This One Pan Cajun Style Dirty Rice will be your new favourite midweek mince meal. Hardly any washing up and super tasty.
This is another easy mince beef dish that will have you drooling before it’s even on the plate. Cajun Dirty Beef Rice is all made together in one pan, includes veggies and that delicious cajun smoky flavour.
You know I like to try to get more creative with mince dishes beyond the normal spag bol and chilli.
Don’t get me wrong, those dishes very much have their place on my dinner table, but mince can go further than that to keep things interesting, especially because it’s so versatile and budget-friendly.
Hope you love this new addition to my weekly meal plans ❤️
Why you’ll love this recipe
⭐️ Something a little different
⭐️ One pan and done in 40 minutes
⭐️ Big flavours and meaty deliciousness
About this One Pan Cajun Style Dirty Rice
⭐️ Dirty rice is a traditional Louisiana Creole dish, named because of the colour the rice goes from cooking it with meat.
⭐️ The dish has a sad and difficult history. It originated with slaves cooking this cajun style rice with the small scraps of organ meat they were given to live on along with rice.
⭐️ Over the years it was adapted to add traditional creole ingredients of the holy trinity of onion, celery and green peppers.
⭐️ You can read more about the history of the dish and an authentic version here: Dirty Rice, Dirty History.
⭐️ I’ve used a one pot method for making this cajun style rice, so you don’t need to boil the rice beforehand.
What you’ll need
- Olive oil
- Beef mince – I like 5% but use whichever one you usually buy to your own taste or budget.
- Onion – I use pre-chopped frozen, but fresh is fine too
- Garlic – Fresh or frozen, jarred or paste is OK
- Celery
- Green peppers
- Cajun spice mix
- Long grain rice
- Tomato puree
- Beef stock
- Cheese grated
- Spring onions – Optional, to serve
Substitutions
- Vegetables – You can mix and match your veggies to taste or to use whatever you have left in your fridge that needs using up. More vegetables will also make it go further.
Leftovers
In the fridge You can keep this recipe in the fridge for 3 days. Just be sure to follow cooked rice food safety guidelines (i.e. do not leave it hanging about at room temperature, cool it very quickly and then reheat fully until piping hot before serving).
In the freezer You can freeze this, however sometimes rice dishes are not at their best afterwards. Just wait until it’s totally cold and then put into a freezer proof container and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost thoroughly before reheating in the microwave or or the hob. It may need a little extra water.
Top tip
Spice level
The Cajun spice in this should be fairly mild and suitable for children (unless you buy a particularly fiery one!) But if you’d like more heat, add another teaspoon in at the same time. If you are worried about spice, start with 3 tsp and add more if needed.
FAQ
One of the great things about this dish is that it tastes like a total treat because the Cajun is so full of flavour. However, it’s fairly light, especially if you use lower fat mince and plenty of veg.
Yes, just leave off the steps putting the cheese on top. I just added it as a tasty finishing touch.
A really good, sturdy one-pan pan with a lid that can go in the oven, if possible. I recently did a review of these all-in-one pans, which I hope you find useful!
Let me know how you got on and what you thought of these recipes. Please rate the recipe using the ⭐️ below.
Also I’d LOVE to see your cooking creations. If you’d like to share yours with me, you can tag me on Instagram (@tamingtwins).
Cajun Beef Dirty Rice Bowl
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp Olive oil
- 500 g Beef mince
- 1 Onion Peeled and chopped
- 3 Cloves of garlic Peeled and crushed
- 4 Sticks of celery Cut into small chunks
- 3 Green peppers Cut into small chunks
- 4 tsp Cajun spice mix
- 200 g Long grain rice
- 4 tbsp Tomato puree
- 800 ml Beef stock
- 75 g Cheese Grated
To serve:
- 6 Spring onions (optional) Chopped
Instructions
- Heat the oil over a medium heat in a large, deep frying pan. Add the mince. Fry for 5 minutes until browned.
- Add the onion, garlic, celery, green peppers, cajun spice mix and cook for 5 minutes until the vegetables are starting to soften.
- Rinse your rice really well in a sieve (until the water coming out is clear) and then add to the pan, along with the stock, tomato puree and salt and pepper.
- Give everything a good stir, pop the lid on and cook for 15 -20 minutes, stirring occasionally until the rice has soaked up the stock and is cooked through.
- Preheat the grill to HIGH.
- Fluff the rice up with a fork and sprinkle over the cheese. Pop under the grill to finish off for about 3-5 minutes.
- Sprinkle on the spring onions if you’re using them.
Lygia Hampson says
After trying to rack my brains of what we could have for dinner tonight this recipe dropped into my inbox, saved in the nick of time. I had to make some adjustments basically no veg except onions ( my partner doesn’t do vegetables apart from potatoes and peas ). He ate a huge portion so he must have enjoyed it, sorry no pictures this time but I will start putting them up on my Instagram (woolly_knitz).
Amye says
Had this for dinner tonight and WOW!!!! So tasty 😋 next time I’m going to put some tortilla chips on top before the cheese as requested by the hubby lol
Definitely a winner in our house……no photo as couldn’t wait to eat it lol
Michelle says
Oooh just about to make this and have tortilla chips in my cupboard!!!
Sarah says
Definite win with the tortilla chips on too. Everyone had second helpings!
Lucy C says
Went down a real treat – everyone went back for seconds! Make more than you think you’ll need…
Maria says
Delicious, quick and easy. A perfect recipe
Sue Phillips says
Used wonky peppers instead of green and chopped the celery thinly…to baffle the complainers…delicious! 🐷🐷🐷🐷
Going to use it as a topping for dirty fries! 😋
Cheryl says
This was really lovely and so easy to make, even my fussy eater loved it.. new dish to the house
Heather says
I made this tonight for the family and everyone loved it, both old and young. On the recommendation of others I crumbled some tortilla chips over the top of each portion and it was lovely. Definitely one to repeat!!
Bev May says
Hi Sarah this looks so good just wondered if it would freeze ok?
Bev
Katie Alford says
This was absolutely delicious! I’m a huge fan of a one pot dinner, and this one fed the whole family (including 2 VERY fussy children) Will definitely make it again!
cazza says
We sprinkled over some lime juice at the end and chefs kiss delish
Cathy Savill says
Sooo delicious I’m a long time fan of Sarah and this recipe is brilliant.
I tweaked it because I came across it while thinking of ideas for left over roast chicken.
So I used the chicken instead of beef and used chicken stock. It was so bleedin delicious! My daughter were in heaven.
Incredibly Social says
We just made this, very tasty and served with a dollop of sour cream 👍
RD says
Delicious! Really tasty and easy. Sarah’s recipes are all winners!
Susan says
Cooked this for my other half, he doesn’t like too many veggies in his meals. There was a lot of green in this dish but he LOVED IT!!!! Plenty for leftovers too. Can’t wait to try out more dishes.
Mandy Bortone says
Yet again a big hit with my boys and I made double and froze half for another meal, thank you
Jen D says
Love this recipe , made a few times and add things each time . I use making the frozen vegetable base mix you can but which is chopped onion , carrot and celery . I’ve also added spinach and sweetcorn along with the peppers and it’s lovely .
Helen says
Loved this! Easy and tasty – did take a bit longer than stated to cook though.
Jen says
Delicious … but I’m not sure if it was the rice I used (Aldi cheapest long grain rice) but it took at least 3x as long to cook than the recipe stated and I was rather hangry! Worth the wait but definitely factor in rice cooking time. I added extra Cajun and some cayenne chilli as we like it hot. Will definitely do this one again – might try it in the slow cooker if anyone has any timing tips?
Sarah Rossi says
Hi Jen, I wouldn’t recommend this in the slow cooker as rice can be really tricky to cook in the slow cooker and go very starchy. There’s two slow cooker recipes with rice in in my new book coming out in September, but when I tell you it’s taken about 50 tests to get them right!!
Caroline Millers says
Wow 🤩 amazing! I had some beef steak mince (from an organic farmshop!) in the freezer – so used that. Used 3 instead of 4 teaspoons of Cajun seasoning, cut the onions 🧅 into thin petals, used slightly less green pepper, halved the rice, topped with soured cream, slices of chillies, chopped spring onions and two types of cheese (M&S Cornish cruncher and Swiss Le Gruyère) and salted Tortillas. Also a squeeze of lemon. (Tried to get Monentary Jack cheese but couldn’t find any!)