rice, making sure the rice is completely covered. Bring the pot to a boil and cook until the water has evaporated and been absorbed by the rice. Stir the contents of the saucepan, and cook, covered, over low heat, for an additional half hour. Remove from heat and allow to cool for ten minutes, then serve.