Instant Pot Dirty Rice – DadCooksDinner

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Instant Pot Dirty Rice. The traditional Cajun side dish made in a pressure cooker.

This year’s Fat Tuesday recipe is Cajun dirty rice. And yes, I know the name is a little risqué for rice. One of my kids got a lot of giggles at the high school lunch table because of it – but her table mates were also begging her to let them try it.

Instant Pot Dirty Rice

Dirty rice is a traditional “Use up whatever we’ve got” recipe. It’s cooked with chicken broth, and a little bit of meat, to make the rice a substantial side dish or a main course on its own.

For more dirty rice background, check out Dirty Rice History & FAQs at Zatarains.com. If you’re looking for more pressure cooker Cajun recipes, check out my Instant Pot Brown Rice Jambalaya, Instant Pot Whole Chicken with Cajun Spice Rub, or Instant Pot Cajun Pinto Beans.

Inspired by: Emeril Lagasse, Dirty Rice

Jump to:

Ingredients

  • Vegetable oil
  • Bulk pork sausage
  • Onion
  • Bell pepper
  • Celery
  • Garlic
  • Cajun seasoning
  • Fine sea salt
  • Long grain white rice
  • Chicken broth
  • Bay leaf
  • Green onion
  • Parsley
    See recipe card for quantities.

How to make Instant Pot Dirty Rice

Cook sausage until no longer pink

Heat the vegetable oil until shimmering in an Instant Pot set to Sauté mode – high. Add the sausage and cook, stirring and breaking it up, until it is crumbled and has lost its pink color, about 5 minutes.

Add the aromatics and spices

Add the onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic to the pot with the sausage. Sprinkle with the cajun seasoning and ½ teaspoon salt. Sauté until the onions soften, stirring scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pot, about 5 minutes.

Everything in the pot

Stir the rice into the sausage and onions, then add the chicken broth or water (and another ½ teaspoon of salt if using homemade broth). Scrape the bottom of the pot one last time to make sure there are no browned bits sticking, then float the bay leaf on top.

Pressure cook for 4 minutes with a 10 minute Natural Release

Lock the lid. Pressure cook on high pressure for 4 minutes (use Manual, Pressure Cook, or Pressure Cook- Custom mode). Let the pressure come down naturally for 10 minutes, then quick release any remaining pressure.

Serve

Unlock the lid on the pressure cooker, tilting it away from you to avoid the hot steam. Discard the bay leaf, then stir in the green onions and parsley. Serve and enjoy!

Substitutions

  • Meat: Like I said above, this is a “use up whatever you’ve got” kind of recipe. Chicken livers, ground beef, ground pork, and uncooked sausage are all traditional. If you have a little leftover ground meat, you can use it. I use hot sausage, because I like the extra spices it brings to the rice. Any country or breakfast sausage will work, but I would avoid maple syrup sausage. If you use unseasoned meat, sprinkle it with ½ teaspoon of salt before adding it to the pot to brown, otherwise everything cooks the same.
  • Rice: Any white rice will work in this recipe; long grain white rice is traditional. If you want to use brown rice, use the timing from my Pressure Cooker Brown Jasmine Rice recipe after cooking the sausage and sautéing the aromatics and spices.

Equipment

A 6-quart pressure cooker. (An Instant Pot pressure cooker is my favorite)

Scaling

This recipe doubles easily in a 6-quart pressure cooker. Cut all the ingredients in half and this recipe will fit in a 3-quart pressure cooker. The cooking time does not change; it takes the same amount of time to cook the rice, no matter how much you have in the pot.

Storing Leftovers

Cooked rice does not keep for long – it carries bacteria spores (Bacillus cereus) that multiply in warm temperatures. If you need to store cooked rice, cool it down quickly in the refrigerator, or freeze it within an hour of cooking. Store refrigerated rice for 2-3 days or frozen rice for up to 3 months, and make sure to reheat it completely (to at least 165°F) before eating. (Source: Safe Handling of Cooked Rice, University of Wisconsin Extension).

Print

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A bowl of Cajun dirty rice with an instant pot and a jar of Cajun seasoning in the background

Instant Pot Dirty Rice


  • Author:     Mike Vrobel

  • Total Time:     35 minutes

  • Yield:     6 cups of dirty rice 1x

Description

Instant Pot Dirty Rice. The traditional Cajun side dish made in a pressure cooker,

  • 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
  • 1 pound bulk pork sausage (I use a tube of breakfast sausage)
  • 1 medium onion, minced
  • 1 bell pepper, seeded and minced
  • 1 stalk celery, minced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon cajun seasoning (store bought or homemade)
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 2 cups long grain white rice
  • 2 ½ cups chicken broth (preferably homemade) or water
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt (if using homemade broth or water)
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 3 green onions, minced (optional)
  • ¼ cup minced parsley (optional)

Instructions

  1. Cook sausage until no longer pink: Heat the vegetable oil until shimmering in an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker set to Sauté mode adjusted to high (medium-high heat in a stovetop PC). Add the sausage and cook, stirring and breaking it up, until it is crumbled and has lost its pink color, about 5 minutes.
  2. Add the aromatics and spices: Add the onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic to the pot with the sausage. Sprinkle with the cajun seasoning and ½ teaspoon salt. Sauté, stirring often and scraping browned bits from the bottom of the pot, until the onions soften, about 5 minutes.
  3. Everything in the pot: Stir the rice into the sausage and onions, then add the chicken broth or water (and another ½ teaspoon of salt if using homemade broth). Scrape the bottom of the pot one last time to make sure there are no browned bits sticking, then float the bay leaf on top.
  4. Pressure cook for 4 minutes with a 10 minute Natural Release: Lock the lid. Pressure cook on high pressure for 4 minutes (timing is the same for Instant Pots and stovetop PCs). Let the pressure come down naturally for 10 minutes, then quick release any remaining pressure.
  5. Serve: Unlock the lid on the pressure cooker, tilting it away from you to avoid the hot steam. Discard the bay leaf, then stir in the green onions and parsley. Serve and enjoy!

  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes
  • Category: Side Dish
  • Method: Pressure Cooker
  • Cuisine: Cajun

Keywords: Instant Pot Dirty Rice, Instant Pot Cajun Rice, Pressure Cooker Dirty Rice, Pressure Cooker Cajun Rice

What do you think?

Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.

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