Dirty Rice 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 make up a double batch 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.

You’re going to need: Cooked rice, Creole seasoning, parsley (fresh or dried), onion, bell pepper, turkey sausage*, celery, and some chopped or minced garlic.

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 instead.

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. 

Chop up your sausage a bit and cook that over medium to medium high heat.

Cook this until sausage is cooked through and 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!

All done!

Toss in cooked rice.

Stir that up good and make sure your rice is heated through.

Sit down with a glass of iced tea and a fine meal!

Leftovers can be refrigerated or frozen. This dish tastes just like it was freshly made when you reheat it.

Ingredients

• 4-5 Cups cooked rice
• 1 pound uncooked turkey sausage or ground beef
• 103 tablespoons Creole Seasoning I use Tony Chachere’s
• 1 stalk celery 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

Instructions

• In large skillet over medium heat, place celery, bell pepper, garlic, onion, parsley, and sausage. Break up sausage and cook all, stirring regularly, until sausage is fully cooked and vegetables are tender. Add Creole seasoning, stir. Stir in rice and continue cooking over medium heat until rice is heated through, stirring well the whole time.

• *For the Creole seasoning: Start on the low end and add more after the rice has been stirred in if you like more seasoning. This adds the spiciness so you want to do it to your personal taste.

This recipe was originally published in February of 2010. I updated the photos and post in February 2020.

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